A Friend in Need

"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

- Proverbial

A profound test of character: someone is in trouble and in need of help. Will you stand by him? Help him? Give him moral support? Let others know that you do so, and face their contempt?

It will cost you. It may cost you a great deal.

While pre-existing friendship is possible, demonstrating The Power of Friendship in a Friendship Moment, the character may also be a Mentor, an acquaintance (perhaps nothing more than someone they are Lonely Together with), or even a stranger who sees the character in need and trusts him. It can create friendship and even the True Companions, and it is certainly the point at which a character knows he has friends. (If they are Vitriolic Best Buds, this may be the point at which the audience realizes they are friends.)

It can also be the way the Worthy Opponent demonstrates his worthiness, and the Friendly Enemy his friendliness, by some act such as acting as Character Witness for The Hero, or preventing him from being stabbed In the Back. In a Betty and Veronica triangle, Betty is the one who will come through—often the point at which Love Is Oblivious trope stops.

Conversely, failing at this can be how such groups as the Gang of Bullies or Girl Posse reveal that they are not really friends.

Chronic Hero Syndrome is a tendency to a certain type of this trope.

Super-Trope of Good Samaritan, I Got You Covered, Changed My Mind, Kid, Gondor Calls for Aid, and Greater Need Than Mine. Compare Fire-Forged Friends. Contrast Fair Weather Mentor and Fair-Weather Friend. In a more cynical series villains or even protagonists may wind up Dying Alone instead. Also cynical if the person in need happens to be a true Odd Man Out.

Anime And Manga
"Ichigo: "All right. Let's do this, Chad. You keep doing your thing and don't fight for yourself. But fight for me and I will fight for you. If you ever put your life on the line to protect something, then I'll put my life on the line to protect it too.""
 * Bleach: All the captains of Soul Society and the Vizards joined in the battle against Aizen to help out Ichigo and give him a chance to strike Aizen, letting him know right from the get go that he wasn't alone in this fight.
 * When Rukia was taken back to Soul Society, Ichigo was determined to go rescue her. Same thing when Orihime got captured by Aizen.
 * Also with Chad, who refused to fight a bunch of thugs and Ichigo came to help him.


 * Gankutsuou: Franz. He took his best friend's Albert's place in a duel with The Count, an event both knew would have negative outcomes..


 * Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Used in a pretty dark way -.
 * In the same arc,
 * In another arc, Shion.
 * In case it's not too obvious, the "arc" of the entire series more or less happens to be
 * Also on a lighter note, the origins of the game club (revealed in the Festival Music chapter) were to
 * One Piece: Mr. 2 Bon Kurei (real name Bentham, nickname Bon-chan). His every action outside of when he was part of a Quirky Miniboss Squad is motivated by feelings of friendship and prompts him to take risks even when he has no obligation to do so.
 * In the Alabasta arc, he met and befriended the Straw Hat pirates for all of five minutes before being retrieved by his ship and discovering they were enemies. After the arc ended and they were no longer foes, Bon-chan helped the Straw Hats in their escape from a Marine blockade. While this part was somewhat self-serving since it helps his own escape prospects, when the Straw Hats risk it all to give a farewell to a friend, Bon Chan is so touched he ends up risking his own capture to ensure they can pull it off and get away.
 * Later, during the "Meet Baroque" cover story arc, Bon Kurei gave his aid to Miss Goldenweek and Mr. 5's attempts to rescue Ms. Valentine and the other incarcerated Officer Agents of Baroque Works. This act does result in his capture and sentence to Level Three of Impel Down.
 * After getting out of his cell in the prison Impel Down, Bon-chan offers to help the currently intruding Luffy reach his destination because it coincides with is own goal. He suffers a moment of weakness here and leaves Luffy behind to face Chief Warden Magellan alone, but comes back to rescue Luffy afterward and helps find treatment for his severe poisoning from the loss. The cause for this moment of weakness is that he knows Magellan's reputation . After shouting for seven hours straight for Luffy to recover quickly, Bon-chan is himself recovered in time for the breakout. However,   all while declaring he has no regrets.
 * In essence, this was how Luffy met or helped out his friends, gaining their loyalty. Zoro was about to executed by the marines when Luffy jumped in. He beat the tar out of Arlong for making Nami cry. He helped out Usopp because he saw that Usopp was determined to protect his village. He helped Sanji protect Zeff's resturant ship. He stopped Wapol and defended Chopper's pirate flag. Robin wanted to die, but Luffy saved her. He accepted Franky into his crew, despite being enemies earlier. And he gave companionship and freedom to Brook.
 * Saint Seiya: Shiryu. Even though most of the Bronze Saints are ready to go to great length for one another, Shiryu seems particularly prone to that especially toward Seiya. The most memorable example would be Shiryu willing to bath Seiya's Cloth with most of his blood, aware that it would cost his life, in order to repair it. Without his Cloth, Seiya would not have stood a chance to survive the threat he was facing at the time and thus Shiryu was willing to offer his life for a friend in need.
 * Shiryu's biggest moment of this type was the fight against Perseus Algol, in which he BLINDS HIMSELF to be able to fight him out of his sheer determination to save his friends. An incredible example of Crowning Moment of Awesome, Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Tear Jerker all in one.
 * Shun was willing to risk his life to revive Hyoga in the House of Libra.
 * Shokojo Sera: Sara and her friends, especially Ermengarde, Becky and Peter, have one of these moments almost every other episode.
 * .hack//Sign
 * THE iDOLM@STER - - Centric part of the plot for the whole show, more visible during both Chihaya's and Haruka's Heroic BSOD's.
 * The game THE iDOLM@STER 2 also has its share.

