You Are Not Alone

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember them, you are not alone.

"...I am with you always, even unto the end of the world".

JesusThe Bible, Matthew 28:20, KJV

For many of us, Dying Alone is particularly depressing. Maybe The Hero is fighting alone against impossible odds with his confidence shot to hell. Maybe that Hannibal Lecture delivered to The Smart Guy over his non-existent love life hit too close to home. Maybe the Grumpy Old Man is especially grumpy with having to spend the upcoming Christmas alone again this year. Maybe the Shell-Shocked Veteran has decided that he can't live with what happened anymore.

This is when a character has his or her personal Darkest Hour (or are just down in a slump) and is brought out of it by the people who truly matter. It could be that the villain's Evil Gloating is interrupted by the Big Damn Heroes delivering a bone shattering punch to the jaw and rousing the hero with a motivational speech, assuring him that his struggle isn't meaningless and that he has inspired people to greatness. Maybe The Smart Guy comes home depressed only to discover that the recently reformed Femme Fatale is waiting for him wearing nothing but... Huh! The Grumpy Old Man gets an unexpected visit from his nephew and his family. And the Shell Shocked Senior receives a phone call from his estranged daughter just when he's ready to put the gun to his head.

Or maybe someone feels lonely and simply needs a hug.

People, both real and fictional, often find themselves isolated and overwhelmed by the circumstances surrounding them. It is when this happens that The Power of Friendship and The Power of Love shines. Someone lending you a hand when it is truly needed is a great way to be told that "You Are Not Alone".

Is frequently a Heartwarming Moments. Can overlap with Big Damn Heroes if it involves a rescue. Can be used to bring people out of a Ten-Minute Retirement. The Messiah or the Good Samaritan will offer this kind of help even to random strangers. The Anti-Nihilist often practices this philosophy as a response to the nihilistically lonely world around him. Many a Badass Creed is based on the idea that the Badass is just part of many; kill them and another will be there to carry on the fight. Extreme cases can even involve You Are Worth Hell (e.g., "it's okay to suffer a Fate Worse Than Death, as long as nobody's lonely!"). Compare You Are Better Than You Think You Are.

This trope is the approximate opposite of "The Reason You Suck" Speech.

When a dash of Unfortunate Implications are added, this trope becomes Loners Are Freaks instead. Contrast I Just Want to Have Friends , Et Tu, Brute?, In the End You Are on Your Own and Stop Helping Me!. In certain cases, can be contrasted with Don't You Dare Pity Me!. If you're looking for a much darker trope about someone thinking he or she is physically alone when there is actually someone (or something) else in the room, see Enemy Rising Behind/No Peripheral Vision/Paranoia Fuel.

Examples of You Are Not Alone include:

Anime and Manga

Tai: Listen, I don't have a whistle to wake you, but I want you to know you're not alone, okay? And the mail keeps coming, it won't stop, kids from all over the world are writing to you. Feel their hope, feel their strength!
WarGreymon: I feel them!

    • Also in the first season, Matt gets lost in the Dark Ocean/Cave, convinced no one cares about him or needs him. Gabumon convinces him otherwise.
      • Same thing with Sora, only it's Matt and Joe who save her.
    • Calumon pretty much says this to Jeri in the third-to-last episode of Digimon Tamers, which snaps her out of her then-suicidal Heroic BSOD.
  • This trope is the point of Vandread. The overarching Aesop of the series is that no matter how tough things seems to be, they can always be overcome with the help of friends. The Grand Finale takes it to it's natural epic conclusion by having thousands of warships warp in around the main cast as they prepare to take on a whole enemy armada with just one Cool Starship and an oversize robot, all of them requesting to fight at their side. It is revealed that these are the fleets of all the planets (with a sufficiently advanced technology) that the heroes have visited throughout the series and whose inhabitants they've impressed with their actions and words.
  • At the end of the first season of Code Geass, Lelouch and C.C. trigger a Mind Rape trap showing them events out of C.C.'s centuries-long life, including several horrific "deaths". The following conversation takes place.

C.C.: The people who hated me. The people who loved me. They have all disappeared with time. In the endless and forever time, I...(her voice falters) Alone.
Lelouch: You are not alone. We are accomplices. If you are a witch, then I am a warlock.
C.C.: (Amused) You sure know what to say.

  • In Naruto, Gaara's Heel Face Turn is almost entirely due to his bout with Naruto, in which he first tells him he is not alone, and then when he and Naruto are both collapsed on the ground, his brother and sister show up at his side.
    • Late in the series Naruto experiences two himself, both times while dealing with a near-escape of the Kyuubi.
      • Naruto experienced one when fighting Pain. Overcome by the Kyuubi's chakra due to Pain's actions, Naruto nearly released the Kyuubi... only for his father Minato Namikaze to appear and stop him just in time.
      • Later on while trying to claim the Kyuubi's chakra, the demon resorted to a emotional attack, flooding Naruto with all of the darkest emotions and memories Naruto had ever experienced. Just as his will was on the verge of shattering, his mother Kushina Uzumaki appeared to give him the will and means to win.
  • GaoGaiGar FINAL has the main hero Guy ready to Drop the Hammer on Pisa Sol, a veritable sun, only to discover that there is no way he can take this thing out on his own. He then receives the energy of every other G-Stone in the series and realizing that he is in fact not alone Crushes a star.
    • Guy actually pulls this off in the last episode of the TV series.

Guy: (to Mikoto in Zonuda form): If you die, I die with you.

  • Several variants in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
    • Kamina's catchphrase "Believe in the me who believes in you" is at least partly a reminder to Simon that he isn't alone, and has a brother who believes in him.
    • Just when all hope seems to be lost in the first failed attack on Dai-Gunzan, Kamina and crew are saved by a Big Damn Heroes moment from the people they met and inspired along the way.
    • In the second attack, Kamina breaks Simon out of his depression with something like the "needs a hug" variant, only it's a Bright Slap (which Simon later repeats for Rossiu)
    • After Kamina's death, part of what breaks Simon out of his Heroic BSOD is the realization that there are people depending on him, including the rest of Team Gurren and Nia.
      • And his subsequent quote, "My bro is dead, he's gone! But he's right there on my back, and here in my heart! He lives on as a part of me!" proving that he is not alone!
    • The Clap Your Hands If You Believe scene just before Simon and Viral attack the freaking moon.
    • A final example occurs near the end: as the good guys are being microwaved by a Big Bang-level attack, the inhabitants of Earth look on worriedly...then Rossiu says "But they can't be defeated by something like that!" Cue the Theme Music Power-Up and determined expressions from the watchers; Team Dai-Gurren somehow feels this, while Simon says "Not yet, I'm not done!", and neutralizes the attack with a Heroic Sacrifice from Lord Genome.
    • Spiral Power in general seems to mix The Power of Love, The Power of Friendship, Heroic Resolve, and Rule of Cool (and given one theme song there's a bit of The Power of Rock too).
  • Rebuild of Evangelion 1.01: You Are (Not) Alone has an extraordinarily appropriate subtitle.
    • This is also a bit of a Madness Mantra in End of Evangelion, coming from Asuka's mother's soul inside EVA-02 while Asuka sobs, "I don't want to die." It's a bit weird, but it accompanies a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Also the point of the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV run. Kiel believes that each person is fundamentally alone and that because of this, people can never understand each other. He believes that by enacting Instrumentality, this will be overcome, making everybody happy. Ultimately completely subverted by Shinji Ikari, who accepts that each person is inherently lonely and decides to go on living anyway. In addition, Gendo's motivation for enacting his own Instrumentality Scenario is so that he can see his dead wife again. The series as a whole often seems like a deconstruction of the lengths people will go to to avoid loneliness.
  • In the Enies Lobby arc of One Piece, Luffy has been beaten to exhaustion by The Dragon Lucci and cannot get up. Then Usopp, who had left the Straw Hats and (though Luffy was unaware) had a change of heart and was fighting by their friends' sides in disguise, takes off his mask and calls out to Luffy and tells him to keep on fighting. When it becomes apparent that Luffy's too weak, Usopp attempts to draw Lucci into a fight with him, to Luffy's protests. Then Usopp challenges Luffy to get up and keep fighting.

Usopp: Then stand up right away and don't act like you're about to die!! It's not like you!! Even if there are billows of smoke, we can still see the sky. We can still see the ocean...! It ain't like it's hell here!! Don't act like you are about to die!!! Don't make me worry too much damnit-!!!
Luffy (struggling to his feet): ...I know...this isn't hell or anything like that...!
Usopp: Win!!! And we'll go back together, Luffy!!!

