Friendship Moment

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"That's right, I stepped up! She's my friend and she needed help! If I had to, I'd pee on any one of you!"
—Joey from Friends, proving what a good friend he is.

A sort of platonic (Ho Yay and Just Friends notwithstanding) version of Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other—a moment of pure love and empathy displayed by one friend to another that goes beyond the call of duty, that may not quite reach the level of a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, but is still pretty 'Aw' worthy anyway.

Often very sappy, though it doesn't have to be.

See also the Morality Pet, "Friend or Idol?" Decision, A Friend in Need. Often takes place between True Companions.

Examples of Friendship Moment include:


Anime and Manga

  • Ohtori offering to give up his spot on the Hyoutei team for Shishido, because he believes Shishido has earned it, in The Prince of Tennis.
  • Many many instances in Katekyo Hitman Reborn, with Tsuna gaining a backbone to stand up and fight for his "family". Most definitely happening more and more as the series goes on and Tsuna matures.
  • Ganta from Deadman Wonderland has one while protecting Shiro from a berserk Nagi, giving a Never Give Up Speech while taking all the blows.
  • One Piece: Epic promises for one of them to be the best, Kuina talking about her problems concerning being a female swordsman with Zoro and his simply listening to her is rather touching in itself, especially when you consider the latter's personality.
    • Another epic moment was the Straw Hats went to rescue Robin, who offered herself to the government for their safety (a Friendship Moment in itself), essentially declaring war of the entire world. What makes it so heartwarming is the fact that the Straw Hats don't know why the government wanted Robin or how Robin used to be betrayed by every single person she had met. Luffy points out that no matter what, no matter what burden or difficulty Robin had faced, they would still come for her.
      • It's a small one, but it counts.Especially when you consider that both Chopper and Zoro have trouble in the friends department. While they are in the desert and Usopp, Luffy and Sanji are arguing over water, Zoro holds out his cantine to Chopper and offers him some. Chopper politefully declines. What makes it so special is that the other characters are being so selfish and yet both Zoro and Chopper are willing to go without for the other. Not to mention that Zoro has been dragging Chopper through the desert almost the entire time.
    • One of the most epic moments comes in the Arlong arc, when all of the money Nami was earning over the years to buy her village back was taken by a corrupt Marine and her village decided to fight Arlong despite having no chance to win. Luffy appears, stopping Nami when she was furiously stabbing her arm where Arlong's tattoo was. She screams at him to go away but soon crumbles into tears and begs him to help her. He puts his treasured hat on her and proclaims of course he will. Then the camera pans to the rest of the Straw Hats who all agree without hesitation to help her. This was probably the moment when the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits became the tight-knit crew that they are today.
  • Asuna and Ayaka of Mahou Sensei Negima get one of these first when Ayaka agrees to drop the trip to Wales argument, then later when she sees the Ala Alba off. Ayaka's last words to Asuna were to keep Negi safe, then when Asuna says she will no matter how much injury she takes, Ayaka yells at her to stay safe as well.
    • Chapter 350 has another one between Asuna and Ayaka. Starting the next day, Asuna is going to be asleep for 100 years, so they will most likely never see each other again. After a fight that ends with Ayaka hugging Asuna while crying her eyes out, Asuna hugs her back and says the following:

Meeting you might have been the best luck I had in my life.

