History ImaginaryFriend / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' takes place in a world where Imaginary Friends are actual, physical beings who pop into existence whenever a kid with enough creativity thinks them up. Unlike most examples, everyone can see them and acknowledges their existence. However, almost all kids stop needing their Friends as they grow up, and the show is centered on a "foster home" (which is more like an OrphanageOfLove) where they wait to be adopted by other children.
* ''WesternAnimation/TishTash'' revolves around the adventures of young pink bear Tish, and her larger-than-life blue bear imaginary friend, Tash.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': One girl had an imaginary friend who was invisible to those she didn't trust. It was the expression of her telekinesis. Expression of telekinesis in this case being [[spoiler: a gigantic teddy bear with razor sharp claws and fangs that beats the shit out of a French gorilla]]. As she puts it, just because she imagined him doesn't mean he's not real.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy had an imaginary friend he called Imaginary Gary, but when he got Cosmo and Wanda (and therapy) he abandoned the figment...to the figment's immense displeasure.
* In the second season of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', Aelita is plagued by nightmares of of wolves, some of which involve a strange, elf-like creature fleeing from them. Eventually, she and her friends find a doll that resembles this elf (with the key to a bus station locker that holds Franz Hopper's journals) which she recognizes as "Mr. Puck". For some strange reason, the doll makes the nightmares go away, giving her more pleasant dreams of Mr. Puck. [[spoiler: The doll is eventually revealed to have been a gift from her father, likely why it helps her feel safe.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Who Let The Ed In?" revolved around Ed's imaginary friend Jib... who was apparently real enough to pummel Eddy.
** That same show has Plank, Jonny's CompanionCube, though again his status as "imaginary" is often left up in the air.

* In one episode, ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerPuffGirls'' had to fight an imaginary friend named Patches who was causing trouble at school. They defeat him by imagining a friend of their own to beat the snot out of him. Since the creator went to create ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'', this can be seen as a first try how the concept would work out. [[FridgeHorror This raises the question of]] what exactly made [[MeaningfulName Mike Believe]] (the kid who dreamed up the villain) imagine out an evil MonsterClown as a friend?
** Although it's implied that the friend ''found'' Mike -- Mike is first seen sitting alone on the playground and suddenly acting as though someone is calling to him ("Who said my name?"). It's possible that Patches just needed someone in the physical realm to be his partner.
** Before the girls create their own friend, Bubbles starts to suggest the Koos-A-La-Goop-A-Goop from ''Dexter's Lab'' (see above), but Buttercup shoots it down by saying "Not that Koos jerk!". The friend they create has the same opinion of Koosy.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', his little sister D.W. has an imaginary friend named Nadine who at times seems to be smarter than her.
* In the '80s special ''WesternAnimation/PuffTheMagicDragon and the Incredible Mr. Nobody'', an excessively creative boy named Terry creates an imaginary friend named Nobody (since nobody was his friend). Since his creative talents got him teased by his peers and were not understood by his teachers, he starts to tell everyone that Nobody was responsible, and eventually he comes to believe that his talent was actually all from his friend. After his father tries to explain that Nobody isn't real, Nobody vanishes, so Terry goes on a quest to find him, aided by Puff. With Puff's help, Terry realizes that he and Nobody are one and the same, and he embraces his talents.
* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', Chef has an imaginary friend called Foo Foo the dinosaur who turns out to be Loch Ness trying to getting $3.50 from Chef's father again.

* Played with in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where everyone becomes convinced that Homer, feeling unappreciated, has invented an imaginary friend. In fact, his friend is real, and the reason nobody ever saw him is a series of insanely [[ContrivedCoincidence Contrived Coincidences]].

