Fire-Forged Friends



""For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my battle-brother eternal.""

- "Invocation of the Flesh-Tearers", Warhammer 40000

Characters, hostile to each other, indifferent, or strangers, must fight on the same side. All the way up to an Enemy Mine situation. Afterwards, they are no longer hostile and perhaps even actual friends. If they continue as enemies, they are Friendly Enemy.

Bonus points if:
 * they save each other's lives in the heat of battle;
 * they fight as Back-to-Back Badasses;
 * one says It Has Been an Honor;
 * one insists that No One Gets Left Behind, or that the other's is a Greater Need Than Mine;
 * one must give the other a weapon.

The Power of Trust often comes into play, since they often must trust the other not to stab them In the Back.

Borderline cases when Redemption Equals Death, since the friendship could have broken up after the fighting ended. Still, expect the survivor to refuse to let the other die alone, and often a Meaningful Funeral or To Absent Friends follows, especially if it involved a long period of time and hiatuses in the actual fighting -- a campaign or a war rather than a battle.

May occur after Let's You and Him Fight, and lead to Lighthearted Rematch. May also lead to exchanging plot-significant objects, or just an Odd Friendship. In a military situation, when this occurs between a superior and his juniors, may lead to their speaking With Due Respect. When mistrust is manifested after this trope, Remember That You Trust Me often ensues.

Other hazardous or even mere strenuous activities can also develop a kind of this; the closer it comes to as dangerous as war, like an attempt to escape through a jungle full of man-eating beasts and other dangers, the more it will resemble it.

Overlap with Band of Brothers is considerable, but in this trope, they need never to work together again, and that one, they do not have be friendly, just reliable.

When these fire-forged friends belong to opposite genders, expect them to take it to the next level.

Truth in Television to a very large extent, as many people who served in any military force can testify, even more so if they are war veterans.

Contrast Defeat Means Friendship, Kill Me Now or Forever Stay Your Hand, A Friend in Need, Blood Brothers. Compare Relationship-Salvaging Disaster.

Anime and Manga

 * Bleach
 * After being forced to team up, Ichigo Kurosaki and Uryu Ishida quickly became best friends...though Uryu refuses to admit it. He tries to insist that Ichigo is still his sworn enemy, except that his actions (and even his words) prove he's full of it.
 * In a flashback, Ichigo and Chad seem to be this to a degree. Ichigo was initially hostile towards Chad (questioning his Technical Pacifism and passively accusing him of lying) but turned up to save him when he was attacked (and of course refused to defend himself).
 * Nearly every hero besides Goku in Dragonball and Dragonball Z became one this way: getting defeated by Goku, spending some time getting used to his cheerful good nature, and then having to fight alongside him against a new threat. Krillin spells out this trope partway through Dragonball Z.
 * Negi and Kotaro go through this in Mahou Sensei Negima; they start out as enemies, have to join forces to defeat a demon, and are good friends after that.
 * Ditto Yue and Emily Sevensheep: Emily starts off as the Alpha Bitch, but opens up to Yue after.
 * One Piece: Pretty much the formula for adding onto Luffy's True Companions. He makes an offer, which they usually refuse at first. He then fights the current Big Bad by their side and afterward they usually make the decision to join his crew.
 * Franky is a good example of this. Initially the dislike was mutual; Luffy hated Franky for beating up Usopp, and Franky wanted revenge on Luffy for blowing up the Franky House and beating up his Family, and other members of the Straw Hats hold a grudge against him for this. The two put aside their differences to rescue Robin, though, and Franky's reluctance to join the crew after being invited was mainly due to having attachments to Water 7 and his Family.
 * Surprisingly, Gold Roger invokes the trope as he speaks to  right before he's executed. He says that they are as good as friends given how long they've known each other, and on this principle trusts  . Despite the other person's initial disbelief, it works.
 * Naruto: Pretty much the background of Kakashi Hatake. Back then a Drill Sergeant Nasty who isn't really in the best terms with his teammates Obito Uchiha and Rin, his strict by-the-rules persona was changed by This tragic ordeal made Kakashi more lax and understanding of others, even adopting Obito's lackluster work ethic.
 * Nanoha and Vita in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, with Vita's hostility towards Nanoha decreasing drastically after they worked together to beat up the self-defense program. Fate and Signum might also count but both were shown from the start to be perfectly willing to be friends if they weren't on opposing sides.

Similarly, Nanoha and Arf in Season 1; Arf initially dislikes Nanoha, thinking of her as far weaker than Fate and being suspicious of her motives for reaching out to Fate. After Arf gets thrown out of the Garden of Time, she reluctantly decides to accept Nanoha's help in saving Fate. By the time Nanoha becomes friends with Fate, Arf has also come to like her.
 * In Yu Yu Hakusho, Kuwabara goes from being an Unknown Rival to Yuusuke to being his best friend this way after they find themselves on the same side by coincidence more than once.
 * This is a recurring trope in Studio Ghibli works due to the rarity of actually evil antagonists:
 * Air pirates in Laputa and Porco Rosso.
 * Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke.
 * The Faceless One in Spirited Away.
 * The Witch of the Waste in Howls Moving Castle.
 * Tolmekians and the Pejiteans in Nausicaa of the Valley of The Wind.
 * In Ranma One Half, this is Ranma and Ryoga's friendship to the core. Ryoga may have spent half his life obsessed with exacting vengeance against Ranma, and Ranma may hate the whole P-chan situation, but by the end of the series they've had so many Enemy Mine team-ups that they're probably the most trustworthy ally either one has. After Mousse joins them to help defeat Prince Herb, he too falls under this category.
 * Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
 * Suzumiya Haruhi: Sure, Mikuru, Itsuki and Yuki may have competing objectives and ideals, but when Kyon tells them that, for example, he needs Yuki and Mikuru to help him fix an alternate universe, they will move mountains to achieve the goals. This has reached the point where the three of them have sworn allegiance with the SOS Brigade, and are willing to go against their vastly more powerful superiors if they end up with a conflict.
 * Pokémon Special give us Gold and Silver. They first meet after Silver steals one of Prof. Elm's Pokemon, and Gold sets out to beat Silver and retrieve said Pokemon. They meet up a few more times, and Silver tells Gold to stay out of his way each time. They don't start to act like friends until the Lake of Rage, when Gold finds out Silver's backstory, Silver sees Gold stand up for him, and they realize they have a common enemy in The Mask of Ice. At the end of the saga,
 * Persona 4 deconstructs this trope.
 * Higurashi Rei shows that, if the tragedies in everyone's life never happened, they wouldn't be friends. On top of that, Satoko, Rika's closest friend of the group, would be bullying her and Keiichi wouldn't even be in Hinamizawa.
 * In Mai Hi ME, Natsuki and Mai initially dislike each other, but by the end of the series, consider each other close friends.

