History Main / ASharedSuffering

* Angel and Spike in Season 5 of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' - they have a shared history as well as being the only two vampires with souls in the world.
** PlayedForLaughs when first Faith, then Faith and Fred are hounded by Giles' aunts about keeping up appearances and acting all ladylike. When Faith brings up [[RunningGag getting her own place]] Fred begs the Slayer to take her as well.

It's hard being the [[LastOfHisKind only one of your kind]]. Therefore, if a character finds that ThereIsAnother, they tend to cling to the few members of their species/group/type left. They can be surrounded by friends, but that can't compare to having someone who can really understand what they're going through. Most of the time this other person is someone they don't even like--occasionally even an enemy--but their shared history, or shared condition gives them a connection. A bond--maybe not friendship, but at least a sort of grudging respect.

* Ai Haibara in ''Manga/CaseClosed'' admits early on that the reason she can handle being [[FountainOfYouth stuck the size of a six-year old]] is because she has Conan around to share the same situation.

* Shinji stating he lost his mother when he was a little kid in ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'' is all it takes for Asuka to regard him under a new light.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510043/chapters/59167681 The Things That Don't Break Us]]'', Rey and Hux forms a connection after they both survive a shipwreck that leaves him crippled and her losing her Force powers. Their bond is deepened when Rey gets her powers back, has a PowerIncontinence, and accidentally causes the pair to swap memories and experience the other's DarkAndTroubledPast (one suffering from ParentalAbandonment, the other from AbusiveParents).

* ''Film/MurderOnTheOrientExpress2017'': The eleven killers are portrayed as being quite loyal to each-other in this adaptation. They all come from a variety of different backgrounds and social classes and they all met or knew the Armstrongs under different circumstances, yet their shared intention to exact their own brand of justice on Ratchett for the Armstrongs has brought them all together.

* A blood variant in ''Literature/WarriorCats''. Brambleclaw is the son of [[BigBad Tigerstar]], who terrorized the Clans when he was alive. Because of this, the other cats hate and distrust Brambleclaw; he grows up feeling [[IJustWantToHaveFriends lonely]] and uncomfortable around them. (Brambleclaw had a sister, but she left the Clan to get away from this treatment.) When he finds out that Tigerstar had another son- Hawkfrost- he's overjoyed, and the two strike up a fast friendship because of this trope. However, while they share the same memories of prejudice, they deal with it in different ways: Brambleclaw tries desperately to impress his Clanmates and be the best warrior he can be, while [[spoiler:Hawkfrost tries to overthrow the Clans and make himself deputy.]] Unfortunately, when other cats try to warn Brambleclaw of [[spoiler:Hawkfrost's bloodthirsty ambitions]], he considers it a sign of the same discrimination that he endured, and refuses to listen.

** PlayedForLaughs when first Faith, then Faith and Fred are hounded by Giles' aunts about keeping up appearances and acting all lady like. When Faith brings up [[RunningGag getting her own place]] Fred begs the Slayer to take her as well.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', Haruto and [[MysteriousWaif Koyomi]] are the only known survivors of the Sabbath, the event that gave rise to the Phantoms. Made even more poingant in ''Wizard's'' portion of ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderGaimAndWizardTheFatefulSengokuMovieBattle The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle]]'', where the villain makes an EvilDoppelganger of Koyomi and Haruto [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talks it down]] by citing this trope and saying that her presence is what allowed him to keep going no matter how dark things got.

* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', invoked by Ronon Dex after he learns that some of his former military unit from Sateda have survived the Wraith culling, only to have been turned and become [[TheQuisling Wraith worshipers]]. He spares the only one who doesn't openly attack him and tells them to run, but makes it clear he won't hesitate to kill them next time he sees them.

* In ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'', the forty or so kids who are granted superpowers form a bond with each other because of it. Even characters who previously didn't like each other are willing to put it aside to focus on the bigger picture, or otherwise are able to reconcile their past differences.

** In the game's climax, it is revealed that [[spoiler:the suffering the Phantom Thieves suffered was more interconnected than initially thought, as TheConspiracy was ''very'' far-reaching. The drunkard that had TheHero arrested is actually the leader of the conspiracy. Principal Kobayakawa was in on the conspiracy and knowingly allowed the perverted and corrupt volleyball coach to get away with his transgressions. Yusuke's mentor and the gangster that tried to blackmail Makoto helped bankroll the conspiracy. Haru's father used the services of the group's assassin (Goro Akechi) to eliminate his political rivals while also supporting the conspiracy's leader. All this on top of Futaba's gaslighting. And the conspiracy was ultimately put into motion by the game's GreaterScopeVillain as a (heavily rigged) social experiment.]]

** Yu Nanba was a successful nurse, until he got caught running a side hustle selling hospital meds for profit. He lost his job and eventually found himself homeless. [[spoiler:He is also searching for his younger brother, who mysteriously vanished while investigating Ijincho's seedy underbelly.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', both Timmy and Tootie are harassed by Vicky the most, and several spin-off children's books and episodes hint to Timmy feeling sympathy for Tootie and her having to live with a mean sister.

* This is subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when Leela supposedly meets the last remaining member of her species, and therefore feels obligated to marry him even though he is rude, dirty, and misogynist and they have nothing in common. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, it turns out that [[spoiler:he's not really a member of her species, but a shapeshifter who "collects wives" of odd species to do housekeeping for him.]]