    • The driving force behind that whole saga: Robin had been on the run from the World Government for 20 years, betrayed time and again, and she had given up living when Luffy saved her from death. She joined the crew, and for the first time she could remember, she was happy. Then they run into the people who caused her suffering, with the same Godzilla Threshold attack that destroyed her home island and everyone else on it aimed at the Straw Hats. She surrenders to them, while appearing to betray the Straw Hats, and accepts death to save them. When the Straw Hats find out, they rush through a tsunami, beat down an army of Marines and Agents, and declare war on the World Government, which is over 170 countries worldwide, before they even have a decent chance to get Robin back. It's the only time we ever see Robin, about as close to The Stoic as the Straw Hats get, break down in tears.
    • One Piece practically breathes this trope. Luffy and his crew remain supportive of one another no matter what.
    • To drive the above point home, One Piece has a Time Skip in which Luffy asks the Strawhats to train for two years and become stronger so they can enter the New World then return to Sabaody Archipelago after said Time Skip. Two years later all of them reunite on the archipelago, and their solidarity remains as strong as it was before...while their strength, which was already Up to Eleven, has increased about tenfold per person.
    • The 14th opening. The song name itself is practically this, "Fight Together." With the last lyrics of the opening being, "Never forget that, we fight together." Cue Luffy jumping into the air and reuniting with his crew.
  • The Theme song of Rental Magica says the trope.
  • In the last episodes of season 1 of Sailor Moon, after all the scouts die and their spirits encourage Usagi, she runs towards the Dark, reassuring herself with "I'm not alone! Never alone!"
    • The end of the last episode of Stars is made of this trope: Sailor Moon has beaten Chaos and freed Galaxia, who leaves to return the Star Seeds back to their rightful places. Everyone but the Starlights and Usagi are dead, and she is left hanging in midair, triumphant but alone, when she hears a certain female voice... And then, more importantly, a certain male voice...
  • Happens to Hohenheim, of all people, in episode 27 of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. He is reminded of his life in Resembool with his family and their friends.
  • If you are a young lesbian growing up in Japan, a culture that is accepting by Asian standards but heavily heterosexist by Western standards, this is Sasameki Koto's message to you.
  • Also a recurring theme in Rosario + Vampire: most explicitly when Tsukune comes to Yukari's aid against some angry lizardmen, telling her, "Like Moka said ... you're ... not alone anymore." Later, when Kraken is pulling Mizore off a cliff and she thinks in despair, "I really am all alone," the very next panel is Tsukune and Moka showing up to prove her wrong.
  • In episode 26 of Fruits Basket, Tohru proves to Kyo that he is not alone, and that even if she is terrified of his true form, she wants to be with him. In the manga, this scene occurs about halfway through the story.
    • Towards the end of the manga, Tohru convinces this to Akito as well. This ultimately gives Akito the courage to free the Zodiac, since she was afraid of being abandoned without them.
  • The last two episodes of the (first) Negima! anime revolve around this for several characters. All the power in the world means nothing if you can't say "Please help me," and The Power of Love and The Power of Friendship are the only things that can save someone from Despair Event Horizon.
  • Bleach: In a Crowning Moment of Awesome AND Heartwarming, Komamura tell this to Ichigo when he's paralyzed by Aizen's Hannibal Lecture. He is then joined by several shinigami (Hitsugaya, Soi Fon, Kyoraku and Omaeda) and Vizards (Shinji, Rose and Love) that are still standing, stating that they won't let Aizen use his shikai on Ichigo.
    • Tsukishima's epiphany after Ginjo dies. He realizes Ginjo only told him to kill Shishigawara to make him realize what bond exists between him and Shishigawara so he'd understand that he's not as alone in the world as he thinks he is, and even if Ginjo's gone, there are people who care about him and whom he can care about in return.
  • Simultaneously parodied and played straight in Game X Rush: Memori goes out of his way to give Yuuki the "If you ever need it, I'll be here to listen" speech, and Yuuki promptly laughs at Memori and resumes his teasing. However, Yuuki does take the message to heart; or at least he's touched by the offer, even if he'd never show it.
  • Shortly after her arrival, Detective Conan asked his new fellow shrink-ee Ai Haibara how she was able to stand having to live as a child. Her response was this trope, noting that everything she went through, Conan was as well.
  • In episode 8 of Gankutsuou Maximilien says this to Valentine.
  • During Maka's final fight with Crona in Soul Eater, Maka manages to enter Crona's mind and erase the circle Crona had mentally drawn to keep people out, then proceeds to walk towards Crona in real life after waking up in the threat of being impaled. Maka then gives Crona a hug, which completely purifies Crona's soul, weakens Ragnarok to childish proportions, removes any essence of Kishin energy from Crona, makes Crona cry in happiness, and now causes Crona to want to hang on Maka nearly all the time like a security blanket (albeit still walking behind Maka as a scared child behind their parent).
  • In one of the early episodes of Pokémon, Ash chases after Pikachu during a blizzard, and gets hopelessly lost and separated from Misty and Brock. He digs a snow cave and starts to shiver, waiting for morning, and all his Pokémon come out to keep him warm. Every single one of them, even the Grass-type, refuses to return to their Poké Balls.

Ash: [shivering and crying] I guess we'll all be cold together...

    • Later, much later, in the movie The Rise of Darkrai. Now, this movie had a couple of ending songs, and the first one was this trope incarnate.

Once you realize that you have been loved, then you will never be alone...

  • In Natsume Yuujinchou, Natori brings Natsume to the Assembly of Conjurers with the intention of showing Natsume that there are others like him. Unfortunately, he also learns that many of those others aren't nearly as concerned about the well-being of ayakashi as he might be.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Invoked by name in the last episode, last scene. Someone is fighting for you. Remember her. Always.
    • Also inverted to "I am not alone" in the final episode, when Madoka Ascends to a Higher Plane of Existence, Homura is distraught at the prospect of Madoka ending up alone. Madoka replies that she won't - from now on, she'll be omnipresent, and therefore she'll be with everyone in the universe, throughout space and time. "Even if you can't see me, even if you can't hear me, I'll be by your side."
    • Invoked earlier in the series in episode 3 where it is brutally deconstructed. Madoka promises to become a Magical Girl and fight beside the desperately lonely Mami from now on, telling her "You aren't alone anymore!" Mami's subsequent euphoria causes her to enter the ensuing battle somewhat more recklessly than she otherwise would have, to horrific consequences. Unfortunately, The Power of Friendship proved to be a deadly distraction in this case.
    • The image of the page is from ep 11. After a Homura's stand-alone fight against Walpurgisnacht, involving a LOT of dakka, explosions and enough C4 mines to fill a stadium Walpurgis doesn't take any damage and its counterattacks leaves Homura badly hurt, with a big block of concrete crushing her right leg. Homura realizes that she can't defeat Walpurgis alone and that every time she tries, Madoka's fates become worse. She starts falling into despair until Madoka appears and hugs her while telling she has already done enough.
    • Sayaka's death paints this trope beautifully, where Kyoko sacrifices herself just so she wouldn't have to face the grim reaper's door alone.
  • Inuyasha: Kagura is fatally poisoned by Naraku after a Heel Face Turn/Heroic Sacrifice and believes she is going to die alone. Suddenly, in front of her stands the last person she expects to see, Sesshoumaru. They share a brief exchange in which he actually tells her that he came there for the sole purpose of seeing her. He tries to save her with Tenseiga, but he cannot. He asks her if she is leaving, to which she responds that she is and she happily fades into the wind, glad that she was able to see him one last time.
  • Happens a few times in A Certain Magical Index, like with Misaka during the Sisters arc. as shes about to go essentially commit suicide to make the researchers believe that her clones didn't have enough worth to be killed in the Level 6 Shift project
    • Several girls end up saying this to Touma, calling him out on his tendency to tell others to ask for help while often not doing so himself. In particular, Misaka Mikoto says this to him at the end of the second volume of the New Testament novels, signifying the fact she's going to get involved with Touma's adventures with the magic side.
  • In .hack//Sign this is a major message given to Tsukasa from Subaru, Mimiru, and eventually Bear.
  • In Oniisama e..., in a heartwarming and tear jerking moment, Mariko gives one when Aya, who spent nearly the entire series tormenting her, is about to commit suicide by going into the ocean and Mariko and her friends stops it, rekindling their broken relationship.
  • This is one of the platitudes Misaki offers to Satou as part of her treatment of his hikikomori condition and depression in Welcome to The NHK.
  • In Persona 4: The Animation both Kanji and Naoto get these in their dungeons. In Kanji's Yu lets Kanji know he isn't alone in his love for cute things. In Naoto's, Kanji tells her that he was bad at making friends, too.
  • Played depressingly straight in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, when Emma tells this to Kamille at the very beginning of the last episode. The depressing part is that up to that point, Kamille has lost his mother, his father, his lover, his (sort-of) little sister, and almost all of his friends and comrades. On top of that, Emma says this while dying. Emma is completely right. The Zeta Gundam's biosensor, combined with Kamille newtype powers allow him to channel the powers of the dead to defeat Scirocco once and for all in the finale.


Comic Books

Kid Flash: Wally! Wally, where are you going?! I can't do this! I can't do this alone!
Superboy-Prime: You're right. You're even weaker than the rest. You've always been stupid. I watched you. Stupid little kid. Left all alone.
Kid Flash: Shut up! I'm - not - stupid!
????: Bart.
(Hand reaches out of the Speed Force, securing Superboy-Prime. It is followed by a face - it is Barry Allen, Kid Flash's grandfather in his Flash costume.)
Barry Allen: You're not alone either.
Kid Flash: Grandpa?

For guys like us, overcoming fear is what we do best, but when it comes to guilt, regret... loss. Even Green Lanterns struggle with those. But we don't have to do it alone.
The duo proceed to tear their way out of Parallax.