  • Digimon lives and breathes this trope.
  • In Bleach, these are most often told through the flashback stories (chapters designated by negative numbers or decimal points).
    • Chapter 0.8, a wonderful error, is when Mizuiro realizes that Ichigo appreciated his honesty, and is not the thug that Keigo made him out to be.
    • Chapter 25.2, things like loneliness, a bittersweet variation when Tatsuki contemplates how she and Ichigo drifted apart over the years, but realizes that she still has a connection to him, no matter how trivial. This proves important to a heartbreaking plot point later. When Tatsuki confronts Ichigo about Orihime's disappearance.
    • Chad's flashback when Ichigo promises to fight for him, because Chad refuses to do so for himself.
    • Chapter -16, Hitsugaya realizes that Matsumoto is someone who understands his situation when she asks him, "You can hear a voice, right?".
  • Happens a lot in Ouran High School Host Club; some examples that especially come to mind are everyone standing up for Tamaki in episode 14, trying to save the club in the last two episodes, and especially Kyoya running all around France during a school trip for the sake of finding Tamaki's mother and proving that she was all right.
    • Also in the manga, when the entire school bands together to get Tamaki to the airport before his mother's plane takes off without his having seen her. They bring in things like boats, helicopters, and cars to get him there despite many merely being customers of the host club or other students.
  • When Sasuke asks Naruto why he cares about him so much Naruto's response is to smile and say "Because we're friends".
  • In the manga of Lucky Star, there's a marathon coming up, and frail Yutaka has decided to run it, despite her worries. Minami offers to run alongside, but Yutaka wants her to do her best, as well, instead of hanging back with her. The day of the marathon comes, and while the athletic Konata wants Minami to go easy on them, but Minami is going to comply with her friend's wishes. After running a while, Yutaka is about to give out, when she sees and hears Minami up ahead, cheering her on! Did she sacrifice her position in the race? But then, she sees the ribbon attached to her shirt. Minami ran to the end, collected her ribbon, and came back to cheer her on. This gives Yutaka the encouragement needed to finish. Afterward, Konata sees Yutaka, Minami, and Hiyori together, and points them out to Kagami.

Kagami: Oh, I get it. No way you can beat that.

  • Soul Eater: When Crona first comes to Shibusen, Kid throws a party in their honour, and Crona is confused about why the main grouping is being nice to him/her. The answer:

Isn't it obvious? We're your friends.

Comic Books

  • Watchmen: Rorschach telling Nite Owl he's a good friend and that he knows he isn't easy to deal with.
  • When Namor stands up to the rest of the Illuminate about sending the Hulk into space.
  • In Iron Man issue 184, James Rhodes and two other guys were working on creating their own tech company, they were getting ready to leave for California. Tony Stark came up asking for a job. In the past few months he had lost his company, lost access to his money, gave up being Iron Man and is homeless. Not only that but he had only spent a week being sober. Tony was afraid that he would be rejected for what happened. But Rhodey and the others promptly accepted him.


Fan Works

  • There are several in With Strings Attached. A good example is when John joins Paul on the beach the morning after Paul exploded:

A long, knowing, approving, slightly uncomfortable look passed between them. We're unknown quantities. We're sharing an amazing experience. We're friends.

  • There are a few in part 1 of The Vinyl Scratch Tapes, such as Vinyl going berserk when Octavia's concert is shut down.


Film

  • Mamma Mia! had Rosie and Tanya sing 'Chiquitita' (and later 'Dancing Queen') to a despondent Donna.
  • C-3PO in Star Wars: "You can repair [R2-D2], can't you? ... Sir, if any of my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them!" Also, Han Solo coming back to help Luke Skywalker blow up the Death Star in A New Hope. Without the diversion provided by the arrival of the Millennium Falcon, Luke might arguably have made the shot, but not fared so well.
  • Played with in Mean Girls: Karen lovingly tries to catch Gretchen in the circle of trust, who had just alienated the entire school with a spectacularly ill-judged and self serving 'apology'.
  • Holden offering to sleep with Banky in Chasing Amy; just because a Friendship Moment is selfless and moving, doesn't mean it can't also be an awful idea.
  • The following exchange from Tombstone, when Doc Holliday breaks out into a violent cough after a gunfight:

Jack Johnson: Doc, you ought to be in bed. What the hell you doin' this for, anyway?
Doc: Wyatt Earp is my friend.
Jack Johnson: Hell, I've got lots of friends.
Doc: I don't.

McCoy: I'm gonna tell you something that I... never thought I'd ever hear myself say. But it seems I've missed you. And I don't know if I could stand to lose you again.

    • Also, in the new movie, Kirk volunteering to go with Spock on a seemingly suicidal mission ("See? We are getting to know eachother.") is an empathetic moment that marks a turning point in their relationship.
  • Parodied in Tangled; after Maximus the horse and the Snuggly Duckling Thugs break Flynn out of jail, Flynn has one of these with Maximus before the horse gives him a look that says "Save it, pretty-boy, you've got a princess to rescue!"


