History Main / FriendshipDenial

** Happens at least twice in though it isn't a ''real'' denial since Manny knows neither Sid nor Diego at this time.
--->'''Manny''': ''(to Sid)'' There is no "we". There never ''was'' a "we"! In fact, without me, there wouldn't even be a ''you''!
** When Manny and Sid meet Diego for the first time
--->'''Diego''': Name's Diego, friend.\\
'''Manny''': Manfred. And I'm not your friend.

''Abominable:''' Oh. I-I just assumed you were buddies, you know, when I saw you out there in the snow hugging and all, and...\\

-->'''Hubie''': Hey buddy, looks like we're two birds of a feather.\\
'''Rocko''': Don't call me buddy!\\
'''Hubie''': And, gee, it looks like I got me a friend!

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'': Happens at least twice in though it isn't a ''real'' denial since Manny knows neither Sid nor Diego at this time.
-->'''Manny''': ''(to Sid)'' There is no "we". There never ''was'' a "we"! In fact, without me, there wouldn't even be a ''you''!

-->'''Abominable:''' I mean, how lucky can you get? Banished with your best friend.
-->'''Mike:''' He is ''not'' my friend.
-->'''Abominable:''' Oh. I-I just assumed you were buddies, you know, when I saw you out there in the snow hugging and all, and...
-->'''Mike:''' Look at that big jerk. Ruined my life, and for what? ''A stupid kid!''

* In the ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "[[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS3E16TheExcelsiorAcquisition The Excelsior Acquisition]]", we have Sheldon and Penny introducing themselves to Creator/StanLee.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': Arthur and Molly (one of the Tough Customers bullies) spend time and get along together when Molly's mom makes her let Arthur & DW use their backyard pool. They agree to act like they hate each other when there are other people around.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In one episode Peter and Meg are forced to spend time together and realize that they actually like each other; but they agree that Peter will still act like a jerk to her when they're not alone.

:::Eventually, Cranky yells at her that he will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be her friend. That's four "ever"s. That's...forever.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', TheHeroine Luz Noceda gets off on the wrong foot with Amity Blight, a girl at the local witch school, and wants to make up with and befriend her. When Amity's twin older siblings, Edric and Emira--who love to playfully tease her--embarrass her in front of Luz and tell her she should stop being a jerk to her "her friend", Amity angrily replies, "She is not my friend!", clearly saddening Luz...though, thankfully, by the end of the episode, the two somewhat mend fences, and Amity promises to rethink her behavior and try to be nicer to her. [[spoiler:Ironically enough, she ends up ''falling in love'' with Luz by the end of the first season, and they begin dating in Season 2.]]

** From the episode "Canada On Strike":

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': On occasions, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Spongebob]] just can't take a hint of the fact that Squidward is everything but his friend.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': During their PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure, Mike does this when he and Sulley are banished to the human world and, after almost coming to blows with each other, take shelter in the Abominable Snowman's cave.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': When Sully and Mike get banished to the North Pole, Mike sulks and the Yeti points out that Mike is lucky to be banished with his best friend, Mike, due to being angry with Sully, says, "he is ''not'' my friend!".

* Happens in ''Comicbook/ChuckDixonsAvalon'', after Fazer mistakenly thinks he and Angela are having a "moment".

* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBoots'': When Humpty Dumpty asks Puss if he wants to be friends with him again (they stopped being friends as teens after going too far with their [[StickyFingers thieving]] tendencies and Puss blaming Humpty), Puss replies that he and Humpty are not friends.

* Ookurikara of the ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'' franchise lives and breathes this; his catchphrase is literally "I'm not here to make friends" and he turns down all socialisation at any given opportunity. Despite this, he's well-liked amongst the sword warriors, especially by his fellow Dategumi, because although he has a prickly exterior almost everyone he meets is able to quickly figure out that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he's a good guy underneath]]. It's revealed in ''Theatre/TouMyu'' that his loner act is due to being afraid of the pain that comes with losing loved ones.

* Happens at least twice in ''WesternAnimation/IceAge1'', though it isn't a ''real'' denial since Manny knows neither Sid nor Diego at this time.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin'', the duet "Looks Like I've Got Me A Friend" has Hubie trying to get Rocko to admit that they've become friends and Rocko denying it until he finally admits it in the end:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': [=LaCienega=] often claims she and Penny aren't friends. Penny fully acknowledges this and hates hanging around [=LaCienega=] at the start of the series because of how [=LaCienega=] is both rude and mistreats Penny. But the problem was that they have a mutual friend in Dijonay Jones who insists that they both hang around each other; another problem is that Penny and [=LaCienega=] parents are best friends, so they often have to hang around each other. Eventually, Penny and [=LaCienega=] relationship cools down, and they become more civil to each other even if they don't admit their friends.

* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' Dorothy sees Becky as her friend because she and Joyce are friends, Becky and Joyce are friends, Becky's a good person, and she believes in the transitive property of friendship if there's no reason not to. As far as Becky is concerned, she's Dorothy's ''nemesis'', who will never rest until she's reclaimed the title of Joyce's best friend from this usurper. This gradually goes from something she actually believes to something closer to a shared joke between them.

This is the trope where a character flat out denies their friendship with one (or more) characters for some reason. Perhaps the character is TheLancer who has trouble getting along with TheHero and [[TeethClenchedTeamwork doesn't like working with]] them that much. They may be a [[IWorkAlone natural-born loner]] who isn't concerned about intimate friendship. They may be a prideful {{Jerkass}} who thinks that having friends makes them uncool and [[VirtueIsWeakness weak]]. When the chips are down, they still do help out their "friend" because it's the [[GoodSamaritan right thing to do]].

Compare ShesNotMyGirlfriend and JustFriends for the more romantic versions, LoserFriendPuzzlesOutsiders for times where other people might allege (incorrectly) that two people couldn't possibly be friends and ArrangedFriendship when they're only "friends" for reasons beyond genuine companionship. See also WeDoNotKnowEachOther, its subtrope AcquaintanceDenial, and MutuallyUnequalRelationship (where one character thinks they're friends, the other definitely doesn't).

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Uryu Ishida will make it very clear that he and Ichigo are not best friends, despite being an frequent ally to him and the other Soul Reapers.
* Subverted in ''Anime/CodeGeass'': when Suzaku first shows up at Ashford Academy, he tells Lelouch that it's better for them to do this, since being associated with an Eleven might raise too many questions; Suzaku is one of the few people who knows Lelouch is an exiled Britannian prince, which is how they met in the first place seven years earlier. Lelouch goes along with it for a while, but after Suzaku saves him from falling out of the school's clocktower he openly declares in front of the student body that they're friends, and asks StudentCouncilPresident Milly to give Suzaku a position on the council. This wasn't just motivated by the life-saving, but because Lelouch knew Suzaku was being bullied and harassed for being Japanese and wanted to put an end to it.

** This happens in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' when Piccolo became infuriated of being defeated by the androids, but the others try to calm him down:

* ''Manga/FoodWars'': Satoshi Isshiki and Nene Kinokuni grew up together, and seemed rather close as children. However, Nene [[TheResenter became resentful]] that [[InstantExpert he was able to take so easily]] to the arts and crafts that [[HardWorkHardlyWorks she took so many years of hard work and practice to master]]. At the start of the story, while Satoshi is still friendly to her (then again [[NiceGuy he's friendly to pretty much everyone]]), she's bitter because he has a lower seat in the [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Council of Ten Masters]] than her only because he doesn't take things as seriously, so she not only refuses to see him as a friend, but even denies they ''ever'' were friends.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Karen regularly interacts with Ishigami in ''We Want to Talk About Kaguya'' and looks on happily when he's being comforted by the Cheer Team during the sports festival, but she states that they have a strict business relationship when Erika asks if they're friends (he's acts as the editor for her [=KaguyaXShirogane=] doujinshi). This denial is probably for continuity purposes since Maki is established in the main series to be the first girl to consider him a friend. Due to OutOfContextEavesdropping, Ishigami understands she doesn't want to be associated with him, but in context, Karen mainly said she's not close enough to Ishigami to ask for another favor, since she's already the one "indebted" to him.
* In ''Manga/KoiToUso'', Nejima becomes concerned when his best friend Nisaka is becoming distant, and confronts him after he leaves upon hearing a hurtful conversation in the classroom. Nisaka promptly tries to push Nejima away and says that they were never true friends [[spoiler:[[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove because Nisaka cares for him in a different way]] than Nejima does him]].

* Lina Inverse and Naga the White Serpent in ''{{Anime/Slayers}}'' [=OVAs=] and movies are VitriolicBestBuds who will vehemently deny that they are best buds, or any kind of buds. Both claim that the other is their sidekick. Or rival, depending on the mood.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'': Many times in the series, Yusaku insists Ai is his captive when asked by other characters if they are partners. While this true in the first season where he only sees Ai as a hostage, it doesn't hold in later seasons when they became closer and even had some genuine {{Friendship Moment}}s.

* In ''Film/PineappleExpress'', Dale and Saul fall into this trope after Dale got himself arrested for smoking a joint and selling weed to middle school kids, also escaping from the police. The two got into an argument, in which Dale tells Saul that they were never friends and never will be. The two did reconcile at the end of the movie, however.
* Vincent and Butch have a short conversation of this in ''Film/PulpFiction'':

* ''Literature/TheyCageTheAnimalsAtNight'': At the orphanage, there's a "kid rule" that everyone abides but no one talks about: Don't make friends. It's used so that they don't get hurt when their friends leave the orphanage. Jennings learns this the hard way when his buddy Mark won't agree to be his friend.