    • Earlier in the storyline, Hal Jordan is trapped in the anti-matter universe, about to be murdered by Sinestro Corps member Amon Sur, when...

Amon Sur: It's ironic, isn't it, Jordan?... You dying here. Killed by Sinestro's army. Alone. You've been despised and abandoned by your Corps.
The Cavalry: Despised is one thing. But abandoned? THAT the Green Lantern Corps don't do.

  • Batman: Dark Victory has such a scene. When a young Dick Grayson is taken in by Bruce Wayne after his parents were killed, he sadly tells Alfred, "I'm... I'm all alone now, Mr. Pennyworth." Alfred recalls a very similar scene years ago when eight year old Bruce said, "I'm... I'm all alone now Alfred", and Alfred couldn't think of anything to say to him as he walked out of the room. Back to the scene with Dick, Alfred decides not to make the same mistake.

Alfred: I am going to tell you something that I wish I had told another little boy years ago. You are not alone. I imagine you never will be again.

"It's never as bad as it seems. You're much stronger than you think you are."

  • Danielle Moonstar to Rahne Sinclair after a battle alongside her; 'What Reverend Craig said doesn't matter. Without you those policemen would have died. You're not alone. Moira loves you, and I...'
  • Alan Scott's speech to the scattered survivors of Anti-Life in Final Crisis.

Alan Scott: You are not alone! And it's not over yet!

  • The Bronze Age of Comic Books Teen Titans were made on this Trope. The Battle Cry was "TITANS TOGETHER!"
  • Valerie's letter in V for Vendetta: even though Valerie died years ago, her words still comfort Evey (and any reader with a heart).
  • Inverted, in a way, in Watchmen: What finally breaks Walter Kovacks and creates Rorschach, turning him from a mere vigilante into a true example of He Who Fights Monsters, is the knowledge that "we are alone. There is nothing else". Rorschach uses a Hannibal Lecture to explain this concept.
    • It's later played straight when Dan explains to Rorschach that, despite his flaws, Dan is still his friend. It helps ease up some of the problems between them and they're able to work together for the rest of the story.
  • In Dark Empire, Leia retrieves a fallen Luke from the Emperor pretty easily. In the radio drama, though, it's expanded on in a sequence where we see how Luke's been Mind Raped, with the Emperor making him believe "You are nothing", "You have no name", and "You are alone". When Leia breaks through this, Luke pulling free is marked with embracing their bond in The Force and shouting "I am not alone! I am never alone!"


Fan Works

  • The Firefly fic Forward has a very potent moment in its first story arc, when Jayne and River are being tortured by Niska. Partway through, Jayne begins to realize River is slipping and about to break , and he manages to grab her hand to remind her he's still there, and she isn't alone. Particularly potent because at this point in the story, River and Jayne are still antagonistic toward one another, yet even Jayne recognizes that the only people they have to rely on are each other.
  • An example pops up in the Mass Effect self-insert Mass Vexations; after the mission at Virmire, Art plunges into a massive angst episode where the sorrow of being separated from everyone he's ever loved and being unable to tell anyone about it thanks to a Conveniently Unverifiable Cover Story finally catches up to him. At the height of his hopelessness, Tali comes in, and after a brief argument she hears his backstory and gives him a hug.
  • In Kyon: Big Damn Hero, Michikyuu Kanae concludes that staying staying with the SOS Brigade will put all of them at risk. The rest of the brigade tell her that she can trust them with her troubles, the same way she has helped them before.
    • Kanae takes some time to really understand the meaning of those words but when she does she asks Haruhi if she can stay with the brigade, to which Haruhi answers the rest of the brigade has always been waiting for her decision to stay.
  • In the Touhou fanfic "Girl of the Dusk" by Gensoukoumuten; no one deserves to be alone without love. Not even the darkest Eldritch Abomination. No one.
  • Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams thoroughly subverts this trope when the human Rick Sheridan tries to use it to comfort the alien Sleepwalker, who's become bonded with him and is trapped on Earth. While Sleepwalker cares deeply for the humans that he's befriended, he can never truly feel at home among them because he's an alien with a corresponding mindset. Even people who've acquired inhuman appearances, like the Thing, can still relate to their fellow humans in ways Sleepwalker never could.
  • In the Good Omens/Supernatural fic series Arrangements, the author has outright stated that trust and faith are his two main themes. Example lines range from serious reminders that quote the trope name verbatim to things like Bobby's response to Crowley asking if anyone's going to accuse him of betrayal.

Bobby: [growling] I think what the archangel is trying to say, idjit, is that I just spent fifteen of the most embarrassing minutes of my life telling you I trust you, and he's just spent the past month or so of his telling you the same thing, and I don't even know how long yon angel of yours has been saying it, and that there was quite probably the stupidest damn question we ever heard! Of course we bloody trust you, y'idjit!

  • One Magical Girl, after seven years of relentless horrors every night, abandoned by her parents, outs herself to all of Japan. Her latest enemies have finally broken her, and so, standing on the tallest building in japan, she tearfully makes a single, desperate plea. "If there are any other Magical Girls out there," she says, "save me." And a golden-haired angel wearing black hears her call, and grants her greatest wish. Thus begins our story...
  • Mad Dog's Legacy, a Daria fanfic series, focuses on the growing bond between Daria, Jane, and Quinn in light of Daria being molested when she was a child, Jane being evicted from her house, and Quinn self-medicating to handle the stress of it all. Made especially clear after Quinn's accidental overdose when Quinn declares "I'm going to need both my sisters to help me."
  • Part 12 of the Spice Girls fic, Astral Journey: It's Complicated, Melanie was shown at times she wasn't alone when it comes to having an eating disorder, as Victoria is dealing with the same battle. She also found herself getting astral abilities, similar to Emma.
  • Although the trope name is never actually uttered, it is the presence and support of Drunkard's Walk‍'‍s protagonist Doug Sangnoir that boosts Usagi Tsukino's self-confidence and helps her to become more effective as Sailor Moon in Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel.

Film

  • The Abyss (1989) has a perfect example of this. Bud Brigman is doing a suit dive more than 20,000 feet below the surface of the ocean and is suffering from pressure effects (tremors and vision problems) as well as the cold. His ex-wife Lindsey is on the radio trying to encourage him, with assistance from the other crew members.

Lindsey: You have to listen to my voice. You have to try. Concentrate, all right? Just listen to my voice. Please. I know how alone you feel. Alone in all that cold blackness. But I'm there in the dark with you. Oh, Bud. You're not alone. I'm with you. I'll always be with you, Bud. I promise that.
Catfish: How you doin', pardner? You still with us? Come back. You talk to us, buddy boy.
Lindsey: Bud? You hangin' in there? Talk to me, Bud. Are you okay?

  • There's a perfect example also in Full Metal Jacket - the speech Hartman makes to the platoon on Graduation Day from Basic Training:

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Today, you people are no longer maggots. Today, you are Marines. You're part of a brotherhood. From now on until the day you die, wherever you are, every Marine is your brother. Most of you will go to Vietnam. Some of you will not come back. But always remember this: Marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corp lives forever. And that means YOU live forever.

Gandalf: Theoden King stands alone.
Eomer: Not alone. ROHIRRIM! TO THE KING!

    • Averted in The Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo asks Galadriel for advice.

Frodo: I cannot do this alone.
Galadriel: You are a Ring-bearer Frodo. To bear a Ring of Power, is to be alone.

    • And then played straight at the end with Sam, who refuses to let him leave for Mordor on his own. And let's not even mention all the crap they go through together after that.
  • Superman:

Lara: "He'll be isolated. Alone."
Jor-El holds up a single green crystal.
Jor-El: "He will not be alone. He will NEVER be alone..."

    • This becomes a meaningful echo in Superman Returns when Superman is talking to his own superpowered son:

Superman: "You'll feel like an outcast but You'll never be alone".

Chekov: "Admiral, we're losing precious time."
Sulu: "What course please, Admiral?"
Kirk: "Mr. Scott?"
Scotty: "I'd be grateful Admiral, if you'd give the word."
Kirk looks at them all, humbled. "Gentleman...may the wind be at our backs. Stations please."

    • At the beginning of Star Trek V the Final Frontier, Kirk tells Spock and McCoy that he knows he'll die alone, leading to the following heartwarming moment near the end of the film:

Kirk: I thought I was going to die.
Spock: Not possible. You were never alone.

      • Sadly, it appears averted when Kirk DOES die alone at the beginning of the first Next Gen. movie, Generations. At least until Picard brings him out of the Nexus (and he dies shortly thereafter in the other's company).
    • Seriously, Star Trek has a love affair with this trope, but considering that True Companions is a core theme of all the series/movies, this isn't surprising. In the latest movie, Spock decides to infiltrate Nero's ship, since he has the best chance of succeeding since as a Vulcan he's genetically closer to Romulans. Kirk emphatically announces that he's going with him.
  • In Return to Paradise, an American man is sentenced to death due to the absurd amount of hash he had in Malaysia unless his two friends return from the States, accept responsibility, and serve time in Malaysian jail. One man agrees to face punishment and the judge is moved by this nobility into lightening the sentence. When a reporter breaks the story to the press and maligns the legal system in Malaysia, she presses the judge's Hanging Button. As the original man is led crying to the gallows, his returning friend delivers a You Are Not Alone speech which helps him die with remarkable composure.