* Kinga from Polish animated series WesternAnimation/HipHipAndHurra has an imaginary firend - a potted flower named Adelka. Not only can Kinga hear what Adelka is talking, but in the second season she spends all of her free time trying to entertain her (including taking Adelka to cinema and ice skating). At one point she even throws her a birthday party.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'' Bessie has Finger, her left index finger. When she sprains Finger in a competition, her right index finger, Finger's French Cousin Fingaire, shows up -- but he is not a nice finger, and Finger has to defeat him in combat.
* In WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Bill has alluded to creating imaginary friends for himself because his regular friends don't often listen to him and are unsupportive.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' introduces Lois' long-lost brother, who was put in an insane asylum[[note]]Supposedly because he witnessed his mother having sex with Jackie Gleason as a child[[/note]]. Lois thinks he's perfectly normal...until he starts talking about an imaginary wife. Of course, this being ''Family Guy'', they play around with it a bit: at one point, Stewie jokingly suggests [[ToiletHumour leaving a cucumber on the couch where "she" is sitting and seeing if it pickles]]. A couple of scenes later, Lois finds a pickle on the couch.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AlmostNakedAnimals'', a head injury reunites Howie with his childhood imaginary friend, [[MixAndMatchCritters Platymoose]]. Turns out Platymoose is a JerkAss who just wants to annoy all of Howie's friends.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp,'' Dil makes an imaginary friend. Tommy and co. tease him for being too old for imaginary friends... until Dil's imaginary friend somehow manages to become one of the most popular kids in school. Until he gets run over by a lawnmower, when some of Dil's friends actually start ''mourning'' for his imaginary friend.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/NedsNewt'' had Ned's parents overhearing him talking to Newton (his shapeshifting pet newt, though Ned's parents don't know this), and they believe that Ned's childhood imaginary friend Shoe (who they'd gotten rid of through therapy) is back.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PBAndJOtter'' two-year-old Butter has an imaginary friend named Buddy. Apparently Jelly also had an imaginary friend at that age (an octopus named Bobo).
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'' had Sabrina using magic to bring Harvey's old imaginary friend Mort to life in an attempt to cheer Harvey up. Naturally Mort ends being far more trouble than Sabrina bargained for.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', Chuckie creates an imaginary friend named Barney (no, not ''that'' [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Barney]]), who seems to be a lot braver than Chuckie.
* An early episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' was about Caillou having a race with his imaginary friend, George, and knocking a pot over during it, which makes his parents mad. Caillou tells his parents George did it, but then confesses it was his fault when he is told that George is not real.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Stumpy apparently has a whole bunch of these, which is why everyone believes that his girlfriend Ursula is also imaginary. [[spoiler: Ursula turns out to be real, but the others are still imaginary.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/DaftPlanet'', Hudson's older brother, Albert, had one when he was a kid. His name was Nanigans.
* On ''WesternAnimation/FancyNancy'', Nancy once had an imaginary friend called Genevieve. When she tells [=JoJo=] about this in "Nancy vs Dudley," [=JoJo=] at first doesn't get it, but finally creates an imaginary friend called Dudley. Then, she gets annoyed when [=JoJo=] wants to play with Dudley instead of her, even though she hadn't initially wanted to include [=JoJo=] in her fun in the first place.
* ''WesternAnimation/KevinSpencer'' has Allan the Magic Goose as his imaginary friend, who will frequently rile him into his sociopathic tendancies. However, [[spoiler:the final episode of the series reveals that ''everyone but Allan'' was imaginary]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatNorth'': Judy tends to imagine her favorite singer, Creator/AlanisMorissette, forming in the northern lights [[SpiritAdvisor whenever she needs to figure out life's issues]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'':
** Roger once mentioned a seven year old Black boy he knows who loves Nickelodeon and is in fact imaginary. The kid appears twice, the first time confusing Roger when he thinks the kid is RealAfterAll. The second time the kid fades away with Roger's television despite that [[MindScrew the TV was real]].
** When Francine's alone, she regularly breaks out her "private reserve" to hang out with her three friends. Thanks to Klaus being present, it's made clear Francine's "friends" are hallucinations brought on by whatever's in her "private reserve." After listening to their erroneous advice about Stan's secret hobby as a slot car driver, Francine reaches her limit when they imply she cheat on Stan ''[[ParentalIncest with Steve]]''. At this point Francine reveals the "private reserve" is Windex and fertilizer, and shattering the jar turns the hallucinations demonic before they get sucked into Hell.

* In the '80s special ''WesternAnimation/PuffTheMagicDragon and the Incredible Mr. Nobody'', an excessively creative boy named Terry creates an imaginary friend named Nobody (since nobody was his friend). Since his creative talents got him teased by his peers and weren't understood by his teachers, he starts to tell everyone that Nobody was responsible, and eventually he comes to believe that his talent was actually all from his friend. After his father tries to explain that Nobody isn't real, Nobody vanishes, so Terry goes on a quest to find him, aided by Puff. With Puff's help, Terry realizes that he and Nobody are one and the same, and he embraces his talents.

* Played with in an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' where everyone becomes convinced that Homer, feeling unappreciated, has invented an imaginary friend. In fact, his friend is real, and the reason nobody ever saw him is a series of insanely [[ContrivedCoincidence Contrived Coincidences]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' Timmy had an imaginary friend he called Imaginary Gary, but when he got Cosmo and Wanda (and therapy) he abandoned the figment...to the figment's immense displeasure.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' takes place in a world where Imaginary Friends are actual, physical beings who pop into existence whenever a kid with enough creativity thinks them up. Unlike most examples, everyone can see them and acknowledges their existence. However, almost all kids stop needing their Friends as they grow up, and the show is centered on a "foster home" (which is more like an OrphanageOfLove) where they wait to be adopted by other children.

** That same show has Plank, Johnny's CompanionCube, though again his status as "imaginary" is often left up in the air.

** When Francine's alone, she regularly breaks out her "private reserve" to hang out with her three friends. Thanks to Klaus being present, it's made clear Francine's "friends" are hallucinations brought on by whatever's in her "private reserve." After listening to their erroneous advice about Stan's secret hobby as a slot car driver, Francine reaches her limit when they imply she cheat on Stan ''[[ParentalIncent with Steve]]''. At this point Francine reveals the "private reserve" is Windex and fertilizer, and shattering the jar turns the hallucinations demonic before they get sucked into Hell.

* Koos-A-La-Goop-A-Goop is a creature from another world who only [=Dee Dee=] can see, leading to Dexter believing he is just an imaginary friend, where as his sister insists that he's real but invisible. He tries to prove Koosy isn't real, but his mind is forced to accept it because he has no proof otherwise, allowing him to appear. After being so NotNowKiddo about Koosy's presence, he ends up imagining him away, and only then did Dexter realize how much he missed the figment.
** Another episode has [=Dee Dee=] has her traveling to Koosy's world. As the world's residents can't see her, she can be seen as Koosy's imaginary friend.

* [=Dee Dee=] of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has an imaginary friend called the Koos-A-La-Goop-A-Goop. Dexter has also met him, but was so NotNowKiddo about Koosy's presence that Koosy was banished forever, and only then did Dexter realize how much he missed the figment.
** [=Dee Dee=] is also Koosy's imaginary friend, as revealed when she went to his world.