Comic Books

 * Flash: The Flash. He was desperately worried about his dying wife, but he had to look after his two children—until Arsenal cleverly brought his daughter to the League tower. This distracted the Flash's children enough so that Arsenal could look after them all, and Flash, after calling him a friend in need, could join his wife.
 * Omaha the Cat Dancer has a scene when Omaha returns to Mipple City when she learns that her boyfriend, Charles Tabey Jr., has had a mental breakdown. When she visits him at the mental hospital, he is barely coherent with meds and she is extremely upset. On the trip to see him again a bit later, Omaha has a moment where she complains it's not worth visiting him. That's when their mutual friend, Huddle, responds "Well, I guess that depends on whether you are his friend." When Omaha protests, citing their relationship, Huddle answers, "Yes, you are his lover, but are you his friend? Are you prepared to stick with him, even when you don't get anything? If not, then we might as well turn back and go home now." At that, Omaha ponders the point, and tells Huddle to keep going to the hospital.
 * Peter and many characters in Spider-Man, including Mary Jane and Flash. Even random people of New York show surprising courage and humanity when things get tough.

Film

 * Die Hard: In the first movie, the only person to believe John was the policeman Al, who didn't even know the guy.
 * It's a Wonderful Life, the climax of the movie shows.
 * Newsies: This triggers Jack's change of heart after
 * Tropic Thunder: Rick Peck
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: When it mattered most, Jack Sparrow came through for