I'm here, Lewis, I'm right here. You're not alone, Lewis. Look at me, Lewis. You're not alone, Lewis. Look at me. You're not alone. I'm here. Look at me. See me, Lewis. You're not alone. I'm right here. I'm right here, Lewis, I'm right here. I see you, Lewis. I'm right here. Lewis, you are not alone right now. I'm right here. You are not alone, Lewis. I see you. I see you, Lewis. I'm right here. You're not alone. You are not alone, Lewis!


Literature

  • Kurt Vonnegut in Timequake: Many people need desperately to receive this message: "I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people don't care about them. You are not alone."
  • In the Codex Alera series the tribes of the Marat form bonds with totem animals, and this forms the basis of the tribes they divide into. Kitai, however, accidentally bonded with Tavi after he saved her life in the first book, and as the first Marat to bond with an Aleran, has no tribe to call her own and she tells Tavi that she is all alone in the world. You can guess his response.
    • Jim Butcher also wrote a rather touching instance of this trope in The Dresden Files book Small Favor. The Archive, a twelve-year-old girl who is also the repository of all recorded human knowledge, has been kidnapped by Denarians who intend to torture her until she becomes one of them. Just before heading into a probably suicidal battle to save her, Harry sits down and writes: You are not alone... We're coming after you. Don't listen to them. Hang on... You are not alone. Post-rescue, the little girl cries in his arms and whispers, "I got your letter. Thank you."
    • Also, from a conversation between Harry and his father in Dead Beat:

Son. Everyone dies alone. That's what it is. It's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone. But it doesn't mean you've got to be alone before you go through the door. And believe me, you aren't alone on the other side.

  • In Lee Lightner's Warhammer 40,000 Space Wolf novel Sons of Fenris, Ragnar goes to eat in the great hall and finds Haegr, a fellow member of the Wolfblade eating alone, and Berek's company, to which he used to belong. But when he goes in, Berek's company recognizes and rises up to greet him and surround him with such enthusiasm that he is deeply touched.
  • In His Majesty's Dragon, Laurence forces Captain Rankin to go to his dragon Levitas as he lays dying. Rankin has been neglecting and verbally abusing Levitas throughout most of the book, so Levitas' final heartfelt "You came..." makes the scene even more of a Tearjerker.

Laurence: "The government is not of my party, the King is ill and mad, but I have given my word!"
Temeraire: "Then I must go alone... I will go alone...."
Laurence: (after a very long pause) "No."

  • Gordon R. Dickson's short story Steel Brother. A young man is alone running a robotic outpost in space to guard against the alien enemy. He can't face the fear until after he fails in battle and finally surrenders his mind to the computer memory banks where he discovers that the past (deceased) commander of the post left him a message, the same one every member of the corps leaves for his successor, "You are not alone, all along the frontier there is one of us standing guard, even if you die, another will take your place".
  • Placed here because this is probably where the idea originates: there is a common recurring concept throughout much of popular media, sometimes directly mentioned by the characters involved, that the battle between Good and Evil is cyclical: the conversation itself inevitably takes the form of a Hannibal Lecture to Shut UP, Hannibal / World of Cardboard Speech; in fact, it's one of the purest expressions of those tropes when characters reference it directly. The idea itself is that Evil will rear its ugly head again and again and again; it can never truly be stopped, only beaten back temporarily. Be it as a new terrible monster, the same one returning from beyond, or just the problems of the world, Evil will always find a way. And in response, so will Good. For all the wickedness of the world, the good people to strive against it. For every legendary evil, a chosen one (or group of them!) to battle it back. For every world-ending crisis, a hero to stop it. Every time. No matter what.
  • Dumbledore leans on this in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: "I am not afraid, Harry. I am with you."
    • There are tons of examples in Harry Potter. Ron in the Shrieking Shack in Prisoner of Azkaban: "If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Neville in the Ministry of Magic in Order of the Phoenix: "HE'S NOT ALONE! HE'S STILL GOT ME!" McGonagall during Dumbledore's arrest scene in the same: "He will not be single-handed!" Et cetera.
      • Which makes sense, since the entire series is about the Power of Love. Probably the biggest example is Deathly Hallows, when virtually every character in the book alive and dead joins in to fight Voldemort's forces, all just so that Harry can be protected long enough to find the last Horcrux. Even before that, it's implied that the students of Hogwarts remain loyal to him and continue their own resistance, so that they'll be ready when Harry returns to help them.
    • Ron and Hermione assure Harry of this at the end of the sixth book. And at the start of the seventh, when Harry still doesn't get it Hermione gives him a fantastic speech that also serves as a What the Hell, Hero? for all the times he's considered going off without them.
  • In Matt Farrer's "After Desh'ea" (in the Warhammer 40,000 Horus Heresy book Tales of Heresy), Angron's rage stems from his current isolation, all his friends and comrades having died in their rebellion. Kharne persuades him that the War Hounds desire only to join him, and he is deeply moved by the thought of their being loyal to him, and the salute they give him when he comes to them—he is a general again.
  • Early in Heir to the Empire, Obi-Wan appears to Luke Skywalker in a dream. Luke tells him that it's been a long time, and Obi-Wan tells him that it's going to be a lot longer - he's here to say goodbye. He can't be Luke's Spirit Advisor anymore. When he vanishes, a despairing Luke thinks that that's it - he's alone. The last Jedi. The last thing Obi-Wan tells him is Not the last of the old, Luke. The first of the new.
  • At the end of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Kurt Ambrose is mortally wounded and barely able to stay conscious when the Elite commander approaches the rapidly closing portal that Kurt had stayed to defend. As he summons the will to stand, he sees all of the other fallen Spartans around him, the SPARTAN-IIs that he had served beside and the SPARTAN-IIIs that he had trained all together. In unison, they silently give him the thumbs-up "can do" signal, and it steels his nerve for what he has to do.
  • In the first chapter of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston takes a look at O'Brien and imagines him saying this.
  • In Jack Campbell's Relentless, when Geary faces returning to Alliance space a century since he left it, the sole survivor of that era, Desjani assures him he will not be alone.
  • In Juliet Marillier's Son of the Shadows, Bran is in a coma. Every man in his band tells a story of how he reached out his hand to them and gave them a place and an identity, to remind him that there are many people who love and need him.
  • Ferus Olin, after being mortally wounded by Darth Vader, is found by Leia, who holds his hand as he dies. He doesn't know she's there - he sees Roan Lands, the man who had been "his partner and friend for the best years of his life" and who had died twenty years before this.

"Did you really think I would leave you here alone?"


Live-Action TV

  • Doctor Who: You Are Not Alone were the literal Last Words said to the Doctor by the Face of Boe, giving him hope that he wasn't the last Time Lord. He wasn't. Unfortunately, the other survivor turns out to be the Master, hiding as a human plot-conveniently named Professor Yana.
    • Although this worked because the Doctor has a love/hate relationship with the Master, and even said once the Master was defeated that now he was around he (the Doctor) had something to live for. The real angst kicks in when the Master subsequently dies, meaning that the Doctor now really is the Last of His Kind.
    • Not to mention, with Jenny out there, he really isn't alone.
    • In the Fires Of Pompeii, the Doctor is forced to cause the destruction of Pompeii in order to save the rest of the world. Donna voluntarily shares the burden by helping him deliver the final blow.
    • Sarah Jane's line at the end of Journey's End

Sarah Jane: You know, you act like such a lonely man, but look at you! You've got the biggest family on Earth!

    • There's also the revelation that Amy and Rory's daughter Melody (who will grow up to be his future wife River Song) has Time Lord DNA.
      • Speaking of whom, Amy invokes this trope in the opening of A Good Man Goes To War:

Amy: And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone. Because this man is your father. He has a name, but the people of our world know him better... as the last Centurion.

    • Then there's the last episode of series 6. The Doctor's death has been set as a fixed point in time, making it unavoidable. The Doctor wanted to die quietly, forgotten by all except a handful of his closest friends. River is having none of this, and holds the very fabric of reality over the precipice to remind the Doctor of the trillions of lives he's touched:
  • In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Pathfinder" the characters finally manage to restore contact with The Federation. The message Starfleet Command wishes to give? You Are Not Alone.
    • Also used 2 seasons before in "Message in a Bottle", with massive amount of awww.
  • It happens in Star Trek: The Next Generation, too, in the episode "Loud As a Whisper" when the telepathic, deaf and mute Mediator's Chorus (a group of three who speak for him) are killed. He is highly upset and desperately trying to convey his frustration and distress to the crew, who can't understand him without words. Captain Picard grabs his hand, grips it against his chest and practically yells at him.

Picard: You are not alone! Do you understand? We - are all in this - together - now!

      • Grabbing his hands like that is considered extremely rude amongst the deaf community, though he can be excused due to ignorance.
    • And again in "The Bonding" where a small boy is being told about his mother's death, claiming that he's "all alone now, sir." The response from Picard, uncomfortable around most children at the best of times?

"On the Starship Enterprise, no one is alone."