* ''Manga/SoulHunter'': Nataku becomes friendly towards Ko Tensho after hearing that he recently lost his mother. Since Nataku, in spite of his emotionless status, is extremely fond of his mother, he sympathize with the young Tensho and with time he becomes a surrogate big brother for him.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', [[TheHero Haruto]] and [[MysteriousWaif Koyomi]] are the only known survivors of the Sabbath, the event that gave rise to the Phantoms. Made even more poingant in ''Wizard's'' portion of ''[[Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderGaimAndWizardTheFatefulSengokuMovieBattle The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle]]'', where the villain makes an EvilDoppelganger of Koyomi and Haruto [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath talks it down]] by citing this trope and saying that her presence is what allowed him to keep going no matter how dark things got.

-->-- '''The Doctor''', ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E6TheDoctorsDaughter "The Doctor's Daughter"]] is the TropeNamer, when he's telling [[OppositeSexClone Jenny]] why he doesn't consider her a Time Lady.

-->'''Kaluu:''' We share out pain, in our darkest hour. And it brings us together.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' story ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7205981/7/The-Eyes-of-the-Wolverine The Eyes of the Wolverine]]'', after Jo confided in his soon-to-be love interest Jada that he was put in foster care because his parents were abusive drug dealers, she confesses that her mother walked out on the family after seeing another man. She had previously told Jo that her mother was simply “travelling.”

* In crossover fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Displaced}}'', Batman doesn't let it on, but he empathizes better with Spider-Man after being told that Spidey's father figure was gunned down by a crook.

* ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-122/JohnnySnowball+Buffy+meets+Star+Trek.htm Buffy meets Star Trek]]'' opens with Data being possessed by an ancient demonic spirit that uses him to summon a demon army that sets out to attack Earth and open a Hellmouth in the ''Star Trek'' universe. At the conclusion of the crisis, [[spoiler:Data is left traumatised by what he endured, until Captain Picard helps to remind him that others have gone through similar experiences by reminding Data of his own history with the Borg, assuring Data that they can eventually acknowledge the sins they committed while "possessed"]].

* ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' has this crop up in the lead-up to the film's climax: [[spoiler:Peter has just lost his Aunt May to the Green Goblin. Now at his DespairEventHorizon, believing May's death to be [[ItsAllMyFault his fault]], he is approached by two other Spider-Men who got dragged into his universe by the multiversal mishap in the film's beginning. [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan One of them]] still grieves for his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, whom he was unable to save, and whose death caused him to become bitter and harsh. [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy The other]] lost his Uncle Ben when he was murdered by a criminal in a carjacking incident, and after carrying out his revenge against the one he thought was responsible, was still haunted by the fact that Ben's death could've been averted had he not been so arrogant as to let the carjacker go earlier. All three learned a valuable lesson from their lost loved ones: WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility.]]

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', trying the best they can protect the only little sister they have, Tanjiro and [[spoiler:Gyutaro]] share this base trait despite their drastically different personalities and opposing sides of an ongoing struggle between humans and demons; [[spoiler:Gyutaro]] being the blatantly malicious demon that he is only wasted time to talk to Tanjiro, rather than just kill him when he had the chance, because he was curious about the relationship he had with Nezuko, his demon younger sister; after a tirade of berating comments over Tanjiro being too weak to protect Nezuko in his eyes, [[spoiler:Gyutaro]] actually offered Tanjiro the chance to become a demon, so they could be big brother "buddies"; naturally Tanjiro refuses and their battle resume. The anime even expanded the narrative where Tanjiro sees himself in [[spoiler:Gyutaro]], as a possible bad turn of events where he and Nezuko had become terrible demons only looking out for themselves]].

** Sansa and Theon in season 5: [[spoiler: Both of them experience horrific abuse under Ramsay, with Theon having been transformed into Reek through the torture Ramsay inflicted on him and Sansa becomes Ramsay's SexSlave.]] It gets bad enough that [[spoiler: Sansa and Theon make a run for it.]] When they finally [[spoiler: escape Ramsay,]] both of them embrace each other in relief.

** Sansa and Theon in season 5: [[spoiler: Both of them experience horrific abuse under Ramsay, with Theon having been transformed into Reek through the torture Ramsay inflicted on him and Sansa Ramsay's SexSlave.]] It gets bad enough that [[spoiler: Sansa and Theon make a run for it.]] When they finally [[spoiler: escape Ramsay,]] both of them embrace each other in relief.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In Season 3, Tyrion and Cersei Lannister have their power stripped away by their domineering father Lord Tywin, who forces them into unwanted marriages for political reasons while making it clear just how much he despises them both. Despite having ample reason to hate each other, this does lead to moments where Tyrion and Cersei interact like siblings instead of enemies.

* Ai Haibara in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' admits early on that the reason she can handle being [[FountainOfYouth stuck the size of a six-year old]] is because she has Conan around to share the same situation.

** Yu Nanba was a successful nurse, until he got caught running a side hustle selling hospital meds for profit. He lost his job and eventually found himself homeless.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/24510043/chapters/59167681 The Things That Don't Break Us]]'', Rey and Hux forms a connection after they both survive a shipwreck that leaves him crippled and her losing her Force powers.

** In the ''Golden'' re-release, [[spoiler:"Kasumi" Yoshizawa is living under the identity of her twin sister, who died saving her from being hit by a car after a nasty argument. The surviving sister, whose real name is Sumire, became suicidally depressed, blaming herself for Kasumi's death. Her counselor used his research on [[RealityWarper manipulating cognition]] to brainwash her into thinking she was Kasumi.]]

* Ai Haibara in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' admits early on that the reason she can handle being stuck the size of a six-year old is because she has Conan around to share the same situation.