Literature
"My blood was up. For minutes it had been boiling at the cowardly treatment they had been according this once powerful comrade because he had fallen from the favour of Issus. I had no love for Xodar, but I cannot stand the sight of cowardly injustice and persecution without seeing red as through a haze of bloody mist, and doing things on the impulse of the moment that I presume I never should do after mature deliberation."
 * In Dan Abnett's Warhammer 40000 Gaunt's Ghosts novel His Last Command, when Gaunt and his team are brought before a tribunal on suspicion of being Chaos-tainted, Ludd volunteers to defend them. Although he is a junior commissiar, he knows no one else will and that they will assigned someone who hates them if he doesn't.
 * In Blood Pact, when Dalin Criid delivers a report, Hark knows there's another reason because it doesn't take two and he can see Merrt in the hall behind him. Merrt tells Hark that he came for moral support.
 * In William King's Warhammer 40000 Space Wolf novel Wolfblade, while Ragnar awaits his Trial of the Mystical Jury, his friend Sven stays with him, grousing about the injustice, until their old teacher Ranek comes to send him away, saying his loyalty does him credit but might harm him. Then Ranek explains that he will defend Ragnar, that he volunteered to do so, and that he believes he is not Chaos-tainted.
 * At the end of Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novel The Traitor's Hand, when Cain is awaiting the judgment of the tribunal, the colonel and XO of his regiment wait with him.
 * In Ben Counter's Warhammer 40000 Horus Heresy novel Galaxy in Flames, Tarvitz realizes that the ship following him is under the command of a friend, Garro, and appeals to him,
 * In CS Lewis's A Horse And His Boy, when Shasta tells the horse that he really needs someone who could tell him whether the nobleman is evil, Bree reveals his speech to tell him that he is. Which gives Bree the opening to suggest that they could run away together.
 * Later, when they meet Aravis and Hwin, Aravis reveals that Hwin stopped her from killing herself before their decision to run away together.
 * In Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files novel Death Masks, when Harry needs a second, Charity, although she despises him, truthfully says that Michael would have helped him, and Shiro volunteers to fill the role. Later,.
 * In Dead Beat, Harry hears Billy and Georgia talking: Billy wants to help Harry, but Georgia is afraid that his trouble is too big for them, and so they would end up hindering him instead.
 * And in Proven Guilty, Murphy comes along to help him pull a Big Damn Heroes moment
 * As of Changes
 * Ghost Story
 * In Dorothy L. Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey novel Strong Poison, two of Harriet's friends stick by her through the trial.
 * Ron and Hermione in Harry Potter, who repeatedly risk their lives out of loyalty to Harry when they could easily choose to go about their normal teenaged lives instead. In Ron's case, he's willing to make a Heroic Sacrifice on Harry's behalf as early as the first book.
 * In Nick Kyme's Warhammer 40000 novel Salamanders, Daki'er, when troubled by his discovery of an artifact, appeals to Ba'ken to forget that he is his sergeant and speak to him as his friend; Ba'ken tells him that it does seem that he was intended to find it and touches his arm in support.
 * In Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Gods of Mars, when Xador loses favor because of his defeat at John Carter's hands, all his erstwhile friends fail this utterly, much to Carter's horror. Carter therefore intervenes on his behalf.

""Yet you do not deny the accusation," said O-Tar. "It is not worthy the dignity of a denial," she responded haughtily. "And I were you, woman," said a deep voice at her side, "I should, nevertheless, deny it." Tara of Helium turned to see the eyes of U-Thor, the great jed of Manatos, upon her. Brave eyes they were, but neither cold nor cruel. O-Tar rapped impatiently upon the arm of his throne. "U-Thor forgets," he cried, "that O-Tar is the jeddak." "U-Thor remembers," replied the jed of Manatos, "that the laws of Manator permit any who may be accused to have advice and counsel before their judge.""
 * Later, when a companion proposes a way to escape, John Carter says he can't leave Xodar, and his companion agrees that recapture would be better than deserting a comrade.
 * Still later, Kantos Kan, Carter's Fire-Forged Friends from A Princess Of Mars, pledges his support to Carter after hearing a death sentence on him. Fortunately, this inspires the crowds.
 * In The Chessman of Mars, when Tara is on trial as a Corphal, U-Thor advises her:


 * In A Fighting Man of Mars, when Tan Hadron has been condemned to The Death, his fellow prisoner Nur An condoles with him and tells him they will suffer together. Tan Hadron encourages him, reminding him they aren't dead yet.
 * In Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals, Glenda and Trev both stick up for Nutt. Trev, in fact, tells Ridcully that Nutt is his friend, and he won't stand for him being hurt.
 * In Winnie the Pooh,
 * Christopher Robin pretends to believe that Pooh is a cloud to try to fool the bees and shoots down the balloon to get Pooh away from the bees.
 * Christopher Robin reads to Pooh when he's stuck in Rabbit's front door.
 * Pooh and Christopher Robin go to rescue Piglet in the flood, and Owl, well-intentioned, goes to encourage him with news that rescue is coming and tell him a story to divert his attention (accidentally endangering as it nearly puts Piglet to sleep and causes him to slip into the flood, but he meant well).
 * Pooh helps Tigger finds something to eat.
 * Tigger goes to rescue Rabbit when he's lost in the mist.
 * Piglet volunteers his home for Owl to live in after Owl's is destroyed.
 * Pooh says Piglet would come live with him if he lost his home.
 * In Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Darnay returns to France to save the man who had adminstered his estates while he lived in England; and, of course, Sydney Carton.
 * In Wen Spencer's Endless Blue, Mikhail recalls such moments between him and Turk: Turk's stopping him from committing suicide, and his attacking a man who had hurt Turk, because Turk had bitten the man, and by attacking, he ensured that this was not just a matter of a Red attacking a human.
 * In Patricia C. Wrede's Thirteenth Child, William comes to visit Eff every day when she is recovering from rheumatic fever.
 * In Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, David Logan
 * In Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Badger, Rattie and Mole set out to prevent Toad's insane obsession with cars from ruining him. He escapes their attention by convincing Mole that he needs a doctor. Later, they help him reclaim Toad Hall.
 * In JRR Tolkien's Return Of The King, Faramir overrules the healers in this much: Eowyn can go walk in the garden and look east.
 * In John C. Wright's The Phoenix Exultant, assistance by the Old Woman of the Sea, Harrier, and various Neputanians keeps Phaethon alive and gets him to his ship.
 * In John C. Wright's Chronicles of Chaos—the children for each other, all the time. Plus:
 * Lelaps, set to track them, deliberately leads pursuit away.
 * offers to Amelia to assist them. They wisely do not trust him but have to get his help.
 * Romus helps against Mrs Wren and leaves Amelia and Quentin with gifts.
 * Miss Daw can not fail to warn Boggins if they try to escape, but she does overlook everything that is not an escape attempt, and dallies when she must tell him. At her request, also lets Amelia escape.
 * Sam picks up Amelia when she tries to hitchhike. She jumps in front of him when shoots.
 * The ship picks them up in the middle of the sea. Victor weighs whether to help the ship even at the price of risking the universe because of this assistance; Colin refuses to not help. And when Amelia goes off to save them all, Vanity and Colin come after her.
 * In Aaron Allston's Galatea in 2-D, when Roger escapes the attack on his life, he deduces that Donna has also been targeted. He goes to her, finds the paintings brought to life haunting her, and when this triggers an attack, gets her away safely.
 * In Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind, when Johnny realizes Bigmac has seen his friends crash the car they stole, he is running after him before he even thinks; he stops Bigmac from getting too close.
 * In L. Jagi Lamplighter's Prospero's Daughter, toward Mephisto, though it takes Miranda a while to figure out how, and then how badly he paid for it.
 * In Prospero Regained, the siblings are always having to rescue each other. And come through.
 * In PG Wodehouse's Hot Water, Packy sets out to help Jane and Blair Eggleston out of fellow feeling another pair of lovers. Later, Soup Slattery does something because among his few principles is to never let down a pal.
 * Helping friends is also Bertie Wooster's raison d'être, which provides the plots of most of his stories.
 * In Teresa Frohock's Miserere an Autumn Tale, Lucian quickly goes to help Lindsey when he realizes she needs it, without having met her first.
 * In Devon Monk's Dead Iron, when Rose is thrown out of the meeting where the Witch Hunt is started, she resolves that nothing can stop her from helping Mae.
 * In Gene Stratton Porter's Michael O'Halloran, Douglas, in the opening, intervenes when Mickey is about to fight a boy twice his size for cheating him, and makes the other boy cough up the money. Shortly thereafter, Mickey takes in the crippled girl Peaches to prevent her going to the Orphanage of Fear.
 * In Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom book Magic to the Bone, Zayvion does this, repeatedly, for Allie, such as giving her money for a taxi. She is suspicious of motives, though his working for her father does give her some reason.
 * In John Hemry's Paul Sinclair series, most of the junior officers will stick together, as when they attend Wakeman's trial to provide moral support during Sinclair's testimony.

