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{{quote|''Listen - what I said before, John? I meant it. I don't have ''friends''. I've just got one.''|'''[[Sherlock Holmes]]''' to [[The Watson|John Watson]], ''[[Sherlock]]''}}
Some characters have [[True Companions]]. Some characters have social circles (however [[Limited Social Circle|limited]] they may be). Alice doesn't have that. Alice has Bob. ''Just'' Bob.
There are two possible variations on the Alice character here:
# Alice is shy or a bit of a misfit, but ultimately a nice person. Bob is the only one to take the time to get to know her and realize that she's actually pretty cool.
# Alice is a [[Jerkass]] or otherwise hard to get along with. Bob is the only one willing to put up with her shenanigans.
There are also two variations on the Bob character:
# Bob is a fellow misfit who was drawn to Alice because neither of them had any other friends.
# Bob is the one with all the social skills, and may try to help Alice make more friends and/or smooth over situations where her behavior has caused problems.
While Alice-1s often go along with Bob-1s and Alice-2s with Bob-2s, they can be mixed and matched: a shy Alice might have a social Bob who tries to draw her out of her shell, while a mean Alice might have a shy Bob who's stuck with her because he's lonely or doesn't have the nerve to ditch her.
In many stories, an Only Friend doesn't stay that way for long: a nice Alice will usually have learned to make friends by the end of the story, while a mean Alice will often find Bob finally getting fed up and leaving her.
Compare with [[Living Emotional Crutch]], which might be at play in an extreme form of this trope.
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* Jerkass Haruhi Suzumiya notes with pride in [[The Vanishing of Nagato Yuki-chan]] that only Kyon speaks to her informally. In the [[Suzumiya Haruhi]] series proper, Kyon's sister (that's all we know of her name) and Tsuruya are the only persons who are friendly towards Haruhi, without being burdened with Haruhi's secret.
** Shy Yuki Nagato (in either series) doesn't feel comfortable going to the library without Kyon.
* From ''[[Hana no Namae]]'', Mizushima Kei's only friend is his editor and biggest fan, Akiyama Shinichi, [[Blatant Lies|though Kei tries to 'claim' that he hates Shinichi]].
* In ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' {{spoiler|Madoka is Homura's only friend in most timelines. [[Living Emotional Crutch|It's the main reason Homura keeps going]]}}.
* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'', Nyamo is [[Jerkass|Yukari's]] only friend.
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* In ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'', it can be assumed that this trope applies to Reinhard and Reuenthal, with Kircheis and Mittermeier respectively. The latter two are sociable enough to at least be ''able'' to have friends aside from them, but Reinhard is far too busy realizing his ambition to befriend anyone ''but'' Kircheis, and Reuenthal has such a jerkassy trainwreck of a psyche that there's really only Mittermeier who would love to hang out with him.
* Applies to Alice in ''[[Aria]]'' to a degree. Since she's extremely unsociable and cold towards anyone, it's really only Akari and Aika that she can truly call her friends. She insists that they are different from all the other girls, although this is mainly because of her warped perception of the people around her - She thinks she's disliked and envied for being talented, when in reality most people admire her.
* In [[
* In ''[[High School DxD]]'', Ophis refers to {{spoiler|[[Intergenerational Friendship|the protagonist Issei]] as its one and only true friend.}}
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== Literature ==
* In the first ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book, Ron is Harry's only friend. Harry probably isn't Ron's only friend but since it's Harry's story we don't see Ron outside his interactions with Harry. Hermione begins the year friendless and isn't friends with Harry and Ron until midway through the book.
** It's hinted that Ron's sister Ginny was this to Luna Lovegood.
* [[Sherlock Holmes]]' idiosyncracies and general lack of interest in other humans except as puzzles ensures that Watson is his entire social circle. [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Sherlock]]'', when everyone who knows the detective is amazed he now has ''one'' friend:
{{quote|'''M{{spoiler|ycroft}}''': I am the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock Holmes is capable of having.
'''Watson''': And what's that?
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' has only [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Wilson]] for a friend.
* In ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'', Alaric is Damon's only friend... despite the fact [[Vitriolic Best Buds|that they've tried to kill each other a few times]].
* Early on "In Plain Sight," Marshall and Mary proclaim each other to be this. Ultimately, it seems like their circles have expanded . . . by maybe one or two people each.
* [[The Inspector Lynley Mysteries|Thomas Lynley]] and Barbara Havers. He is her only true friend. Funny enough it also works in reverse - while Lynley does have one or two other close friends, he is nearly as difficult to work with as Havers is. They ultimately wind up as [[True Companions]], via [[Odd Couple|complementing each other surprisingly well]], presumed betrayal, a near drowning, and more tragedy than any two people should ever have to go through.
* ''[[Sherlock]]'', being an adaptation of [[Sherlock Holmes]], has this in spades between Sherlock and John, providing some of the above-mentioned Lampshading and the page quote.
* When Troy and Abed are on the outs in ''[[Community]]''
{{quote|'''Troy''': You may have been my best friend, but we both know I was your first friend and what I know but you don't know because you have mental issues is that you’re never going to have another friend because NOBODY ELSE WILL EVER HAVE MY PATIENCE WITH YOU.}}
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]] 2'', [[Broken Bird|Kaori Yae]] starts this way, with Kaedeko Sakura being her only friend. That's because Kaori is hugely distrustful of others [[Dark and Troubled Past|due to a traumatic past experience]], and Kaedeko is the only person she feels innocent, straight and honest. By the end of her storyline, [[She's Back|when she'll solve her personal turmoils]], the male protagonist will be her other close friend and lover, and she'll have made a few other friends along the way.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' gives us the scene of {{spoiler|Axel's}} death, where he tells Sora that Roxas was the only one he liked, and basically his only friend.
** Though you could argue that {{spoiler|Xion}} was also a friend of {{spoiler|Axel's}}, though when {{spoiler|she 'died', all memories of her disappeared.}}
* In ''[[Ghost Trick]]'', {{spoiler|Sissel was Yomiel's only friend in the original version of the previous 10 years}}. This eventually changes.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Futurama]]''
{{quote|'''Bender:''' Fry, of all the friends I've had... you're the first. }}
* ''[[Dan Vs.]]'': Chris is Dan's only friend. Ted is occasionally mentioned, but has yet to actually appear on the show, probably because Dan is usually mad at him.
* The first season finale of ''[[Megas XLR]]'' reveals that [[Non-Action Guy]] Jamie resents being taken on dangerous missions, and the main reason why he doesn't simply leave is because Coop's his only friend.
* ''[[Daria]]'': Daria and Jane (a rare combination of Alice-2 and Bob-1, respectively) are this to each other in the earlier seasons of the series. They eventually form other friendships, especially after Tom enters the mix...
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Friendship Tropes]]
[[Category:
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