Comic Books

 * In Thunderbolts, when they were sent after Spider-Man, MACH-1 was delighted with the prospect of bringing down his old enemy, even suggesting at one point they could kill him and claim it was an accident. After they fight as Back-to-Back Badasses against the rest of the Thunderbolts under mindcontrol, and Spider-Man saves his life, MACH-1 gives him the evidence he needs to clear his name, because he couldn't betray him after fighting next to him like that. (Also, realizing that he was Becoming the Mask.)
 * Dick Grayson (the first Robin) had this with Jason Todd (the second Robin). Dick resented Jason for taking his place, and Jason didn't like Dick for assuming he knew better than Jason did (which, after all, he did). After an evening together saving Alfred's life, they got close enough that Dick offered to be there when Bruce inevitably turned dickish again.
 * Hulk and his Warbound became friends after experiencing great challenges together as gladiators, and their first moments of cohesion are in the volcanic gladiator training camp, thus being almost literally fire forged. Newer members of the Warbound (such as Caiera and Kate) join the Warbound after similar trying circumstances.
 * Hulk and Namor the Sub-Mariner fight more then possibly any other pair of characters who aren't officially a villain and a hero, and spend most of their time bickering with each other, but when the Illuminati revealed their plan to send Banner to space, Namor nearly beat Iron Man to pulp.
 * In an issue of X-Factor, Scott smashed up the house where he had lived with Madelyne, and found the baby's rattle. A cop finds him in the ruins and is belligerent, addressing him as "mister", threatening arrest. A Sentinel attacks, and they must join forces against it. After its defeat, Scott speaks of the arrest, and the cop says "son", he didn't remember it like that at all; the Sentinel had smashed up the house.
 * In an issue of X-Men, Wolverine was enraged by Rogue joining the team. After the rest of the team was taken out by poison, they go after the enemies responsible together. It culminates in Rogue taking an attack meant for Wolverine and Mariko -- and Wolverine forcing her to absorb his healing factor to save her life despite his own injuries.
 * Although most other adaptations like to play up their conflicts, Cyclops and Wolverine actually develop a begrudging respect for one another in the comics.
 * Wolverine and Angel have also become this after stubbornly hating each others guts for several decades.
 * In Punisher: War Journal, Frank and the Rhino make peace as they face Alyosha Kravinoff, the new Kraven, in his sadistic game of hunting supervillains with animal motifs. Over the course of the incident, it's revealed that the murder that set Frank on the Rhino's tail was an accident (and that Rhino sends money to the man's widow), and when Frank saves Rhino's life they decide to call it even. They then develop a Sam the Sheepdog/Ralph the Wolf sort of relationship, except they've cut out the "antagonize one another" part entirely.
 * Played with in Anti-Venom between Eddie Brock and Frank Castle: after taking down a drug lord together, Eddie Brock thinks they've got this when Frank Castle appears to let him live. Frank Castle, on the other hand, knows he just ran out of bullets.
 * Zayne Carrick, Marn Hierogryph, and Jarael in the Knights of the Old Republic Comic. Attempting to clear Zayne's name all while being on the run from five muderous Jedi Masters may have something to do with that.

Film
"Gimli: I never thought I'd die fighting side-by-side with an Elf!
 * There is a humorous interplay in the second installment of Pirates of the Caribbean between Pintel, Ragetti, and Elizabeth Swann as they fight off Davey Jones' crew together. Swann's original relation to the plucky duo involved being captured and threatened throughout the first film.
 * A really great example of this in My Fellow Americans.
 * Will and Warren in Sky High.
 * Dan and Occam in The Patriot: Dan constantly talks smack about former slave Occam, right up until the latter runs back to rescue the former in the heat of battle. From then on, Dan is honored to have Occam at his side.
 * In the Dawn of the Dead 2004 remake, the security guards at the mall are initially hostile towards the new arrivals, but eventually their common purpose against the zombies makes them allies. Not all of the survivors manage to work together, though, and indeed this trope is rare in the zombie movies made by or remade from George Romero. Usually the conflicts between survivors escalate to become their undoing.
 * Lord of the Rings:
 * Gandalf and Pippin come to mind. While the Fellowship were True Companions, Gandalf never seemed to like Pippin very much. Once they had fought together in Minas Tirith, lived through the siege and saved Faramir's life, Pippin seemed to have become Gandalf's favorite among the Fellowship members (especially in the movie).
 * Also, Gimli and Legolas:

Legolas: What about side-by-side with a friend?

Gimli: Aye... I could do that."


 * In the newest Star Trek movie, Kirk and Spock.
 * Stargate: Jack O'Neil and Daniel Jackson in the original movie.
 * The Breakfast Club.
 * District 9: Wikus van de Merwe and Christopher Johnson.
 * Done in the Clash of the Titans remake. The Argos captain almost, allows the monster hunters to come along as meatshields, and doesn't trust the   even after they save the group. Perseus eventually comes to say he trusts the surviving men, woman  , and whatever the hell the   is.
 * Lethal Weapon: Riggs and Murtaugh don't particularly like each other when they first meet. But by the end of the film, Murtaugh is inviting Riggs to spend Christmas dinner with his family. And after a while, Riggs is family.
 * Flight of the Intruder: The hero and his CO
 * The Hurt Locker: James invokes this trope near the end.
 * Toy Story: Woody and Buzz Lightyear in the first movie are very good examples of this.
 * In Three O Clock High, Jerry tries to invoke this trope after he and his bully are caught cheating. The bully disagrees, though at the end, after Jerry kicks his ass, he gives him the very faintest of smiles.
 * A famous example of this trope happens in the original "Star Wars." When Luke Skywalker and Han Solo first meet they don't like each other at all, it is only after saving Leia together that their friendship begins.
 * When The Avengers first assemble, they don't get along at all. The main arc of the film is this motley collection of alpha dogs going from "we're six guys who all happen to want the same thing" to becoming the motherflippin' Avengers.
 * Nonhuman examples: Godzilla, Rodan, Anguirus, and Mothra. A strange group, to be sure. But each of these four became fire forged friends in different films in the Showa Era. Actually, Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra are pretty much Toho's Power Trio. Anguirus is something like Godzilla's sidekick. Godzilla and Anguirus are adversaries during the second Godzilla film, but somehow or other ended up as great friends from that point after. How Anguirus manages to forgive Godzilla for— in essence—killing him is unknown, but even the Trendmaster's toy line roster calls Anguirus one of Godzilla's staunchest allies, and most films in which they appear together as allies make it clear that if Rodan is Godzilla's Right Hand, Anguirus is the Left. Rodan and Mothra become fire forged friends with Godzilla when they team up to defeat King Ghidorah, and remain friends, or at least Friendly Rivals from that film forward.