    • Star Trek is built on this concept. Consider an episode of Enterprise, when Archer and Reed are trying to remove a Romulan mine from the ship. Reed tells Archer that he feels he's too "close" and friendly with the crew. Archer responds that he had a CO who felt the same way, but Archer believes that he must maintain a closer bond with his crew, because this far from home, "all we have is each other."
  • Firefly, from "Out of Gas".

Mal: (sitting on the medical bay bed, with the crew around him) Y'all gonna be here when I wake up?
Book: We'll be here.

    • It makes for a nice contrast with an earlier scene, where he decides to stay behind on the dying ship and Inara tells him he doesn't have to die alone—and his opinion is that, regardless of circumstances, everyone dies alone. (The above line comes after the crew demonstrate what they think of this by turning their lifeboats around and coming back to what they think is a dead ship, to rejoin Mal.)
      • There's also the moment in the film when Book dies.

Shepherd Book: You can't order me around, Mal. I'm not one of your crew.
Mal: Yes you are.

    • A relatively unspoken variation: "Big Damn Heroes, sir!"
      • Later, it very much is spoken:

Mal: You're part of my crew. Why are we still talking about this?

    • Also the old war credo shared by Mal, Zoe, and Tracey in "The Message":

When you can't run, you walk. When you can't walk, you crawl. And when you can't crawl, you find somebody to carry you.

    • In the pilot, when River is lying in bed and feeling Simon's face, and then murmurs that she didn't think he'd come for her - to which he replies "Well, you're a dummy." Contains all of this in a single unspoken package.
  • The entire point of Daniel visiting Jack in the Stargate SG-1 episode Abyss.
  • On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is being haunted by the spirit of the First Slayer who is trying to show her that the life of a slayer is marked by its loneliness. She looks down at a tarot card in her hands that pictures Giles, Willow, and Xander, and replies: "I am not alone."
  • Angel does it during "Expecting", when Angel discovered Cordelia very pregnant. "Hey...you're not alone."
  • The West Wing has several examples, but one of the great ones is Leo's "guy in the hole" story to Josh, ending with, "Long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?"
  • The 100th episode of Criminal Minds is a real kick in the teeth for Aaron Hotchner: The Reaper kills his ex-wife, Haley, and goes after his young son Jack as well. But the team is there for Hotch no matter what - from Morgan pulling Hotch off Foyet's corpse to the entire team gathered around Jack in Hotch's office after he's just been cleared of any wrongdoing, they've got his back.
  • In the Burn Notice episode "Enemies Closer", Larry, Michael's old Evil Mentor, has been trying to turn him in part by sabotaging his cell phone to isolate him from his friends. He's finally succumbed to one of Larry's Hannibal Lectures when his brother Nate shows up and complains about how it's been impossible to get hold of him lately. Realizing that his friends and family haven't abandoned him after all, Mike returns to fine form.
  • This bit of dialogue from Gossip Girl:

Chuck: I spent eighteen years accepting the fact my mother was dead. It was misguided to let one of my father's girlfriends allow me to question that. To hope things may be different.
Blair: Your real mother would never turn her back on a chance to know you.
Chuck: I don't have a real mother Blair. I never will.
Blair: That doesn't mean you're alone. I love you Chuck. And I will always be your family.

  • The reimagined Battlestar Galactica episode "Occupation" - the colonists on New Caprica, having suffered for four months under the boot of the Cylons thinking Adama and Apollo had jumped away and left them to their fates finally receive a message from a Raptor - "We will make contact with this frequency every twelve hours. Prepare sitrep for command authority. Have hope. We're coming for you." Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.
    • In "Faith", a fatally injured Eight reaches out to Athena, who turns away. Instead Anders grabs her hand, telling her, "It's okay. I'm with you." She dies moments later.
  • In the season six finale of Grey's Anatomy, Dr. Miranda Bailey tells this to Charles Percy as he dies from a gunshot wound. Bailey and a patient that helps her hold his hand until the very end.
  • In episode 47 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, main character Takeru, who turns out to be a Body Double for the true current head of his "family's" clan, is lead to believe that his life up to now was worthless, and is nearly tricked into falling into darkness by his season-long archrival. Only the appearance of his teammates, who both help defeat the archrival for good and reaffirm their dedication and friendship to him instead of to the clan head who replaced him, keep him from falling. The scene ends with him breaking down in tears amidst his friends' support.
  • Two examples from Mahou Sentai Magiranger; in episode 13 the siblings come together to help Urara realize that she can rely on them and not just see them as children, and in the final episode it is Kai who receives the support of his family when N Ma has killed their father and brother-in-law, assuring him that he'll be able to pull through where they failed.
  • Inverted in Blackadder II episode "Money". At the end of the episode, when Edmund Blackadder is convinced that any attempts to raise the money to pay the Bishop of Bath and Wells or to run away from him are doomed to fail and that he's going to be brutally killed, he asks Baldrick if people would remember him if he dies. Instead of trying to comfort him, Baldrick honestly admits that Edmund is hated and mocked by everyone... but instead of breaking Edmund completely, this enrages him and makes him come up with a new plan to save his life, out of pure spite.

Edmund: Bloody cheek! I'll show them!

"You are never alone / Even though someone tossed you aside.
You are never alone / Because you have me."

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.

  • In Kamen Rider OOO, Eiji is left to fight Dr. Maki all alone with the fate of the world on the line after Ankh performs a Heroic Sacrifice to allow him to utilize TaJaDor Combo using the Core Medal that contains his existence, killing himself in the process. As Eiji begins to fight, Ankh's spirit manifests and hits Maki in the face before giving Eiji a smile, letting him know that he's far from alone. After killing Maki and saving the world, Eiji is left powerless and plummeting from several thousand feet in the air...only for his friends to rush to his aid and Eiji realizes this trope was true all alone.
  • In The Vampire Diaries Jeremy promises Anna that she won't be alone, because once the current spell that gives ghosts physical presence ends, he'll be the only person who can see her, and only that when he wants to.
  • In Supernatural's season five finale, when Sam has been taken over by Lucifer, Dean tells him it's okay, he's there. Dean's presence enables Sam to throw himself into hell's solitary confinement to trap Lucifer.


Music

If you feel like you're alone / No, no, no, you're not alone.

I'm on your side / When times get rough...

"I know that you think that you're on your own
But just know that I'm here
And I'll lead you home
If you let me."

You're never gonna be alone
From this moment on.
If you ever feel like letting go
I won't let you fall.

"If you need someone to call
If you jump I'll break your fall
If you need to crash
Then crash and burn, you're not alone."

  • A running theme of Brave Saint Saturn's music; the phrase "You are not alone" shows up in the liner notes of the first album.
    • A few years later, at the parent band Five Iron Frenzy's final concert, Reese chanted those same words over the bridge of the last song they ever played together. "You are not alone, you are not alone, you are never alone."
  • The song "Never Alone" from Fame. Beautiful and uplifting.
  • "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods
  • Eminem's "Not Afraid" I never thought a rap song would make me cry, but... just listen to the lyrics by the end!

Everybody, everybody, come take my hand
We'll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather
Just lettin' you know
You're not alone

"Don't give up, 'cause you still have friends" and "When times get rough, you can fall back on us."

You will never fall apart.
Diana, you're still in our hearts
Never let you fall apart
Together we'll dance in the dark.

You're not alone
No matter what they told you
You're not alone
I'll be right beside you forevermore.

  • 'Aftermath', by Adam Lambert is very much this trope.
  • That's What Friends Are For

Whoa, and then for the times when we're apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
These words are comin' from my heart
And then if you can remember, oh
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
Oh, that's what friends are for

  • "I will Carry You" by Clay Aiken. "You should know now that you're not alone. Take my heart and you will find, we will find, a way home."
  • Hide In Your Shell is a great example of this trope.

If I can help you, if I can help you,
If I can help you, just let me know.

  • The line "Believe in me as I believe in you" from The Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight," already a generally uplifting song, can be interpreted as this.
  • The Corrs song "At Your Side"

I'll be at your side
There's no need to worry
Together, we'll survive
Through the haste & hurry

Young girl, don’t cry, I’ll be right here when your world starts to fall.

When the road looks rough ahead, and you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed...You just remember what your old pal said: Boy, you've got a friend in me.

Baby, you're not alone, 'cause you're here with me
And nothing's ever gonna bring us down, 'cause nothing can keep me from loving you
And you know it's true
It don't matter what'll come to be--our love is all we need to make it through.

  • There are a lot of songs titled "Hitori Ja Nai" (which is the article title in Japanese) in JPop. With various flavors, too.
  • Für Immer by the German band Unheilig:

Weinst Du auch, wenn Deine Welt zerbricht? Weinst Du? Ich weine mit! Brauchst Du mich, wenn Du am Abgrund stehst? Springst Du? Ich halte Dich!
Translates to: Do you cry when your world breaks apart? Do you cry? I cry with you! Do you need me when you're in front of the abyss? do you jump? I hold you!

If you're here and you're all alone tonight
Then I'll give you a free ride
Take a chance 'cause I know you want to
If only you'll hold on, just hold on
I'm here and I'm with you
I'm here too, I feel you
We'll get through
I know this, I've seen it
A hundred times, a thousand times
Just one more time with you and I
I'll pull you close...
And then we'll say goodbye.