Literature

  • There are plenty such moments in Harry Potter; perhaps the first is Ron and Hermione's refusal to allow Harry to go alone to confront the villain in the climax of the first book.
  • In PG Wodehouse's school novel Mike and Psmith, Mike gets the blame for a prank he wasn't responsible for, and can't defend himself because it would mean admitting he was out of school at night; his usually diffident best friend Psmith owns up, even though he didn't do it either and it means probable expulsion. When Mike tries to thank him, he acts hurt by the accusation that he would do something nice just to help out a friend.
  • "For God's sake, Watson, tell me you are not hurt!"
  • In Effi Briest, Effi has been thrown out by her husband, cut off by her parents, and shunned by everyone she knows. Then one of the servants from her husband's household comes to her and says she'd rather work for Effi; she is greeted not only with joy but with demonstrations of affection.
  • Beverly Cleary's Ellen Tebbits has Ellen being teased by Otis, the class pest, for coming to school dirty (long story). Her friend Austine lets him have it:

"Otis Spofford! Mind your own business! Ellen is my best friend and I won't have you picking on her!"

  • The Idiot has a scene where Prince Myshkin and Rogozhin (both in some sort of love with Nastasya, as part of a larger Love Dodecahedron) meet to talk. They discuss religion, resolve to remain friends regardless of which of who Nastasya chooses, and then exchange crosses—an act symbolizing spiritual brotherhood—before they part.


Live Action TV

  • As might be imagined, most episodes of Friends. The page quote comes from an episode where Monica is stung in the foot by a jellyfish and the only way to relieve the pain is by, well, urine.
    • Actually the page quote is a subversion. Joey, it turns out, couldn't do it, so Chandler had to step up.
    • The chorus of the Theme Song even spells it out:

I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour.
I'll be there for you, like I've been there before.
I'll be there for you, 'cause you're there for me too.

  • Dawsons Creek, too.
  • Cruelly (but hilariously) subverted in an episode of Blackadder: In a moment of supreme generosity Percy movingly offers his life savings to bail out a bankrupted Blackadder... but discovers that Edmund had long since stolen the money and spent it.
    • And he still plunged to new depths to help him out of that mess later.
  • Tom Paris and Harry Kim in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Chute": Harry faces down a mob that wants to beat up Tom. "This man is my friend. Nobody touches him!"
    • Reinforced at the end of the episode when Harry apologizes to Tom for going crazy, and Tom says that he remembers Harry saying the line, and is grateful.
    • Star Trek as a whole is responsible for a massive, massive number of these, and while there are entirely too many to list, one that stands out is the TOS episode "The Empath", in which McCoy knocks out both Kirk and Spock in order to sacrifice himself to the Enemy of the Week.
    • Data and Deanna have a more subtle moment at the end of the TNG episode Tin Man. Deanna's is an empath who relies on emotions to do her job while Data can't even seem to understand them. So to see this moment, and the quiet wonder of Deanna's face as she realises "My god, he gets it." seriously tugged the heartstrings.

Data: Through joining... they have been healed. Grief has been transmuted to joy, loneliness to... belonging.
Deanna: Data? You do understand.
Data: Yes, Counselor. When Tin Man returned me to the Enterprise, I realized... this is where *I* belong.

  • Sawyer routinely gets these moments on Lost, giving them a Pet the Dog nature as well. He has three of them in the season 4 finale alone: going after the helicopter with Jack, going after Hurley at the Orchid, and jumping out of the helicopter to prevent Hurley from doing so.
  • Surprisingly enough this has appeared on House. Once in the pilot, where House takes on a medical case he doesn't want to take, because he thinks the patient is Wilson's cousin. And in a season two episode where House has mistreating Wilson as per usual, and worriedly asks if the two of them are okay. In most cases those wouldn't count as Friendship Moments, but given that it's House...
    • Don't forget trying to infect Steve McQueen (his pet rat) with the disease that is killing Forman in order to diagnose it.
    • In Season 5's "The Social Contract," House finds out that Wilson's schizophrenic younger brother Daniel has been found and that Wilson is about to see him again for the first time since they were in school. After making his usual set of snarks, House 180's and concludes "and you'll probably need some company." (Eventually subverted by the fact that House has his Eureka Moment right before Wilson is supposed to go in and misses the brother's reunion because he's on the phone with his team. Corrected a few scenes later when House asks Wilson if everything went alright.)
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy had many of these, but perhaps the crowning one on the show is when Xander freaking saves the world with the power of his love for Willow and the depth of their friendship is enough to pull Willow away from some of the blackest magic EVER.
    • There is another more low-key, but just as heartwarming Xander moment in the first episode of season 4. A lonely, depressed and injured Buffy runs into Xander at the Bronze, who crouches down before her, proposal-like, and tells her: "You're my hero. Now let's go put that bitch in the ground!"
    • Xander does get the majority of these moments, his "You're extraordinary" speech he delivers to Dawn in the 7th season being another.
      • Which was also a bit of Foreshadowing. As of Season 8, they are together.
    • When the four main characters form a gestalt entity (Buffy=hand, Giles=brain, Willow=spirit), Xander is the Heart. The above examples are some of the reasons why. Of course, this completes the opposition to the stereotypes 'Men do the fighting, women are the emotional and supportive ones'.
    • The whole gang gets one towards Tara in Family: "We are her blood kin, who are you?!" "We're family"
    • Buffy and Willow have their greatest alienation at the end of Season 6, with Willow attacking, calling Buffy 'superbitch', etc. When Willow returns at the start of Season 7 and is injured. Buffy joins hands with her, so Willow can take some of Buffy's energy to heal faster.
    • Another one in the penultimate episode of season four, when after their friendship has nearly been broken apart by Spike's machinations, Buffy tells Willow "you're my best friend" and not long after the two hug Xander. This is also a funny one because of Xander's response:

Buffy: Xander!
Willow: Oh, our wonderful Xander!
Buffy: You know we love you, right?
Xander: Oh God, we're gonna die, aren't we?

    • And in season 6 when Xander says he doesn't know what he'd do without Buffy and Willow, to which she replies "Let's never find out".
  • Murphy Brown was like a car whose battery was powered by these. The FYI crew may constantly bicker and fight, but damned if they won't drop everything at a moment's notice to go to the ends of the earth for each other if the stakes are high enough.
    • They would also often be delightfully subverted at the last possible moment. In one episode, FYI as a whole wins an award, and of course, everyone ends up bitching and moaning about which one of them deserves it the most. In their squabbling, they end up breaking said award into many pieces. With the award's fragments all in a box in front of them, Miles delivers an incredibly heartwarming speech which causes a massive Friendship Moment... and it's ruined at the very last second when, off-screen, among the sounds of everyone sorting through the pieces of the award, Frank is heard saying, "Aw, Murph, you took the biggest piece!"
  • Many such moments occur on Scrubs. J.D. and Turk, being the show's Heterosexual Life Partners, are the most common recipients. One of the best was Turk telling J.D. that without J.D.'s constant treating of him as though he could accomplish anything, Turk might not have got where he has in in life.
    • J.D. and Dr. Cox also have several, such as J.D. talking Cox out of a Heroic BSOD/Angst Coma in season 5 with a long, quiet monologue about how proud he is of him, and that he's the kind of doctor J.D. has always wanted to be.
  • Pullo often shows his willingness to do just about anything for Vorenus on Rome. However the biggest moment comes in the episode the Spoils when Vorenus (in spite of having claimed Pullo is dead to him) walks in and kicks some serious butt during a gladiator fight, which is supposed to be Pullo's execution, thereby saving his friend's life and risking the wrath of Caesar, all at the same time.
    • Interestingly enough, Octavian keeps having moments like these in regards to Pullo and Vorenus as well, for example in a season two episode where he helps Pullo find Vorenus and even puts his own men to help search, even though Vorenus is fighting for the opposite army.
  • Howard and Vince of The Mighty Boosh are usually so antagonistic toward each other, it's hard to believe they're actually friends, but many episodes include sentimental moments where Howard and Vince are genuinely kind to each other, even sweet. Tends to end with a crimp.
  • In the episode "Divide and Conquer" of season 4 of Stargate SG-1, Jack is sitting playing with his yoyo, with Daniel standing nearby watching.

Daniel: Yep, I think these are the Jack O'Neill moments I'll probably miss the most.
Jack: What?
Daniel: What?

    • Those two have a lot of those, the "Spacemonkey" scene being one of the cutest. Daniel's death in season five drags the entire team into one long Friendship Moment.
  • Angel and his team, they get at least one a season. A few that come to mind are: Wes helping them out of tight spots, even though they'd pretty much ditched him (justifiably), Fred telling Spike he's worth saving, and the following quote from the season one finale, while Cordelia was in the hospital.

Doctor: (To Angel) Sir, you can't be in here! Are you family?
Angel: Yes!