Literature
"There are some things you can't go through together without coming out friends, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."
 * Roland Deschain's second ka-tet in The Dark Tower, very much so. Eddie comes close to murdering Roland in cold blood while in the throes of heroin withdrawal and Susannah, while controlled by her Detta Walker persona, attempts to kill both of them in cold blood several times.
 * Harry Potter: Harry and Ron's friendship with Hermione stems from a fight with a troll.

"As my honor brother I ask you to trust me like you have never trusted me before. On my life I swear that I do not lie to you, Nathaniel."
 * The battle in the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix pulls Luna, Neville and Ginny into the group, as well.
 * In Darkness Visible Lewis and Marsh don't become friends until after, the first time they save each other's lives (but not the last).
 * Temeraire: John Granby is initially extremely hostile to Laurence out of friendship to another officer who lost his chance at promotion because Temeraire wanted Laurence for a captain instead. But after being faced with Laurence's heroism and concern for his dragon in Temeraire's first combat action, Granby realizes he was being a Jerkass, apologises to Laurence, and becomes his friend.
 * Part of the main plot of Honored Enemy, of The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist. During the war between Midkemia and the empire of Tsuranuanni, Dennis Hartraft and his company of Midkemian soldiers find themselves pitted against Asayaga, commander of a Tsurani platoon. The plot hook? Both companies find themselves in the territory of the vicious moredhel (dark elves), who are at war with both nations. These circumstances force the Midkemians and the Tsurani to work together to survive. Eventually, despite many fallings-out due to cultural differences and Dennis' pre-existing hatred of Tsurani for personal reasons, the two become loyal friends.
 * Common in Warhammer 40000 literature:
 * In Dan Abnett's Gaunts Ghosts novels, while Rawne's hostility to Gaunt lasted through many battles, their work together in the Gereon resistance makes friends of them. (In His Last Command, Gaunt reflects on the strangeness of this.)
 * In Dan Abnett's Brothers of the Snake Antoni and Princeps become rather close after saving each others lives while accompanying Priad on a Dark Eldar hunt.
 * In Blood Pact, Kolea and Baskevyl talk, random chit-chat, in the lock-down when they can't act; they know it means nothing, it just expresses their friendship.
 * In William King's Space Wolf, after desiring Revenge the entire novel, Ragnar sees Strybjorn
 * In Graham McNeill's Storm of Iron, Captain Eshara speaks of how war brings out the best and the worst in men, and explains that the bond of brotherhood among the soldiers is not to be found in any other way.
 * In Graham McNeill's Ultramarines novel Dead Sky Black Sun, when Leonid saves the Lord of the Unfleshed from being attacked In the Back, the Lord salutes him as "Now you Tribe!" Minutes later, when the Lord saves his life, Leonid thanks him, and the Lord says, "You Tribe."
 * In Graham McNeill's Horus Heresy novel False Gods, the reunion of Torgaddon and Tarvitz makes their friendship from the heat of battle clear to everyone.
 * In Graham McNeill's Horus Heresy novel Fulgrim, the parting of the Imperial Fists and the Emperor's Children is sad because their fighting side-by-side had made new friendship and renewed old ones.
 * Man, Graham McNeill LOVES this trope.
 * In Ben Counter's Horus Heresy novel Galaxy In Flames, when Tarvitz is, he invokes The Power of Friendship to get Garro to believe his word. It is their Fire Forged Friendship that wins him.