  • "Carolyn" by Black Veil Brides

You're not alone
And we'll brave this storm.

Dare ka ga kimi wo, aishiteru / Dare ka ga kimi wo, shinjiteru / Dare ka ga kimi wo, motometeru / Doko ka de, doko ka de
Translated:
Somebody out there loves you / Somebody out there believes in you / Somebody out there is looking for you / Somewhere, somewhere

No, you'll never be alone
When darkness comes
I'll light the night with stars
Hear my whispers in the dark
No, you'll never be alone
When darkness comes
You know I'm never far
Hear my whispers in the dark

If a desperate love,
Keeps on driving you wrong,
Don't be afraid,
You're not alone.

When hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone

When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less
I'll stand by you

In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms.

  • Pink Floyd's "Outside The Wall" from The Wall, where the wall signifies sealing yourself off from the world.

All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.

  • Seal's "Don't Cry", whose chorus says it best:

Don't cry,
You're not alone.
Don't cry tonight,
My baby.
Don't cry;
You'll always be loved.
Don't cry tonight,
My baby.

  • "Not Alone" by All That Remains. Though it's more "I am not alone" than "you are not alone", it's a similar sentiment. (Also ambiguous is whether it's referring to a woman or to a God.)

I'm not alone
With the touch of your hand
I am whole again

  • Helene Fischer: "I'll Walk With You". Includes the phrase "you're not alone".
  • Dorothée: "Des millions de copains" ("Millions of friends"), with lyrics here. It starts with "You believe the world has abandoned you", or, in this karaoke version, "If you believe the world has abandoned you", and the refrain says that "you have millions of friends".

Tabletop Games

  • Legend of the Five Rings gives us this exchange when the Water Dragon offers Yoritomo to take his twenty strongest samurai to Volturnum, most likely to face certain death

Yoritomo turned to the Dragon, lifting his kamas from their sheaths. "I am my twenty strongest samurai!" he roared. "Take me, and I shall show you how the Son of Storms faces death!"


The Dragon rolled through sea foam and salt tears, prepared to work its magic, when another voice echoed from beside the Mantis general. Aramasu, Bayushi no more, stood at his father's side.


"And I am twenty-one."

  • The Eldar from Warhammer 40,000 benefit from this. The souls of their dead ancestors are saved from crossing over into hell by catching them inside soulstones, which are used to amplify the psychic powers of their descendents. Given that every hour they live is their darkest hour, this example qualifies.

"You are our children. Dead though we are, we shall not abandon you"


Theater

  • In Stephen Sondheim's musical Into the Woods, the last song contains the lyrics; "you are not alone, believe me, no one is alone".
    • The song the lyric is from before being reprised in the finale: No One is Alone.
  • Also the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel includes the song You'll Never Walk Alone.
  • At the climax of The Phantom of the Opera (the musical), Christine offers the Phantom compassion, sings that he's not alone, and kisses him thoroughly. She leaves with Raoul anyway, and he presumably dies alone after all.
    • Alone literally, perhaps, but not so much metaphorically.
  • The Wicked musical has this theme running as Subtext throughout, most obviously in "For Good".
  • Becomes a Funny Moments in Spamalot in "I'm All Alone" when Arthur sings about how alone he is while Patsy sings about how he's not alone.

Arthur: But I'm alone.
Patsy: Oh no, you're not.
Arthur: So all alone.
Patsy: I'M HERE, YOU TWAT.

  • This is also a major theme in Children of Eden.
  • "Not Alone" from A Very Potter Musical and its reprise at the very end of the show. The first time, it's Ginny singing to Harry (which becomes a four part harmony when Ron and Hermione show up) before destroying the sixth Horcrux. The second time is when Quirrell and Voldemort reunite in Azkaban.
  • Seussical: Both Horton and JoJo are feeling ostracized and lonely near the beginning of the show, then they manage to talk to each other and finally find the friend they've been looking for:

Horton: You called my name and you set me free. One small voice in the universe...
JoJo: One true friend in the universe...
Both: Who believes in me.

  • The finale of Songs for A New World is "Hear My Song". The plot of the musical is rightfully sketchy at best, dipping in between time lines as we visit immigrants, wives left behind by soldiers in the Civil War of 1775, a woman who left her life to marry Santa Claus and a man who is the "steam train" of professional basketball. The end song is the most simple. It is the two main females singing to their children, about how they might be scared of what's happened and is going to happen, but they should just "trust in mama's singing, and the gift tomorrow's bringing. Trust it. Don't ask why." Unbelievably heartwarming as they remind them that they're not alone.
  • At the end of Next to Normal the usually (and understandably) moody Natalie returns home to her father sitting in the dark and crying after he has just come to term with the death of his son and has been left by his wife. She asks if it's just them both now, and he simply says "yes". She proceeds to turn on the lights and tell him "we need some light. First of all, we need some light." We then see them all adjusting to a better life together (at last) after everything has passed.
    • Diana singing to Natalie in "Maybe (Next to Normal)" could stand for this, too. It works, and they say that they'll "be fine." Even if Diana does eventually leave them to go and live with her own parents for a while.


Video Games

  • Final Fantasy breathes this.
  • Monster Hunter Freedom Unite had a tagline of "In the world of Monster Hunter, you are never alone." Which should be true as trying to solo some of the Harder Than Hard G-Rank quests can result in repeated death with High Rank armor and weaponry. Doesn't really help that the entry G-Rank quest just pits you against two Joke Characters with rather bad weapons and armor...
  • In Grandia, Guido snaps Justin from his Heroic BSOD by gathering all the past party members to encourage him.
  • In American McGee's Alice, the Gryphon joins Alice in a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming that encourages her with almost this trope's exact words ("You won't fight alone. Permit me to serve as your commander."). For the first time since the beginning of the game, she has someone she can depend on (other than Cheshire, who can only be depended on for enigmatic sayings).
  • Sort-of kind-of inverted in the endgame of Baldur's Gate II. If you have Aerie in your party when you confront the Big Bad, then the usually timid White Mage will taunt him over how the protagonist isn't alone, while Irenicus most certainly is.

Aerie: I came to hell to help my friend! Who helps you, Irenicus? Demons? You're going to die alone and you know it!

  • BioWare just likes this trope. The 'you are not alone' speech is the primary method of convincing both Aribeth and Bastila to come back from the Dark Side.
    • Your True Companions uses it on the Player Character in KOTOR and Jade Empire. In Knights of the Old Republic all the crew, save Carth, rally around you after The Reveal (Juhani's lines were cut, but they were Heartwarming Moments). Carth comes around later, and in a big way if you play female. And at the Rakatan Temple, Jolee and Juhani step up, insisting that you will not be alone when you face your destiny.
    • In Jade Empire, it's only there on the Open Palm, but Sun Li knocks out your party and traps you in a Soul Jar with demons of fear and doubt. You call on your party members' spirits to help, and they gladly battle the demons. Even Sagacious Zu, who made a Heroic Sacrifice of his life comes back and uses the last of himself to break you all free. Sun Li is left scraping his jaw off the floor.
  • Another BioWare one: During Tali'Zorah's loyalty mission in Mass Effect 2, Shepard and Tali have returned to the Migrant Fleet so that Tali can defend herself against the charge of treason. During the trial, the admiralty board, who have clearly already decided that Tali is guilty, inform her that geth have taken over one of their ships, killing everyone aboard including Tali's father. Shepard and Tali volunteer to try to take back the ship. On the ship, Tali finds her father's body and finally breaks down. The game gives you the option to give her a hug.

Tali:I can't believe you pulled that off. What you said...I've never had anyone speak like that on my behalf. Thank you for being there for my father and me...even when...thank you.
Shepard: Tali, about what your father said...what he did...you deserve better.
Tali: I got better, Shepard. I got you.

      • A bit of Mood Whiplash in that scene occurs if you pick the option that leads to Tali commenting how fun it is to watch Shepard yell.
    • An even more literal example occurs if Kal'Reegar survived on Haestrom and Veetor wasn't given to Cerberus. If both of them are present, you can take the option "Rally the Crowd" - at which point they both come forward and call the Admiralty Board on their crap, and Kal'Reeger even demands that if they exile Tali, they'll have to exile him as well. And to crown the moment - Kal'Reegar will call the Admiralty Board "assholes" in front of the crowd as a result.
    • In Mass Effect 3, if Shepard romanced Garrus then the last thing she says to him is that if she dies before him, she'll be looking down and that he'll never be alone.
  • In Valkyria Chronicles, most characters have a list of other characters they get on particularly well with. If a character launches an attack with one of their friends nearby, the friend will sometimes provide covering fire while saying a unique piece of dialogue along the lines of "You're not alone."
  • Possibly one of the darkest instances of this trope: in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, in the True Demon Ending, Lucifer has given you the power to challenge God's genocidal plan to destroy and rebuild billions of parallel worlds. He warns you, though, that God will curse you... but he will never, ever, abandon you. And, as other games confirm, this is his stance for the whole of Humanity.

James McCloud: Don't ever give up, my son.
Fox McCloud: Father?