    • And then there's this:

Cordelia: Are you saying that you love me?
Angel: I, uh...
Cordelia: (Very nonchalantly) I love you, too.
Angel: What?
Cordelia: Hey everybody! I love Angel, and he loves me! We love you guys, and you love us!
The Others: (Distantly) We love you, Angel!
Cordelia: We've been saying it all day, just in case that thing comes back to kill us all.

    • The above is part of an infuriating Can't Spit It Out thing with Cordelia, but still...
  • In Burn Notice, Fiona Glennane and Sam Axe are not what you'd call the tightest of friends (er, she's still not over that time he ruined one of her illegal arms deals), but in "Long Way Back", Michael starts to ask Sam to finish the job and rescue Fiona if he happens to go down. Sam doesn't even let him finish before saying "oh, I'm getting Fi outta there no matter what . . . just don't tell her I said that".
  • Thirty Rock: Jack flying from Washington to New York when Liz's pregnancy turns out to be a false alarm; in another episode, Tracy realising he's so rich he never needs to work again, but staying at TGS anyway to save Kenneth's job.
  • The Merlin episode Moment of Truth. All of it.
    • The episode "The Labyrinth of Gedref". Particular the line "I had no idea you were so keen to die for me." Just the whole scene.
    • Any time Merlin and Guinevere interact in Season 3 will inevitably end with the viewer going: "D'awwww!"

"You look lovely."

  • Appears every so often on Gossip Girl, usually between Blair and Serena or Chuck towards Nate (though never Nate towards Chuck). Also the Non-Judging Breakfast Club, especially in late season one when they are all fighting with each other but close the ranks and band together to help Serena.
  • How I Met Your Mother has its fair share.
    • When Ted is injured in a car crash at the end of season 3, Lily calls Barney even though he and Ted aren't speaking; Barney announces "my best friend needs me!" and runs something like ninety blocks to the hospital—and gets there as the same time as a cab that had started at the same spot as him.
      • Only to get run over and seriously hurt, precipitating a bedside reconciliation with Ted. "You're not my friend, Barney, you're my brother."
    • Marshall telling Robin that they all love her, and that if she goes to Canada they will come after her and bring her home.
    • Barney flying across the country to persuade Lily to come back to New York, and never telling anyone he did it.
    • In "Symphony of Illumination", when Robin is hiding the fact that she has just learned she can never have kids, Ted keeps asking her what's wrong, which devolves into an argument ending with Robin snapping "It's not your job to cheer me up." Much later, she enters the apartment to see that Ted has decorated the entire place with lights set to AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell'. As she stares in amazement, he appears behind her and quietly says "Yes, it is." He tells her it's ok if she won't tell him why she's upset, he's still there for her. Pretty much the definition of friendship, personified.
    • Another for Ted and Robin early in season 3: after they backslide and have a one-night stand six months after their breakup, they decide to stop pretending to be friends and part ways after Thanksgiving dinner. However, when Bob offhandedly says the phrase "major buzzkill" in conversation, Ted and Robin instinctively give a synchronized military salute and chorus "Major Buzzkill!" (an old in-joke for them) and startled, lock eyes and realize that they are friends after all, while Future!Ted notes that "friendship is an involuntary reflex: it just happens, you can't help it."
    • Ted selling his brand new car in order to give Marshall and Lily a sizable loan after Marshall ill-advisedly quits his job on the spur of the moment, gruffly saying "Marshall, don't make me scream at you" when Marshall starts babbling about how he can't accept something like that.
  • Firefly has small moments that come to mind:
    • Jayne crouching outside of the hospital room making sure Kaylee's all right.
    • This, in "Safe."

Patron: The girl is a witch.
Mal: Yeah, but she's our witch. [[[Dramatic Gun Cock]]] So cut her the hell down.