""Everyone else who lets me ride on their dinosaur calls me Carlos"."
 * Later in the same book, Tarvitz tries to join the Emperor's Children partly so he will die with his brothers . In the end, he realizes that
 * In Matt Farrer's "After Desh'ea" (in Tales of the Heresy), Angron laments his dead comrades from the Gladiator Revolt; his War Hounds/World Eaters crave it from him so desperately that Kharn feels envy listening to his account.
 * In Sandy Mitchell's first Ciaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM) novel For the Emperor, the Valhallan 296th/301st is an amalgamation of two regiments that were both depleted by a Tyranid attack... and each regiment collectively hates the other one. One of the first things the titular commissar has to do when he's reassigned there is put down a riot between the two factions through sheer force of will. Afterward, however, thanks to both reforms on Cain's part (including a regimental redesignation to the 597th) and success in its first campaign, the regiment pulls together to become a top-notch fighting force.
 * Amberly also says that Cain has an unusually tight bond with the officers of the regiment, and they come as a comfort to his
 * In James Swallow's Horus Heresy novel The Flight of the Eisenstein, while waiting on a crippled ship to see who the Imperial forces that found them were, Garro, a Space Marine, feels a kinship with the common soldiers also waiting that he had never felt before. When the ship's captain checks what he is saying, Garro urges him to speak: their experiences together should permit candor.
 * In James Swallow's Blood Angels novel Deus Sanguinius, Solus laments having fired on his battle-brothers. (Indeed, in this novel, Rafen must make it clear whenever he refers to Arkio as his brother that he is speaking of a blood relationship on top of their being Blood Angels; everyone's first thought is of this trope.)
 * In Red Fury, after disputes between the Blood Angels and the Flesh Tearers -- including a duel between Rafen and Noxx -- they are sent on a mission. When frantically trying to escape they are last to get on the shuttle, and Noxx gives Rafen a hand up; in the take-off, Turcio sees Rafen help Noxx keep on his feet. Turcio notes what a change it is -- and keeps it to himself. At the end, Noxx admits that he dislikes Rafen a little less.
 * Also in Red Fury, the Flesh Tearer Chapter Master Seth fiercely opposed the request of the Blood Angels Chapter Master Dante and proposed dissolving the Blood Angels, but while they are fighting the Bloodfiends, Seth is knocked so that he is falling in a pit. Shouting "Brother!", rather than "Cousin," Dante grabs him and drags him back. Seth asks if he's worthy of such an address, and Dante asks if he is. At the end, Dante asks the other chapters, again, if they will give him members of their Chapters for the Blood Angels, and Seth declares that they will. He cites the page quote and says that these events have come to pass so that they are reminded that they are not cousins but brothers.
 * In Dan Abnett's Titanicus, when Mechanicus units plug off to fight Chaos despite a schism, one conspirator who engineered the split complains that this trope means they will continue to follow the man leading them into battle.
 * In Lee Lightner's Warhammer 40000 Space Wolf novel Sons of Fenris, Jeremiah and Ragnar have won each other's respect by the end.
 * In Ben Counter's Soul Drinkers novel Chapter War, Gresk and Pallas are veterans; they join Eumenes's revolt but find it hard to fight battle brothers. Gresk talks to Sarpedon in battle, telling him there is no need to fight, and letting him guess about the orbital attack, . When Pallas goes to fight Lygris, Lygris thinks he as much wants to be kill as to kill.
 * In C. S. Goto's Blood Ravens trilogy, Rhamah has his doubts about Ahriman, but wavers because they had, after all, fought side by side against the Harlequins.
 * In Andy Hoare's White Scars novel Hunt for Voldorius, we are assured in the epilogue that the events of the novel formed this between the White Scars and the Raven Guard. Although the last actual scene shows that the Raven Guard vanished, leaving the White Scars with plenty of questions, taking the woman who had been prisoner, and the White Scars were rather annoyed.
 * In Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, the relationship between Harry and Marcone constantly teeters on the brink of this. Harry has to constantly remind himself that Marcone is the leader of the mob (though a nicer mob boss you couldn't hope to find) and his constant, unwavering assistence in battle is a matter of practicality, not any kind of amicable feeling.
 * In Dead Beat, this happens to Harry and Ramirez, as witness Ramirez's saying:

"My old friend had won to the highest place in the navy of Helium, but he was still to me the same brave comrade who had shared with me the privations of a Warhoon dungeon, the terrible atrocities of the Great Games, and later the dangers of our search for Dejah Thoris within the hostile city of Zodanga."
 * In The Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas and Gimli get along rather better after spending time together in Lothlórien after the Battle of Moria.
 * The Return of the King, Éowyn and Merry after Pelennor Fields and kicking the Witch King's butt.
 * A few adventures together helped Mara Jade get over her hatred of Luke Skywalker. Especially in The Last Command when she.
 * John Carter of Mars: In Edgar Rice Burroughs's A Princess Of Mars, John Carter and Kantos Kan forge this during their trials at the Gladiator Games and rescuing Dejah Thoris. In The Gods of Mars, John Carter observes:


 * In Andre Norton's Witch World, Koris and Simon Tregarth, starting with their first meeting. Later the men admit that despite the Falconers' hostility to women and so to the witches, the men of Estcarp have a relationship of less than total hostility, because they're all fighters together.
 * In Wen Spencer's Endless Blue, Turk, knowing that nothing unites better than a common enemy, intends to keep the new Reds away from his veterans until they have a common enemy to unite them. (It goes awry, but that's his intention.)
 * A Song of Ice and Fire: A lot of the Night Watch end up becoming this, but there are quite a few deconstructions of This Trope as well. Brienne and Jaime might count, although it's not so much forged in battle as being captured and tortured by the Bloody Mummers and it ends up becoming more of a Rescue Romance later on.
 * Maxie Rosie and Earl Partners In Grime. Three kids who don't initially know each other, and are not inclined to get along (especially since one of them is a huge tattletale), end up ditching school together. They argue and get annoyed at each other, but come out of it as friends in the end.
 * Good Omens. Crowley, a demon, and Aziraphale, an angel, are quite obviously going to be enemies. However, after an indeterminate amount of time being Enemies, they came to realize that they had more in common with each other than their actual superiors. Thus, they came to an Agreement. They went from thwarting each other's actions to just going about their own business, with little acts of evil and little acts of good here and there, and occasionally holding down the fort for each other, as well as going out for lunch and drinks now and then over the past few millennia. Their part of the plot of the book is siding with each other again Heaven and Hell with the intent of averting the apocalypse. They also get the bonus points for.
 * Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games:
 * Katniss is terrified of this because she knows that in the end, she'll have to kill the other to stay alive.
 * To say nothing of the lead boy, who she purposely avoids for most of the games, hoping one of the other characters will do the dirty work for her.
 * Many of the victors in Catching Fire. Which makes the "game" much worse, as
 * In Stephen Baxter's Flood, the main characters spent four years together as terrorist hostages. After they get out of their captivity, they maintain lifelong connections due to their shared hell.
 * The Three Musketeers:
 * On d'Artagnan's first day in Paris, he is challenged to duels by Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Just as the first duel is about to start the group is challenged by four of the Cardinal's guards. D'Artagnan chooses to fight with the Musketeers, and the quarrels are forgotten when he is instrumental to their victory.
 * D'Artagnan and Rochefort spend the first book as nemeses. In an epilogue, it's explained that they fight several duels before ultimately becoming close friends. This is almost never carried over into any adaptations.
 * In Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero, Leo assures Piper that even if Jason regains his memory, their adventures together will assure that they are still friends.
 * Vorkosigan Saga: In Lois McMaster Bujold's Cryoburn, Miles explains their connection to Raven as this, through his and Roic's being kidnapped and escaping together -- covering up their older connection.
 * Conan the Barbarian: In "The Scarlet Citadel" Conan muses at the end that while Pelias unquestionably saved his life, his freedom, and his kingdom (both keeping him on the throne and preventing it from falling under an oppressor), he nevertheless never wants to lay eyes on him again. (Then, Pelias is unquestionably a Necromancer.)
 * In "The Shadow Kingdom", Kull feels this toward Brule. (No doubt aided by Brule's being the only one he can know is a real man.)
 * In Dennis McKiernan's novel Dragondoom the two main characters, a female human and a male dwarf, become this. Humans and dwarves hate each other at this point in time and they immediately take a dislike to each other. However, it turns out they are both after the same thing and quickly have to team up to survive attacks from the baddies trying to stop them. Eventually
 * In Lewis Carroll's nonsense epic The Hunting of the Snark, the Beaver (a valuable crew member, although no one is quite certain why) and the Butcher (who specializes in killing beavers) bond over an arithmetic lesson and their mutual fear of the Jubjub bird.
 * A variant occurs in Fablehaven--the two protagonists, Kendra and Seth, are actually a pair of bickering siblings who never truly seem to get along. However, the trials they endure in Fablehaven bring them closer together, and help them to truly understand one another and become a true Brother-Sister Team. (It helps that Character Development occurs on both sides.)
 * Similarly, The Beyonders by the same author has Jason and Rachel. Although they do connect due to both being "Beyonders" from Earth, Jason is stubbon and Rachel is argumentative, which ends up pretty much like you'd expect. However, they do begin to connect, and Jason gains a great deal of respect for Rachel once she proves just how badly she wants to avert being a Neutral Female.
 * In Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, Joffy muses how at first the war was pleasant, and the camaderie found nowhere else was a big part of it.
 * Elfsong by Elaine Cunningham had Danilo Thann and Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnober fighting together. While they did sort of lend each other weapons, the first time Danilo gave no-nonsense Elaith a sword loudly singing "Elminster's Jest" and the second time he grabbed the elf's inactive Moonblade (the reason of most pain in his life). Elaith had a foul temper in better situations, and both times was close to killing him after the action. So they eventually became Vitriolic Best Buds.
 * In Jack Campbell's Fearless, after Geary's ship and two others stay to, there are rumors that Geary had , and the captain of the Diamond, one of the other ships, explodes with rage on hearing -- he admits to not having thought well of Geary before, but that's a lie, and he would be proud to fight by Geary.
 * Bail Organa and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space. They eventually become close friends after The two men end up trusting each other implicitly, despite their considerable differences.
 * Gavin Darklighter and Asyr Sei'lar. The first meeting between the two nearly results in Gavin getting executed for (perceived) bigotry despite the arguments of former attorney Nawara Ven, but a raid by Imperial stormtroopers intervenes. Gavin instinctively pulls Asyr out of the way just as the raid begins, allowing Asyr to realize she was wrong about Gavin being a bigot. They stick together until they escape the raid, and maintain a strong relationship afterward.
 * In the Dale Brown novel Shadows of Steel, this happens between Tony Jamieson and Patrick McLanahan. The former is most displeased by having to fly with who he sees as a disgraced now-civilian, while the latter is aloof and mission-focused. They eventually bond during their mission.
 * In War Maid's Choice the Sothoii who fought beside the hradani infantry against three devils and a horde of ghouls don't take kindly to insults against their former enemies, and those who fought  no longer find disparaging remarks about them all that funny either.
 * In Michael Flynn's The January Dancer, at one point Hugh remembers this forming during the civil war.
 * In the Artemis Fowl series, Artemis and Holly's relationship goes from kidnapper and victim (1st book) to reluctant allies (2nd and 3rd books) to friendship (4th book onwards).

Live Action TV
"Dorian: That's why I came for you. You care for each other. After what you've been through together, you couldn't fail to care for each other. Even you, Avon."
 * In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this is how the Scoobies became friends. It is also the most common solution to any major strife among the Scoobies.
 * Rome: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo start out as enemies, but their various adventures together quickly turn them into the best of friends. The characters were based on two real life Roman centurions noted in Julius Caesar's journal for sharing a bitter rivalry and yet each saving the other's life in a single battle, making this trope Older Than Feudalism.
 * In the very first episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor doesn't really seem to like Ian and Barbara very much (the feeling is quite obviously mutual), but he's forced to work with them when the three of them (along with the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan) are captured by cavemen. They manage to win their freedom by showing the cavemen how to make fire. They go on to become very close friends. Their friendship was therefore, quite literally, forged by fire.
 * Firefly
 * Mal and Zoe, to a Platonic Life Partners level. We don't see the exact moment of forging; rather, the war they were in together seems to have been a protracted forging process.
 * Mal and Simon. They rubbed each other the wrong way because of culture clash, suspicion, and the clash of their highly evolved Papa Wolf instincts. But they learned to respect each other as the show progressed.
 * Jayne is a tougher nut to crack, but he and Simon also seem to have reached this point by the end of Serenity.
 * On Chuck, the members of Team Bartowski started out suspicious and paranoid of each other, but have grown into fast friends, saved each others' lives multiple times, and committed treason (and the occasional thoughtful felony) for each others' sakes.
 * Heroes: and  have some sort of bond in the realm of friendishness, after having . Matt protests profusely, going as far as
 * The West Wing: While the main cast were already like family before the assassination attempt at Rosslyn, the crisis, and  can be seen as the moment where any loose ends locked into place. Most notable was Mandy's getting Brother Chucked without sharing the characters' ordeal.
 * In the fifth season Leo's commitment to this trope is put to the test when an old war buddy who saved Leo's life is brought up on corruption charges and Leo is faced with standing by his Fire Forged Friend or doing the right thing.
 * House: YMMV. They don't literally fight together, but House's team shows the occasional odd glimmer of this. They weather the accusations of drug use, euthanasia, murder, and insanity. They keep each other . . . somewhat . . . sane. No matter what tragedy strikes, they always seem to reform afterward. It's a weird example, but it qualifies.
 * Farscape -- John Crichton and Ka D'argo. In the first season, D'argo tries to kill Crichton several times, and in episode 11 Crichton even says, "We're never going to be friends... We can be allies." After fighting side by side for a couple seasons, they end up being each other's BFF. To a lesser extent this became true of the rest of the crew on Moya over the years. Literally forced together through circumstance and picking up strays alongthe way, the group started out barely tolerating one another and seeking to advance themselves at the cost of the others. By the end, with the things they had suffered through together, even the most selfish like Rygel had gone through fire and blood for their friends.
 * Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Belle curses out Bambi when she finds out Bambi was stealing clients (and had found her generally annoying besides). After rescuing each other from punters who turned out to be psychopaths, they become good friends; Belle writes Bambi into her book, and later acts as her maid of honor.
 * Misfits is pretty much made of this trope. Although you could argue that even after being lumped together on community service, getting caught in a freak electrical storm and imbued with godawful superpowers, and then accidentally killing their probation worker and having to dispose of the body, the gang still don't particularly like each other, despite having formed a strange kind of bond.
 * Also defines Blakes Seven (not that any of them would ever admit it).