    • Really, a lot of this goes on in Star FOX. In Star Fox Adventures, Fox is saved and assisted in fighting Andross when Falco returns just in time.
  • In Castlevania Aria Of Sorrow, Soma gets a telepathic pep talk from the whole supporting cast before going into The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. For bonus points, the music that plays during said talk is actually called "You're Not Alone".
  • The good ending of Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. Adell gives Rozalin this assurance, after she claims to be "a being of solitude", and that she can trust nobody, her memories of her painfully lonesome life as Overlord Zenon having returned to her.
  • Ignitus to Spyro at the ending of The Legend Of Spyro: The Eternal Night.
    • After Ignitus' Heroic Sacrifice and himself being pulled back from being Dark Spyro , Spyro the Dragon is feeling lost and alone after his mentor and father figure's death...until Cynder tells him he's never alone and gives him a nuzzle...aww.
    • An example that crosses over with Worth Living For near the end when Cynder breaks Malefor's hold on her through sheer willpower to bolster Spyro's spirits. "There's always something to fight for..."
  • In Oni, if Konoko chooses not to kill Griffin, she fights Muro and cronies in the final battle, as he berates her for coming alone against him. Cue Griffin and a pair of TCTF Black Ops helicoptering in. "She isn't alone!"
  • In the Ending Theme Tune of The World Ends With You, (called Lullaby for You, by Jyongri) these words are used . (In the Japanese Version, it's 'Hitori janai.')

A lullaby for you...
Don't you worry baby,
I'll be there by your side.
Make tomorrow be wonderful, too.
Close to you I hope to stay,
Endlessly from today,
Even through cloudy days,
You are not alone.

  • Okami's ending had elements of this mixed with the Clap Your Hands If You Believe.
  • Kingdom Hearts naturally has one, being a game based on the power of friendship and such. Sora's keyblade is taken from him by Riku and Donald Duck and Goofy leave him (as they had orders to follow the keyblade). Later, he catches up to them and when Riku attacks Sora, Goofy blocks the attack followed by Donald joining him and stating "Well, you know: all for one and one for all." Cue Sora's speech about not needing the keyblade, since his friends are his power. (After which the keyblade immediately reappears in his hand).
    • Mickey says this to Riku during Chain of Memories while the latter is worrying about being consumed by his inner darkness.
  • At the end of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser, while facing off against Dark Bowser and barely keeping his footing with the hurricane in the background, gets this from Starlow, who tells him that Mario and Luigi have been inside of them this whole time and that they've got his back the entire way. While Bowser can't hear any of this due to the hurricane, Starlow yells at him not to forget that his archenemies are helping him to the end.
  • In the ending of both Persona 3 and 4, the Main Characters are empowered by the Social Links he's made throughout the game, with the characters he's formed the strongest bonds with cheering him on and encouraging him to fight, ultimately granting them an Eleventh-Hour Superpower.
    • Especially evident in the ending of Persona 3, where the Protagonist faces Nyx, Goddess of Death by him/herself. As Nyx continues hammering the Protagonist with attacks that he/she barely withstand, the members of SEES cheers him/her on and empower the Protagonist through The Power of Friendship
  • Wild ARMs 2 has a variant, in that it's a self-induced epiphany... at first. A recurring theme states that heroes exist only to sacrifice themselves so that the weak don't have to fight. After the resolution of the main plot drives this point home, the protagonist's depression allows his Enemy Within to take over, trapping him inside of his own soul. However, in order to prevent what just happened to Irving from happening again, he calls out to the hearts of his companions to give him the power to draw the Sword of Plot Advancement. Not only do they respond, so does the entire population of Filgaia, whose prayers and desire to help protect their own world fuels the hero's new Combined Energy Attack. The ensuing Final Boss Duel Boss fight is set to an orchestration of the game's theme song, titled "You'll Never Be Alone No Matter Where You Go".
  • EarthBound. Paula's prayers cause the world and the player to aid the heroes in the final fight, making it one of the best examples of this trope.
    • Mother 3 also made it into this trope quite well. The final fight is Lucas alone facing the Masked Man, who turned out to be his twin brother Claus. Knowing the truth, Lucas cannot bring himself to fight.[1] However, Lucas soon realizes that he is not alone (despite the rest of the party being knocked out by the Masked Man), for his father (Flint) and deceased mother (Hinawa) are all by his side the entire time. Makes it a very emotional fight.
  • Done a couple times in Resonance of Fate.
    • Once where Leanne tries to sneak off to break into a heavily guarded facility on her own to try and see her old mentor/foster father, who she's not even sure is alive. Her boys intercept her half-way there, causally asking if she 'needs to hire some hunters?' and taking turns listing off everything they've done together up to that point as a 'resume' of sorts. They won't take no for an answer, and it turns into a very heartwarming moment indeed.
    • And again when Zephyr and Vashyron try to keep Leanne in the dark regarding some fairly important points of her own life, thinking they're protecting her. She catches them out and scolds them rather sternly, telling them she's one of them now and an adult on top of it. At the same time, Zephyr finally comes close to his very own breaking point that he's been rapidly progressing towards since Lagerfield. After discovering the truth behind a lot of what's going on, he blows up at how calm the other two are. He admits he's frightened and insists the other two are frightened, too, no matter what they say, ending with- "I can't- I don't... want it to end like this." Leanne gently takes his hand and his gun, tells him nothing is ending, and telling them that they both have changed how she lives and thinks, and that she's going to get her answers. It's subtle and quick, but with the little touches- including a brotherly clasp to her shoulder from Vashyron, who until that point has notably refrained from such gestures unless they're playful- it's a touching little moment of solidarity and self-made family.
  • Dragon Age 2 actually has this a couple times, depending on how you play Hawke/what responses you pick, particularly after Fenris's personal quest is completed.
    • A good example is the dialogue between a Mage Hawke and Feynriel, a young half-elven apostate.

Feynriel: Why do you even care? You don't even know me!

  • Hawke creates a blinding ball of light in one hand*

Hawke: *gently* I am you...

Guy: "Even if the whole world rejected you, I'd still be here, by your side."

  • During the already pretty darn epic "Cypher of Damnation" questline in the Burning Crusade expansion of World of Warcraft, during the final Big Bad fight some of the characters the player interacted with during the quest, including one who's *dead,* show up to help, with the head of the group shouting so loud the whole zone can hear it, "You do not fight alone!" Although the Big Bad turns out to be an intelligent and evil MOUNTAIN, as it *also* turns out, one of them's a tank, and one of them's a healer, and they're all elite, so the player is suddenly fighting with a self-contained unit which can royally kick the Big Bad's ass if played intelligently.
  • One of the themes of the Visual Novel Katawa Shoujo, as shown in the promotion material:
  • It's sincerity has been questioned but nonetheless, the optional ending of Minecraft has some touching words for the players. "And the universe said you are not alone/and the universe said you are not separate from every other thing.
  • Ico has Ico and Yorda, despite being unable to talk, convey this message to each other with nothing more than an outstretched hand and a smile.


Webcomics

Terry: Dammit, I just want to help!
Emily: You CAN'T help! You don't understand! Leave me alone...
Terry: I've had it with this attitude, young lady! You're not going to school today! We're going shopping, and I'm going to stand with you in the women's section so it looks like we're there for me! You're going to pick out anything you like, and I'm going to buy it for you! And you're going to appreciate it, because goddamnit I'm TRYING!

Anthem: I can't stay, Gilgam.
Gilgam: But I'm buying.
Anthem: I came here because I did something terrible. People died. I birthed a demon. Everyone should have died. But one did not.
Gilgam: That kid in the yellow cape, the one who saved the prince?
Anthem: I need to flee. East, maybe. I just need a bit of money. I'll cash out my--
Gilgam: You can't just run, Annie. Think: you're a priestess here. You healed Dosh. The local gods like you. That means you're safest here. And if someone starts trouble, I'll deal with him. You have my word. Besides, you still owe Thrale a knife in the ribs, right? So do I, for nearly dragging the humans into war. This is my home now.


Web Original

  • In the ending of Happy Hours of I'm a Marvel And I'm a DC, Spider-Man is hanging on a ledge trying to reach Lance's head with Batman holding him back. Spider-Man insisted that he had to so he could find out what was being blocked in his memories.

Spiderman: "Don't you know why I thought you were so cool? It's because of this. You can take anything that comes your way. No family, no powers—it doesn't matter! Nothing gets you down. I thought if I could be more like you, then...I've had to take a lot of crap in my life but this...this is too much. Don't you get it? I'm all alone."
Batman: "...no. No, you're not."
(Spiderman slowly gives him his other hand and Batman pulls him up)

Spoony: You are not stupid for seeking people you identify with. You are not an idiot for finding friends and feeling like you have somewhere you belong. Your particular brand of happiness might be pretty fucked-up, but you're not fucked-up for pursuing that happiness. As long as you're not hurting anyone, wave that freak flag high. Final Fantasy VIII may suck, and you may suck for liking it, but I'm the captain of this suck-filled leaking failboat, and I'm not going to have some jerkoff movie critic who's never cracked a Player's Handbook in his life call my homies STUPID.