    • The two shuttles deciding separately to return to the captain, despite knowing that they'd likely die in "Out of Gas"
    • Even smaller moments that show what a family both the crew and the actors had become. Mal grabbing Kaylee into a hug on a whim during "Ariel" and later gripping Kaylee's hand for just a second while walking past her on the stairs after she helped rescue him during War Stories. No other words of thanks needed.
    • And offscreen there were plenty of these moments too. In Joss Whedon's commentary on Serenity he mentions that during the "first rule of flying" scene (which might also qualify this trope) Nathan Fillion was anxious that he couldn't deliver the lines and keep them from sounding Narmy... and then he said later, "I turned, I looked into those two eyes and that's where that speech came from." Awww.
    • In fact, Mal and Jayne need these moments to prove they aren't totally screwed up jerks. Of course, a lot of their development gets restarted in the movie and they basically end up where they were at the end of Firefly.
      • At one point, Mal gives his (typical) threat of kicking Simon and River off the ship in Serenity... even though at the end of Firefly he would not have done that because they were part of his crew.
      • Inara and Book leaving the ship, the crews apparent run of bad luck on jobs, and Simon GIVING HIM ORDERS ON HIS GORRAM SHIP probably pushed Mal into acting more cold and distant. It seem liked he was starting to lose faith even in himself and the values (such as they are) he's been living by.
  • Any time the three presenters stick up for each other on Top Gear.
  • Happens fairly frequently on Skins in all three generations. Such moments usually qualify for a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, and sometimes even a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • One of the best was Effy following her former rival Katie outside and offer her a cigarette and some comfort after Katie's life had basically just gone to shit over the course of one day.
    • Also, one of Mini's Pet the Dog moments comes when she comforts Alo after his dad ends up in the hospital.
  • The A-Team was riddled with these moments, especially between Hannibal and Face, Face and Murdock, and B. A. and Murdock. The whole Season 2 finale was one giant example of this trope between Murdock and the rest of the team.
  • Because Liv and Elliot are Platonic Life Partners in Law and Order Special Victims Unit, their arguments invariably end like this. The most Crowning Moment of Heartwarming example:

Olivia: You're the longest relationship I've ever had with a man. Who else would put up with me?
Elliot: Sorry about that.
Olivia: Don't be. (pause) Do you want to get something to eat?
Elliot: Sure. Who's paying?
Olivia: Well, you do have four kids and you are going through a divorce...so I guess you are.
Elliot: That's what I figured.

  • On Leverage in one episode, Parker suggested that they shouldn't rescue a group of orphans, because if they did, they would just go into the foster system and, in her words, "turn out like me." Hardison just shrugged and said "But I like how you turned out."
    • Parker gets a lot of these. When she was trapped in the building with the security system going off, everyone refused to leave without her, just to name one more example.
    • There was also everyone teaming up to get Nate out of jail at great risk to themselves. Not to mention Nate going to jail to save them in the first place.
    • Hardison and Eliot have a number of these, most notably in "The Grave Danger Job" when after unburying Hardison, Eliot is the first one to hug him, and orders him to never, ever do that again.
    • Hardison and Eliot get one of these as early as the first episode. Even though Eliot laughs when Nate says that Hardison dies in plan M, Eliot is the one to save Hardison when Dubinich tries to kill them.
  • Fraiser: A particularly sweet moment between Fraiser and Roz comes when Roz falls fast asleep in the middle of a conversation after giving birth to her baby, and Frasier tenderly puts the baby to sleep and then fixes Roz's mussed hair and kisses her on the cheek while murmuring praise that he probably wouldn't have said had she been conscious. Of course, this show being what it is, the tender moment gets punctured when Roz's nurse mistakes him for the father and when he asks her out ("What about your w—?" "Well, she's asleep now!"), the nurse screams that he's a monster and storms off.
  • At the end of the third episode of Sherlock, after Sherlock and John have a brush with death involving Moriarty and a bomb jacket, the following exchange says it all:

John: Well, I'm glad no one saw that.
Sherlock: What?
John: You, ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. People might talk.
Sherlock: People do little else.
They grin at each other.

Donna: As your friend, I'm not going to let you be stupid about this!
Jackie: We're friends?
Donna: (sheepish grin) Shut up.

Jeff: First entry in my stupid journal: Today, I had to run and get two imaginary friendship hats from an office. I could have just walked around the corner and then come back, but for some reason... I actually went all the way back to where they were supposed to be. One was crumpled up a bit; that was Troy's. The other was just a little dusty. That was Abed's. I fixed them up. Even though... I was the only one watching. Because I settled on a truth today that's always going to be true: I would do anything for my friends. Which I think is how everyone in the world feels. Which finally makes me understand war.


Musical

  • Performed awkwardly in Grease before the big race.
  • The Quirrell/Voldemort relationship in A Very Potter Musical is full of these, though other relationships get them as well. (Ron telling a very forlorn Hermione to join him and Harry under the Invisibility Cloak that "only fits two people" comes to mind.)