 * Babylon 5 provides an excellent example in the shape of Ambassador Londo Mollari of the Centauri Republic and G'Kar of the Narn Regime. Hating one another at first for reasons political (the Centauri had previously ruled Narn with an iron fist) and personal, the Centauri invasion of Narn space led at first to a bizarre convergence of interest and eventually a truly Odd Friendship as the series progressed. In the end, a prophecy Mollari had of G'Kar killing him came true in the oddest way imaginable:
 * The Minbari and the humans culminating in an actual marriage between a Satai who voted for the Earth-Minbari war and Starkiller. Not to mention a human going back in time and becoming Valen, and the implication that the humans and Minbari would . Joining to fight off Ultimate Evil does that.
 * In Burn Notice, 2x13, Michael and Bly are dancing toward mutual destruction, when they end up caught in the midst of a bank heist. A few hijinks and a bullet wound later, they decide instead to do each other some favors and leave each other alone. Then they never see each other again (yet).
 * Star Trek the Next Generation: Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
 * Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel
 * In Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson's relationship develops gradually over the first episode, and the familiar Holmesian friendship is fully established when.
 * At the start of Whitechapel, the detectives are a team but almost universally hate their new boss, DI Chandler, who thinks they're unprofessional slobs. Over the course of several stressful but revealing days together, he grows to respect them as real detectives and they decide he's not a such an asshole after all. That doesn't stop the insults, especially between Chandler and Miles.
 * The Vampire Diaries starts off with Damon and Stefan hating each others' guts, Elena's ex-boyfriend Matt disliking both of them, ... By the end of the second season they are one tight knit group, even the ones that should be mortal enemies like the werewolves and vampires. Each time they get closer, it is because of a stronger enemy. Even season 3s big bad seemed like this.
 * In Hell On Wheels Cullen and Elam have, as might be expected between an ex-slave and a former slave owner, a rocky relationship at the best of times. After  they seem headed towards this.
 * Andromeda. Tyr and Seamus, complete with a Give Me A Sword moment during their last stand against the Magog.

Professional Wrestling

 * The Nexus. Originally, they were rookies on WWE's NXT show, and were thus, competing against each other for a WWE contract. However, they all came to loathe WWE management as they forced the rookies to do humiliating challenges like obstacle courses and keg carrying contests, as well as constant rule changes and unchecked abuse from certain WWE pros that were supposed to be mentoring the rookies. This led to the Season 1 winner Wade Barrett uniting all the Season 1 rookies and leading an assault on Monday Night RAW until all eight seven rookies ended up with contracts.

Theater
"Henry V: We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
 * William Shakespeare has Henry V claim this in his Rousing Speech -- but he doesn't actually manifest such friendship toward his soldiers after the battle.
 * The quote at the top of the page is exactly the same as alludes to this bit from the St. Crispin's Day speech:

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,"


 * Cyrano De Bergerac: Wonderfully subverted: Cyrano and Christian’s friendship is not born because they fight against the same enemy, but because they are courting The Ace Roxane, from whose rejection both of them are terribly afraid and must gather all their courage only to face her.

Video Games
"Warfield: "You may be a damned pirate, Raynor, but, whatever happens, you saved my boys today... and I won't forget that.""
 * In Jak II, the original group of four was expanded to eleven when they meet Torn, Ashelin, Sig, Tess, Pecker, Onin and Brutter throughout the course of their stop-the-Baron fight.
 * The Survivors of Left 4 Dead are a group of strangers that happen to be immune to The Virus that produced the Infected and caused the Zombie Apocalypse. In order for them to survive and reach safety, they must work together as a team, fighting through the zombie hordes and sharing their limited medical supplies.
 * Marisa and Reimu of Touhou, who have fought together (and each other) since the second game, consequently forging one of the series closest, most persistent friendships. They later form similar friendships with Sakuya in Perfect Cherry Blossom, several youkai in Imperishable Night and most recently Sanae in Undefined Fantastic Object.
 * Part of Khelgar's loyalty quest in Neverwinter Nights 2 revolves around getting him, Neeshka, and Elanee to become this.
 * The second Tales of Fandom game seems to indicate this kind of backstory for Tales of Symphonia characters Kratos and Yuan, who started out as opposing knights of two warring countries.
 * In Super Smash Bros Brawl, Marth and Meta Knight are both standing near the same giant blob of Subspace. Meta Knight assumes the worst and attacks Marth, who defends himself, until some Primids attack, at which point they both turn on the Primids and realize they're on the same side. They work together for the next leg of the game.
 * In Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic and Knuckles go from mortal enemies to close (if rivalrous) friends after Dr. Robotnik's betrayal of Knuckles in Sonic & Knuckles puts them both on the same side of the fight.
 * In Class of Heroes, The more your team fights and preforms gambits together, the higher their affinity (bond) becomes.
 * In the beginning of most Final Fantasy games, the team are people thrust together but eventually become this over the course of their hardships.
 * Final Fantasy VII has a cold hearted mercenary, an eco terrorist, a buxom bartender, a flower seller, an animal who acoompanies the team because they're going the same way, a fortune telling robot riding a stuffed teddy, a pilot who joins cause he has nothing better to do and (possibly) an immortal gunman and a perky ninja chick. The sequel even has Cloud call them a nakama (Japanese word for "friends").
 * Final Fantasy VIII has the cold team leader, the cheerful guy he can't stand, their former teacher, the unpopular transfer student, a freedom fighting-princess like girl and a cocky gunman. In the end Squall falls for Rinoa, warms up to the others and shows signs of trusting Zell as a completely competent second, regardless of difficulty.
 * Final Fantasy IX has one of these moments with General Beatrix after she defeats you for the third time. She then realizes she was being used and buys the party time to escape. General Steiner and Freya remain behind with her to cover the parties escape. These were two of the characters in your party when she stomped you not five minutes ago. Freya
 * Final Fantasy XIII has everyone at each other's throats from the start. Hope  Sazh   Lightning just dislikes Snow from the start, and Fang
 * Garlot and Leon in Blaze Union, a pair of knights who have both been screwed over by the corrupt political system--Garlot growing up as one of the country's much-abused peasants, and Leon having his face scarred and losing his job and standing as an Imperial guard after his parents were executed as scapegoats to prevent a national crisis. The two of them meet, Leon picks a fight, and his shock and humiliation after losing cause him to become positively obsessed with defeating Garlot. One offer of employment from another of Garlot's enemies, many more battles, a realization that Leon is being used, an emotional final confrontation in a burning city, boatloads of Foe Yay, and a race against time on Garlot's part to save Leon later, they are steadfast friends and teammates.
 * James Raynor and Horace Warfield in Starcraft II hated each other at first, because Raynor was a "pirate" and a "terrorist" and because Warfield was a Dominion general. When the two of them led their attack on Char, and Raynor pulled off a Big Damn Heroes move to save Warfield and his men, Warfield warmed up to Raynor.