Live Action TV

 * Simon Tam's rescue of his sister in Firefly. One of the best examples ever. As it happens both The Government and her parents who were supposed to protect her, betrayed her. And her big brother did not.
 * "I didn't think you'd come for me." "Well you're a dummy".
 * "You take care of me, Simon. You always take care of me. My turn."
 * Don't you dare forget that Simon stood besides her on that pyre!
 * The whole team storming into Nishka's fortress to rescue Mal without a moment's hesitation.
 * Mal protects his old war-buddy from an evil Alliance official in The Message.
 * Mal comes to Inara's aid in Serenity even knowing it was a trap.
 * In Torchwood, after Ianto deceived them all, nearly killing them all, by hiding a Cyberman whom he did not realize was no longer the woman he loved, and the Cyberman was killed, Ianto grieved. Much to his surprise, Jack touched his arm in a gesture of support.
 * Sarah and Chuck unhesitatingly went rogue to try and help their partner Casey when they thought he'd been falsely accused of treason.
 * Similarly, Casey has covered for Sarah and Chuck with Beckman more than once when they bent the rules.
 * In defense of Chuck, his best buddy Morgan attempted to attack a Ninja in the pilot. Said ninja promptly beat the crap out of him, but it's the thought that counts.
 * In Star Trek: The Original Series, the Enterprise crew often risk their lives to help a fellow member. In "Amok Time", Kirk was willing to disobey a direct order from Starfleet to help Spock get to Vulcan, fortunately Spock's family matriarch pulls some strings to make sure the Captain is not in trouble. In "Turnabout Intruder", Spock was the first one to believe that Kirk was in another body and defended him when the imposter tried to kill Kirk. In "The Empath", Mc Coy knocked out both Kirk and Spock so that they won't be subjected to a torture that would either kill them or leave them insane and he would be chosen instead of them.
 * In the pilot episode of Sherlock, when Sherlock is with the serial killer and.
 * Sherlock returns the favor in the second episode by
 * In the third episode, when an unknown criminal is strapping innocent people to bombs as part of his mind games with Sherlock, John calls Sherlock out for not caring that there are lives at stake. Sherlock shrugs this off of course, reasoning that caring about them won't help save them, so he won't make the mistake of doing so. Then.
 * In the Doctor Who episode The War Machines, when another man is hassling Polly, Ben tells him to stop and does not retreat from a fight. (Polly starts complaining, but Dodo urges that he was only trying to help.) Then the Doctor shows up looking for Dodo, and Ben stays with them until they close shop, and continues to be involved in the adventure for no more reason than that they need help.
 * Sam's gone off to unknowingly break the last seal and Dean's been put on ice by the angels. His only hope is to convince his one angelic ally to help him out. Keeping in mind that this guy was tortured for liking Dean too much, it's kind of a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming when Cas comes through.
 * The original Battlestar Galactica has Apollo and Boomer help clear Starbuck's name in one episode, "Murder on the Rising Star".
 * Starsky and Hutch are willing to go out of their own ways to help each other when each is shot, poisoned or even framed for murder.

Theatre

 * Timon of Athens plays with this trope. Timon is very generous to his friends at the start of the play—he gives one friend money so he can get married, and bails another friend out of an execution sentence. When Timon goes bankrupt, you expect his friends to repay their debt, but they don't. This act of betrayal is so great Timon becomes a misanthropic hermit and swears to never be kind to anyone ever again.

Webcomics

 * El Goonish Shive, Tedd swallows his longstanding fear of being called girly to support Susan in her cause by crossdressing at school. It's a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * One should note that crossdressing in this case meant wearing a vest. He didn't go all out and wear the skirt, which leads one to wonder if the hecklers were overreacting just a tad.
 * Many instances in Gunnerkrigg Court:
 * In Chapter 3: Reynardine, Annie throws Winsbury, who was bullying Kat.
 * In Chapter 8: Broken Glass And Other Things, The faeries consider this a possibility.
 * Kat rescues Annie.
 * In Chapter 12: Mainly Involves Robots, Antimony thinks she should find out what happened to Robot
 * In Chapter 13: A Week For Kat, in the teeth of the Green-Eyed Monster, Annie does it again.
 * In Chapter 22: Ties, a young Eglamore stands up for a friend. "A noble act can not be dismissed."
 * In Chapter 29: A Bad Start, a robot consoles another robot after a rude treatment.
 * The Dreamland Chronicles:
 * Felicity saves Alex from the dungeons.
 * They save Felicity from the Kraken.
 * Saving her from studies. So to speak
 * The Beast Legion, Brilight saves Xeus in the nick of time from Dragos
 * Bob and George: Zero
 * Bittersweet Candy Bowl, The most common situation where Mike and Paulo aren't rubbing each other the wrong way.
 * Megatokyo: Killing zombies together
 * Wapsi Square: Katherine helping Monica
 * Evil Diva: to a girl without lunch money,to a kitten—in spite of the trouble she gets into.
 * In Strays, the blue-cloaked stranger pays for Meela.
 * how he met Feral
 * In Impure Blood, Anyone willing can come through me first—and Mac's willing to fight, too.
 * In Prickly City, Carmen feels small, lost, and rudderless—Winslow offers to carry her for a time—and she feels big.
 * In Nip and Tuck, after your dreams have crashed and burned -- why not let a little girl actually have a dance? and more after you?
 * And after your boyfriend has to be sent to the hospital to stop his violence, true friends will prevent your visiting him.
 * In Endstone, Kyri promises Cole to be there when the power runs out.
 * In the Backstory Jon implored this from Kyri when they first met.
 * In Sinfest:
 * Slick provides shelter, and is rewarded.
 * Baby Blue warns Fuschia in time for her not to get caught by Satan
 * Fuschia tries to cheer up Baby Blue.
 * Monique shows Tangerine how shoes go—though she does expect Tangerine to reciporate. Then, those are Monique's shoes.
 * Tangerine checks up on Lil Evil's shoes.
 * Bros.
 * After some temptation not to, Squigley comes through.
 * Tea for the distraught.
 * Seymour reacts strongly to the possibility of Lil E's being harmed.
 * Bubbha to Slick's laptop.
 * In Rusty and Co,
 * A gorgon fills them in strange behavior.
 * The Shakespearean gibbering mouther shows them the way to the castle.
 * In No Rest for The Wicked,
 * November sets out into the woods to look for a way to clear Claire's name, Perrault follows, and reveals that Red also went, first.
 * Claire decides to help on quest.
 * Claire's mother-in-law, though disapproving of her, tries to protect her.