Opera

  • In Verdi's Don Carlo, the title character and his pal Rodrigo have a famous duet in which they swear to die for each other. Indeed, their friendship is arguably given more prominence (and a more memorable musical theme) than the main love story.


Video Games

  • Final Fantasy VII: In the original game, Zack Fair is seen caring and talking to a comatose Cloud, speaking about how they would work together now that they had escaped Hojo's lab, and Zack tells him 'We're friends, right Cloud?'. Not to mention almost all of the last chapters of Crisis Core and the ending are just one huge Friendship Moment for them, as Zack continues to protect and talk to Cloud for about a year's worth of time on the run from Shinra.
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Snake embraces Otacon after Emma dies. Solid Snake gives someone a hug. If you can wrap your mind fully around that, you'll agree that it's a pretty powerful Friendship Moment.
  • Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots: Snake learns he doesn't have to kill himself after all, and then Otacon promises to stay with him for the rest of his (admittedly short) life. Ho Yay aside, their final exchange demonstrates that in this series they are two of the characters most dedicated and loving toward each other.
  • Betrayal at Krondor has a few subtle ones involving Gorath and Owyn - the 260-year-old stoic and badass dark elf chieftain and the happy-go-lucky 19-year-old human apprentice magician, that is. The earliest notable example is when Owyn groggily comes to his senses after they've had to swim through a toxic frozen river and finds Gorath standing over him in concern.

Owyn: "If you EVER put us through that again, I will invent a cantrip whose sole purpose... is to cause you to fall desperately in love with a warthog -- may the two of you live happily ever after!"
Gorath: (smiles) "I'm glad your sense of humor has returned. When you came up on the river banks and did not breathe, I was afraid you were lost."

  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - Cesar is a pretty nice guy to Carl beforehand, but he truly becomes one of Carl's True Companions when he shows Carl that Big Smoke and Ryder have been betraying the Families the whole time. After that they both trust each other implicitly.
  • Dragon Age Origins has several of these, from little ones, like The Stoic Sten calling you "kadan" (effectively, close friend), to larger ones, like Dark Magical Girl Morrigan managing to stammer out that while she may not always prove worthy of your friendship, she values it deeply.
  • Beyond Good and Evil has numerous such incidents, but one that stands out is an easily-missable partner conversation that takes place right after one of your sidekicks, Double H, recovers from an alien virus. Protagonist Jade makes a rather... mangled attempt at quoting to him from his Big Book of War, and, with a laugh, he corrects her. While they've been working together for a while now, this shows that they're truly friends now.
    • There's another one later; Jade asks him what said Big Book of War would recommend in their current situation; essentially giving him the opportunity to opt out if he doesn't feel up to the challenge.

Double H: Carlson and Peeters would say it's suicide! But I say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going!

  • Loyalty quests in Mass Effect 2 are mostly about this. A notable one is the end of Tali's - if you manage to keep her from getting exiled without telling the Conclave what her father did, she and Shepard will share a nice little moment.

Shepard: Come on, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.

    • A particular scene from Mass Effect 2, which tends to leave few gamers unmoved, provided they made the right choices in the previous game:

Wrex: Shepard! My friend!


Western Animation

  • From Justice League Unlimited:
    • I Am Legion: Shayera has a few brief moments of concern after thinking Flash has fallen to his doom because Fire dropped him from a great height. Of course, he shows up five seconds later, completely fine and with his usual... dumb spectacular-ism, Shayera's response is a loud "Don't you EVER scare me like that again!"

Flash: She loves me. She's like the big sister I never had. Only... You know, short.

      • Flash gets a few of these, actually. It's kinda his thing, since he pretty much gets along with everyone. Even some of his own Rogues.
      • The Ties That Bind: Flash goes on a rant when he thinks J'onn is about to chastise him for helping Barda and Mr Miracle after J'onn said they weren't getting involved. Turns out that's not what J'onn had in mind at all.

Flash: So, yeah! I did go behind your back, but you know what? I'd do it again! What do you say to that, big guy?
Martian Manhunter: I was only going to ask if you wanted to play Brawlin' Bots. [smiles]
Flash: ...Dibs on the green one! [zooms away]
Martian Manhunter: I wanted the green one...