 * The same could be said of Tosh, although it depends on your choice in the game. All of Raynor's Raiders seems to be this too, as they're all volunteers apparently, as well (to a degree) Tychus.
 * Halo 3: had the most recent Arbiter,  join forces with The Master Chief,   At first they start out quite hostile towards each other--Chief even shoved a gun right in Arbiter's...mandibles, but by the end they trust each other enough to pull a Back to Back Badasses, and frequently save each other in battle. That and Arbiter
 * Beyond Good and Evil has Jade and her second partner, Double H. Initially, they work together simply because they're both on the same side and there's really no one else around; while they don't actively dislike each other, Double H's mania is mostly one-sided. They start to become friends in earnest after Jade saves Double H's life yet again, with their bond ultimatly cemented during a Take My Hand moment.
 * Persona 4's Investigation Team. It's certainly helped by the fact that part of the plot revolves around defeating each others' out-of-control suppressed feelings.
 * The party in Mass Effect 2 is pretty much this trope. The members are very different from each other, from very diverse walks of life. Heck, there are even a few disagreements that threaten to tear them apart. But in the end, if Shepard is a good (and consistent) leader, the entire party will make it out alive, thanks in no small part to watching each others' backs during the suicide mission.
 * The most blatant example of this is Joker and EDI. They spend almost the entire game bickering at each other until . After that incident they treat each other as equals (most noticably, while prior to the incident they referred to each other as "Mr. Moreau" and "It", afterwards they switch to "she" and "Jeff").
 * In Jade Empire, Dawn Star and Silk Fox often argue, but gain respect for each other after fighting together while Kang blows up a bridge.
 * Squad 422 in Valkyria Chronicles III. Since all of them are convicted criminals, each squad member can't give half a damn if the other guy eats a whole serving of gatling gun barrage. But due to Kurt's compassionate nature and the kind of crazy situations the squad have to go through, they slowly become an example of this trope.

Web Comics

 * Gunnerkrigg Court, after the space battle.
 * Bob and George: Don't you just love how needless violence brings people together?
 * The Trolls of Homestuck after completing their session. Although they're not "friendly" so much as "not actively trying to backstab each other."
 * Well,
 * El Goonish Shive has Susan and Nanase, of all people, becoming friends during the tour to France, though this doesn't mean they're as much as polite with each other. Now that Susan's secret is out, she's even opening up to her.
 * Melissa was Justin's delusional Unlucky Childhood Friend a mention of whom he barely could stand, and Elliot was upset on his behalf. They seem to be on normal terms now, and all it took to heal the situation was and then being scared by his mind-numbing other Secret Identity together.
 * Vaarsuvius and his/her familiar, Blackwing, In Order of the Stick. Blackwing resents being V's familiar, due to V's neglect of him, but when they need to co-operate to destroy Xykon's phylactory, they put aside their differences and develop mutual respect.
 * Impure Blood Fight the bad guys together, stick up for him when the ingrates try to arrest him.
 * Molly and Galatea in The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob got off to a very rocky start, but accepted each other as sisters after being chased by a (small) angry mob and the FBI, and getting lost in the woods.
 * In Our Little Adventure Angelika gets along better with Emily after a fight. Episode title: "Fire forged friends... except with ice."

Web Original

 * Raimi and Oran of Broken Saints are from completely different parts of the world, have completely different outlooks on life, and certainly get off to a rocky start, but by the Grand Finale, it's clear they're destined to be Heterosexual Life Partners.
 * Done on a massive scale in the spoil fanfiction Enemy of My Enemy, where what starts as a tense Enemy Mine situation soon leads to humans & Elites fighting together like brothers. A good example is Flight Officer Perry and Helmsman Zuka.
 * From the Global Guardians PBEM Universe: Majestic, a hero team sponsored and sanctioned by the British government, was originally a group of perfect strangers from all parts of the British isles, brought together by the government quickly and with no warning in response to an attack by the subterranean Lemurians. The experience made them a true team. Later, the team would move from this to a true Band of Brothers while fighting off the super-terrorists known as Jihad.
 * Each team in Red vs. Blue starts off the mortal enemy of the other team, and most people on the same team don't like each other either. As the series progresses, though, they wind up having to help one another through a lot of difficult spots, to the point of coming to each other's rescue.
 * A lot of that is because Sarge is The Only One Allowed To Defeat The Blues.
 * The Mall Fighters in Mall Fight all ended up as this, one way or another.

Western Animation
"Solomon Grundy: Bird-nose help Grundy? But Bird-nose and her friends hate Grundy.
 * Justice League, "The Terror Beyond": Solomon Grundy fights against the Eldritch Abominations alongside the League, and strikes up a friendship with Hawkgirl in particular. Hawkgirl still considers him a friend in the much later episode "Wake the Dead".