Video Games

 * Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright became a lawyer because of this trope. Never mind that said friend is someone Phoenix knew for eight months in grade school, and that he doesn't necessarily even want Phoenix's help in the first place.
 * Aeka's route in Yume Miru Kusuri focuses on this. Kouhei starts as the only person who will speak to her.
 * The rationale behind the various Loyalty Missions in Mass Effect 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic. Examples include:
 * Helping Neeshka prove she is the best thief in the city by breaking into the secure mansion of a famous art collector.
 * Getting Bastila and her mother to reconcile their differences.
 * Reuniting Thane Krios with his son.
 * Getting Alistair in touch with his only remaining family.
 * Helping Jolee's old war buddy with a murder charge.
 * Helping Garrus track down the traitor who sold out his team to the people who killed them all.
 * Killing Flemeth to ensure Morrigan doesn't become her next victim.
 * Helping Khelgar complete his lifelong quest to become a monk.
 * Also the climax of Neverwinter Nights 2, in which Garius tries to get several party members to betray you. Some of them even listen to him, if you were mean to them. Qara is especially hard to keep on your side.
 * At the Betrayer's Gate in Mask of the Betrayer, you can set down a Line in the Sand for your entire party. If you treated them well, nobody refuses.
 * Also, the reason Qara is so hard to keep on your side is because she's...very hard to get along with, and because if she does stick by your side, Sand goes to Garius instead. There is no middle ground, and Qara isn't very popular.
 * The scene immediately after The Reveal in Knights of the Old Republic, if you play it right.
 * In Planescape: Torment all your party members will one by one confront the Transcendent One and refuse its offer to betray the Nameless One and even attempt to put up a desperate fight against the monster.
 * In Final Fantasy X, the whole gang goes off to rescue Yuna from her marriage to Seymour, despite pretty much effectively declaring war on the Yevon church.
 * When Sora was about to be attacked by Riku, Goofy and Donald Duck stepped in, essentially breaking their promise to their king to stand by the one who held the Keyblade, which at this point, Riku had.
 * Grand Theft Auto San Andreas - Cesar leading Carl to the Wham Mission is what solidifies the friendship between the two.
 * Fading Hearts revolves around this trope, with Ryou trying to help his friends Claire and Rina with their problems. Claire's Jerkass boyfriend is verbally abusing her, while Rina's behaviour is becoming more evasive, making Ryou wonder what is really happening.
 * In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Elena keeps coming to Nate's rescue despite their prickly relationship, and . Compare her to Chloe, the sex kitten love interest of this instalment, who.

Western Animation

 * After an argument with Danny, Sam inadvertently wished they never met, causing a nearby Literal Genie to grant it; Danny ends up losing his powers and memories of her. With a ghost on the loose, Sam goes to great lengths to restore Danny back to normal, struggling since she only has herself to pull the whole thing off, not to mention Danny's great reluctance. He's grateful by end.
 * The Disney version of The Jungle Book has a song about this very trope, performed by four friendly singing vultures to a depressed Mowgli. They do flee when Shere Kahn turns up, but during the fight they also swoop in and harass the tiger, so it's not like they were lying.

Real Life
According to many YouTube videos, The United States towards Japan.