        • Especially good because the Animated Martian Manhunter has a particularly strong tendency to come over all militant control freak, which totally isn't what he's about.
      • The 'pull Flash from the Speed Force' moment in the Grand Finale of Season 4.
    • J'onn's reuinion with the League in the finale of the last season. Specifically Diana's joy at seeing him. Wonder Woman doesn't just up and hug everyone she meets, you know.
    • Hawk and Dove: Hawk fighting back against Wonder Woman who's restraining him to keep him from running into the battlefield where his brother Dove is apparently about to be pulverised by the Annihilator. Hawk doesn't do sappy. This is the closest he'll ever get.
    • In Unlimited's predecessor series, the episode A Better World where John finds Hawkgirl, who was injured during a battle with their alternate selves and was being treated in freaking Arkham Asylum (a cleaned up, totally lobotomized, well furnished Arkham Asylum, but still...). The expression on his face said it all. Also something of a Ship Tease.
    • Eclipsed: Flash prevents the world from ending by running into the sun carrying the device that will prevent it from being completely destroyed.

Green Lantern: He's in one piece. I think he's alright. [to an unconscious Flash] You hear me, buddy? You better be alright!

Superman:[Smiles] Always have to be the hero, don't you?
Batman:[Smiles back] Right back at you.

    • The reunion after the two-parter where Superman was zapped, presumed dead by all but Batman, but really "sent to the future, and then Vandal Savage and I fought some giant cockroaches, and now I'm back." (He left out the forging his own sword and skinning wolves and stuff).
  • In Barbie and the Diamond Castle, Liana is able to snap Alexa out of the villain's mind-control spell by replacing her necklace and reciting the friendship chant they made up earlier in the film.
  • One episode of Danny Phantom had Danny's two best friends, Tucker and Sam, continuously in disgruntled mode when they feel he treats them more as sidekick then best friends. Just when they're on the last edge, they see their friend has been kidnapped by the Big Bad and spends the second half of the episode rescuing him. The Friendship Moment part comes when Danny ecstatically and happily thanks his friends over and over. The idea that Tucker and Sam would still stick by their buddy despite how he treats them (unintentionally, that is), is just an Awwww factor there.
  • Happens fairly frequently in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
    • Notably when Zuko's trying to smooth the waters between himself and the Gaang, and keeps taking them on "lifechanging field trips" (usually at quite a risk to himself).
      • The cutest of these has to be when Toph reassures him during the intermission in "The Ember Island Players," gets him to smile, and punches him.
    • Also, whenever Sokka and Katara get separated, they always hug on being reunited. Look out for it; it's more common than you think.
    • Arguably, Azula taking back her insult to Ty Lee and going to find Zuko at their old summer home in the Beach Episode. It's almost creepy, really: an Azula friendship moment?.
    • And then there's when Ty Lee sides with Mai in The Boiling Rock. Which brings up a dark iteration of this trope later when it's revealed how much this affected Azula.
  • There are a few in Family Guy between Brian and Peter.
    • When Peter sneaked into a drug rehabilitation for a vacation, to join Brian who was addicted to cocaine. The head woman realized that the trouble making Peter knew Brian, she blamed Peter for Brian's drug addiction. Brian stood up to her and said that Peter took him as family...and promptly left with Peter.
  • Done as a Crowning Moment of Awesome in Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy when Eddy, after abusing and insulting Double D the entire episode Screams at the Kankers to leave Double D alone, because he had been tormented enough. He immediately gave Ed and Double D hot dogs so they would ignore it.
    • In the movie, Eddy annoys Double D for most of the movie. Once Eddy crosses the Moral Event Horizon and tricks Double D into thinking he was dying, Double D, enraged, turns away from the group. Eddy immediately realizes what he's done and reconciles Double D. It was one of the most heartwarming moments in the series.
  • Teen Titans had a lot of these.
    • In "Switched" a Freaky Friday Flip puts Raven in Starfire's body. Raven, normally The Stoic, is at first completely incapable of using Starfire's emotionally driven superpowers, but uses them to great effect when her friends are threatened.
    • In "Apprentice" Part II, Robin is forced to attack his friends. Starfire refuses to fight back and leaves herself defenseless against Robin's attack. She explains, "Robin, you are my best friend. I cannot be in a world where we must fight. If you are truly evil, then go ahead. Do what you must."
    • Takes a dark turn in "The End" Part 1 when Raven decides to do whatever it takes to protect her friends, even if it means dooming the rest of the world in the process.
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