Hawkgirl: Grundy help Bird-nose, Bird-nose help Grundy, okay? Excuse me, Hawkgirl smash."


 * In the first episode this is the way the league is formed.
 * Subverted in the second season finale of Megas XLR. After the Glorft commander and Coop work together against Coop's evil alternate universe self, the Glorft commander extends his mech's hand in friendship. Just as Coop is about to accept, he trips in his giant mech, and because of that activates a weapon that destroys most of the Glorft's mech army. Naturally, the friendship is called off.
 * Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime of Transformers Animated. Since Sentinel is a Jerkass to the nth degree, this trope is more or less the only thing keeping them friends.
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender: Aang and Zuko are literally Fire Forged Friends, since both of them can firebend. Unlike typical instances of this trope, their progression from enemies to allies was more gradual, involving several battles where they ended up saving each other. It basically went like this:
 * Up until "The Blue Spirit," Zuko had been single-mindedly pursuing Aang, because he believed he had to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor. Once Aang was captured by Zhao, however, he knew that all his hopes would be ruined if he didn't do something. Not one to take things lying down, Zuko and helped to liberate Aang from his prison, with the ulterior motive of capturing the Avatar himself once they escaped. Near the end of the episode, Aang asks Zuko if he thought they could have been friends had circumstances been different.
 * In "Siege of the North, Part 2," despite Zuko having battled with Katara and knocked her unconscious before absconding with Aang's body while he was in the Spirit World, Aang refuses to leave Zuko out in a blizzard to die. This allows Zuko to escape with his uncle.
 * Almost an entire season later, in "Lake Laogai," Zuko enabling Appa to swoop in at the last minute in a Big Damn Heroes moment, saving the Gaang. It was at his uncle's insistence, but still, he's the one who made the choice.
 * In "The Crossroads of Destiny," Aang and Iroh team up in order to save the people dearest to them, Katara and Zuko, who are being imprisoned by Azula. This was supposed to mark Zuko's Heel Face Turn, but Azula convinces him to join her side with the promise of securing their father's love, which was the one thing Zuko always (thought he) wanted. This delayed the "friends" part for over half of the following season.
 * Finally, in "The Western Air Temple," Zuko, having stood up to his father and proudly declaring that he is going to join the Avatar and his friends, tries to do so, offering to teach Aang firebending. They completely reject him. Near the end of the episode, he proves his intentions are true by helping to save them from Sparky Sparky Boom Man Combustion Man, the assassin that he hired at the beginning of the season. When Aang sees that Zuko understands what a tremendous responsibility he has vowed to take on, he seals their friendship with: "I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher."
 * Similarly, Zuko's going on "field trips" with Sokka and Katara, to break their father out of prison and find their mother's murderer, respectively, help them overcome their distrust out of them.
 * Toy Story: Woody and Buzz.  nearly joins the gang.
 * Samurai Jack: Jack and The Scotsman first meet halfway across a ridiculously long (and thin) bridge, each man going in the opposite direction. A fight breaks out as they try to decide who should turn back first to let the other cross, before they are set upon and chained together by bounty hunters. The resulting Enemy Mine results in a rather strong friendship, and they meet again a few times through the series to engage in some Back to Back Badassery.
 * My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Twilight Sparkle initially doesn't want anything to do with the five quirky ponies who want to be friends with her. Even the fact that they're all willing to accompany her through The Lost Woods just makes her cringe. However, the ensuing adventure helps her connect with them and actually start regarding them as her True Companions.
 * Subverted in the "Mountain of Madness" episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer and Mr. Burns are trapped together in a cabin by an avalanche, when Mr. Burns says, "...once you've been through something like that with a person, you never want to see that person again."
 * Early in the first season of Re Boot in the episode The Tiff, Bob and Dot get into a an argument so bad that they both refuse to ever see each other again. Their friends panic that Bob might leave Mainframe so Enzo enacts a series of Zany Scheme meant to get them to either apologize or invoke this trope, failing utterly on both counts. Eventually they get trapped together in a game, the trope taking full effect and their teamwork saves both the day and their friendship (to say nothing of their unresolved sexual tension)
 * In Josie and The Pussycats, the Pussycats, their manager, and roadie towards Alexandra.

Real Life

 * The Spartans encouraged soldiers to have a good friend so that they'd fight harder to protect them. And if they died, hopefully they'd go Axe Crazy in a quest for vengeance.
 * The Thespians refused to retreat from the Battle of Thermopylae, fighting alongside the Spartans in their final stand. The Spartans marveled at this; Spartans were raised as warriors and expected to lay down their lives on command, but the Thespians were volunteer soldiers, mostly farmers and tradesmen. The Spartans saw the Thespian's willingness to sacrifice themselves as a kind of courage beyond even their own, and were very proud to have such allies in their last moments.
 * Unfortunately they were not only the first but pretty much the last to, so much as remember the Thespian's presence, much less honor their sacrifice.
 * The world has not forgotten.
 * People who go through stressful workplace situations often come out close friends. Or hating each other. Or both.
 * This is also why people sometimes fall in love with other people they've been, say, trapped in collapsed buildings or fires with. See also Rescue Romance.
 * Centurions Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. You know, the pair who became incarnated in HBO's Rome series, except Titus Pullo got demoted to a mere career legionary. In Real Life, an incident is documented in Gaius Julius's memoirs of his Gallic ventures, where the two men who were fierce rivals ended up fighting off a large group of enemies, taking turns to rescue each other, to the cheering of the legion.
 * Although not a life threatening situation, the cohesion formed by working to achieve superordinate goals (a superordinate goal is a desire, challenge, predicament or peril that both parties in a conflict need to get resolved, and that neither party can resolve alone) was the key of the third phase of the Robber's Cave Experiment, information can be found here, and here.
 * Well, soldiers of course. If you´ve been through shit and back (and that doesn´t need to be combat) together, you usually grow closer. Comeradery doesn´t count though, as it is a thing which tells you to help your comrades, even if you hate them.
 * Anyone who has worked on a residential staff in a university or camp setting can probably attest to this, to at least some degree. You might come in a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, ranging from sports jock to video game nerd and everywhere in between, but by the end, you'll probably have developed some of the closest bonds you'll make in college from dealing with the stuff your residents and the residence life office puts you through.