'Jew Wario:Hey there,I feel that way sometimes too. Sometimes nothing goes wrong and I feel bad all day long. It's weird. The brain is a weird thing to deal with and I know that I shouldn't feel bad, but I still do. Sometimes too much. Sometimes I hate myself so much... but that's when I need people around me.You are important. You may not know it, but your life affects many others. Sometimes you just don't know how much. You are important and sometimes you just need someone to tell you that. So... I am telling you:You ARE important. Someday you will affect someone and they will be sad if you leave. Even if it's just to another part of Mexico, they will be sad. Everyone touches someone's lives. We sometimes don't know it.You just told me that I matter too... but I'll bet you didn't know that you did. So thank you. It means a lot to me.Hang in there. We all have good and bad days. We just need to get through the bad days together. That way, we're stronger. Always stronger together. -Justin "JW"

  • 'Heta Oni: "I'm sure I'll cry. And then...and then...look around yourself. You are all...un-alone.


Western Animation

  • Justice League: In an episode in which J'onn is forced to open his telepathic awareness across the entire planet. The experience is... disillusioning, to say the least, as he gets a taste of how petty, bitter, and selfish humans can be inside their own heads. The episode ends with him discovering a group searching for a missing child--all of them obviously desperate to find her, and he realises that humans are not all bastards. And then Diana finds him. There is hugging. It's ironic, in a way, because J'onn is still alone in the universe, and this is something he's always going to have to deal with - but it's not all hopeless.
    • The trend continues when J'onn leaves the League temporarily in "To Another Shore," to find a home. When he returns, he has a wife.
    • In Justice League Unlimited, when the entire core original team form a chain to drag The Flash out of the speedforce shouting, "We're here, Wally. We're all here!"
  • In Teen Titans Beast Boy tells Raven: "You think you're alone, Raven. But you're not." He gets a hug in return (much to his shock).
    • After having just gone through an episode-long brutal Mind Rape, Robin confesses to the other Titans that sometimes he feels like he's the only one still looking for Slade, "the only one that can stop him". Whereupon Starfire steps forward and tells him gently, "Robin... you are never alone."
  • This is arguably the whole point of Batman the Brave And The Bold. Every episode, he teams up with another hero from the DC universe, to the point where he might as well be in charge of his own Justice League. It hit home most recently in "Night of the Batmen!", where Batman is incapacitated on a mission, and Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Captain Marvel all don Batman disguises to defend Gotham City in his stead while he recovers at the hands of the Martian Manhunter. It's never explicitly stated within the episode, but the sentiment is definitely there.
  • An episode of Samurai Jack has Jack being infected by Aku's energy, which begins to overtake him. Just as he is about to give up, he recives a vision of his parents. They remind him of all the people he's saved and restored hope to, and their spirits come to his aid. His allies appear before him next to remind him he's not alone. This allows him to successfully fight off the darkness.
  • The Xiaolin Showdown episode "Omi Town" had Omi looking for his parents. He thinks he's found them, only to have it turn about to be a dead end. Naturally, he grieves, but Master Fung, Kimiko, Raimundo, Clay, and Dojo remind him of a family he already has.
  • When Goliath returns to his clan after the "Avalon Tour" in Gargoyles, he tells everyone, who thought they were the last surviving gargoyles in the world, that there are gargoyles in England, Japan, and Guatemala, as well as the last rookery being alive and well on Avalon (and demonstrated by Angela). Hudson says, "We're not the last...we're not alone!"
    • Goliath's clan had already crossed paths with one of the London gargoyles, Griff, but this is where the fact that they weren't the last of their kind, that other gargoyles were surviving throughout the world, really sank in. Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, anyone?
  • Spoofed in The Simpsons episode "Lemon of Troy," when Milhouse is about to be beaten to a pulp by a boy from Shelbyville. He sputters, "Is this the untimely end of Milhouse?", only to have the other boy reveal that his name is also Milhouse. Realizing that neither is the only one with such a moniker--"A pain I know all too well"—they embrace and Milhouse (of Springfield) sobs, "This is what it sounds like when doves cry."
  • Done indirectly in the season two finale of Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!. Antauri has, to all appearances, died, and the rest of the team minus Chiro are talking about how he always thought of death as the next journey. "But...he's all alone now," says Otto. Sprx's response? "No. No monkey team member...is ever alone."
  • Done briefly, but effectively, in the second episode of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, "The Elements of Harmony": Twilight Sparkle is facing Nightmare Moon in the ruined castle, and just when Twilight thinks she has successfully activated the eponymous Elements, the one magic that can stop Nightmare Moon, Nightmare destroys them with a stomp of her hooves. And in that moment, when all hope seems lost, Twilight's friends come charging up the stairs.
  • South Park, Season 15, Episode 14. Kenny as Mysterion says this word for word to his little sister Karen to comfort her when she's scared by the change. He stays true to his word.

Mysterion: You are not alone. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I will always be here! Do you understand?


Other


Real Life

As one US Admiral pointed out when the French sarcastically asked what we were going to do by sending a carrier group there (paraphrased):
French Admiral: What are you going to do with an aircraft carrier? Bomb it?
Response: Our aircraft carriers generate enough power to provide electricity for 3,000 homes without affecting operations, have a fully equipped medical facility capable of emergency treatment, water purification facilities, the resources to airlift food and supplies and we have eleven of them. How many does France have?

  • The Canadian ambassador of the United States said these words after Hurricane Katrina.

"You are our friends and together we are family – you do not suffer alone."

  • The prompt for episode 3 of the Glee Project is "Vulnerability". All the contestants have to write their biggest insecurity on a billboard. Alex writes "gay", which cues Cameron to give him a speech about how strong he is, and how proud he is of him.
  • Humanity's various effort to communicate with aliens, from the information stuck on space probes to the various messages beamed into space, probably counts as this since a lot of the time the intent is simply to let anyone out there know that we exist. In the words of the Russian scientist Alexander Zaitsev regarding the rationale behind METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence):

"The science known as SETI deals with searching for messages from aliens. METI science deals with the creation of messages to aliens... In contrast to Active SETI, METI pursues not a local and lucrative impulse, but a more global and unselfish one – to overcome the Great Silence in the Universe, bringing to our extraterrestrial neighbors the long-expected annunciation “You are not alone!”"

    • We already have a handful of space signals that we can't identify, the most famous being the "Wow!" signal. It's been verified that the signal could not have come from a satellite or anywhere on Earth. If it's extraterrestrial, it shows that we are not alone in our desire to find others like us out there. The aliens want to make friends too.
  • The creation of the It Gets Better Project after a wave of youth suicides reminded young LGBT people across the country that they are not alone.
  • This livejournal post was intended as a discussion for LGBTETC folks who wanted an outlet. Near the bottom of the page, someone comes out as asexual.
  • In it's editorial reaction to the events of September 11, the French newspaper Le Monde asserted that on that day "We are all Americans!" Many of the other international reactions to the events of that day—such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace breaking tradition and playing the American national anthem—were intended to send the same message.
  • In any form of rescue, one of the first priorities is establishing communications, in any way possible. As many people who have been rescued will tell you, the importance isn't what's said, but the simple message the communication implies: "We know you're there. We're coming."
  • A rare example of Truth in Television, is that when something goes wrong, You are not alone. Paramedics, EMTs, Firefighters, and Police Officers all share one common goal: that others may live. If there is a life to save, nothing will stand in their way to do so. There are even documented cases of responders manually lifting trucks off of victims to pull them from danger. And the funny thing is? They don't view themselves as heroes. It's either another day on the job, or a case of doing what they'd want their fellow man to do for them.
  • When the UN passed a declaration officially protecting gay, lesbian, transsexual, etc people around the world from discrimination, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer had this to say:

" [It is a signal] that there are many people in the international community who stand with them and who support them, and that change will come. [...] It's a historic method of tyranny to make you feel that you are alone. One of the things that this resolution does for people everywhere, particularly LGBT people everywhere, is remind them that they are not alone."

  • The Please Don't Jump movement. Someone posted a secret on Post Secret that they were going to kill themselves by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. People around the world started an online movement to convince them not to. The members around San Francisco even went to the bridge to write uplifting messages in case the original poster hadn't seen their online messages.
  • Dogs. Essentially man's best friend, a dog doesn't care about how rich or poor, old or young, successful or not it's master is. Dogs love unconditionally, and will stick with their master to the very end.
  • Pets in general. You take care of them, and for most of them, they can't leave you and they wouldn't want to.
  • Marriage. It's for life.
  • The IMAlive project - an instant messaging version of a suicide helpline. Trained volunteers are there 24/7, just to chat with those who need it.

We can help you get through this. Please know that you are not alone.
"I feel exactly the same way, you're not alone ♥"
"Yeah, that not-alone feeling? Is one of the best feelings in the world. :)"

"To all my brothers and sisters who made it back, but never made it home. In memory of those who have died from physical and emotional wounds received while serving in the Vietnam War. We honor and recognize their pain and suffering, but above all we respect the courage of these Washington State residents. When our country called, you were there. We have not forgotten, you are not alone. You Now Rest in Glory"


And after all of this, if you still think you're alone and you want to end it all, please... please talk with somebody first.

  1. Lucas eventually does give out a few hits on the Masked Man, but feels awfully regretful about it, even wanting to cry.