* ''Series/HogansHeroes'': Klink has an epic one in the episode "The Big Picture", mixed with DiggingYourselfDeeper, when a friend of his is accused of complicity in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, and a Gestapo agent confronts Klink with a picture of Klink an dthe conspirator:

* Shortly after the escape from Fox River in ''Series/PrisonBreak'', Michael makes Tweener travel solo away from the other members of the escape team since he was known to be a snitch. When Tweener pleads with him and calls him a bro, Michael had something to say about it.

** Mao seems to have this kind of attitude in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice''. He would throw a temper-tantrum whenever someone offers kindness or friendship. He also denies having an arraigned FriendlyRivalry with Raspberyl.

* [[SociopathicHero Jade Curtiss]] of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' seem to have this sort of opinion about the other protagonists despite actually learning about ThePowerOfFriendship:

* Ookurikara of the ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'' franchise lives and breathes this; his catchphrase is literally "I'm not here to make friends" and he turns down all socialisation at any given opportunity. Despite this, he's well liked amongst the sword warriors, especially by his fellow Dategumi, because although he has a prickly exterior almost everyone he meets is able to quickly figure out that [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he's a good guy underneath]]. It's revealed in ''Theatre/TouMyu'' that his loner act is due to being afraid of the pain that comes with losing loved ones.

* In ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' Dorothy sees Becky as her friend, because she and Joyce are friends, Becky and Joyce are friends, Becky's a good person, and she believes in the transitive property of friendship if there's no reason not to. As far as Becky is concerned, she's Dorothy's ''nemesis'', who will never rest until she's reclaimed the title of Joyce's best friend from this usurper. This gradually goes from something she actually believes to something closer to a shared joke between them.

'''Steph:''' No, you're not. You're an annoying, self-righteous, nerdy prude. And the only good thing about this is that I won't have to spend anymore time with you.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': An arrogant business man sitting next to the Warners on a plane declares that "I'd rather be eaten by cannibals than be your 'special friend'!" [[TemptingFate He soon comes to regret his words]]. Doubles as a BrickJoke when he escapes the plane to land on a desert island.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' has Huey being interviewed about about him [[EnemyMine teaming with]] [[BoomerangBigot Uncle Ruckus]] after they decide to leave town and go to Canada due to the election of UsefulNotes/BarackObama:

* From the episode "Unjustly Neglected Drama" of ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfTim'', an actor is interrogated by a detective whether or not is he friends with Tim. He denies it. In fact, the denial was a line that was used from a play:

** Subverted in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS21E4TreehouseOfHorrorXX Treehouse of Horror XX]]", when Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman arrive at the Simpsons' house.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': [=LaCienega=] often claims she and Penny aren't friends. Penny can't seem to take a hint.

* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': After hearing the story of Tohru and Elma becoming acquainted and their heated rivalry, Kobayashi comments they're relationship is now akin to VitriolicBestBuds. Tohru and Elma promptly freak out and try to deny it, only to launch into an argument that proves Kobayashi's point.

* Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid: After hearing the story of Tohru and Elma becoming acquainted and their heated rivalry, Kobayashi comments they're relationship is now akin to VitriolicBestBuds. Tohru and Elma promptly freak out and try to deny it, only to launch into an argument that proves Kobayashi's point.

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[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* In ''Fanfic/BloomFullyOnTheTallWall'', Homura isn't used to friends and her depression doesn't help. As a result, she initially denies being Togo and the other girls friend.
* ''FanFic/BringMeToLife'':

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal, there are two girls of around thirteen. Each is the alpha in her own group. [[{{Tykebomb}} Famke Smith-Rhodes-Stibbons]] is a student Assassin regarded as an outstanding pupil with a sketchy attitude to School rules. [[MilitaryBrat Alexandra Mumorovka]] is a [[MilitaryAcademy Air Watch cadet]] who is regarded as the outstanding best of her intake. The two become Best Enemies from the time of first meeting, delight in devising new insults for each other, are casually rude and off-hand, and cover each other's backs in a street fight. And hotly and indignantly deny they are friends in any way at all.

-->'''Manny''': (''to Sid'') There is no "we". There never ''was'' a "we"! In fact, without me, there wouldn't even be a ''you''!

--> '''Col. Klink:''' General Mulendorf.
--> '''Captain Bohrmann:''' That's his arm around your shoulders.
--> '''Col. Klink:''' Yes. We were friends.
--> '''Captain Bohrmann:''' Close friends. [[WhamLine And very possibly associated in the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer.]]
--> '''Col. Klink:''' I knew the man. We went to school together for ten years; saw each other every day. But what's that?
--> '''Captain Bohrmann:''' [[FromBadToWorse You were also best man at his wedding.]]
--> '''Col. Klink:''' Oh, well... [[BlatantLies I had nothing else to do that afternoon.]]

* The opening statements of "Birdhouse In Your Soul" by Music/TheyMightBeGiants implies that they are not a friend in a traditional sense, but their job as the protector of its owner is the closest thing to one:
-->"I'm your only friend; I'm not your only friend, but I'm a little glowing friend, but really I'm not actually your friend, but I am."

* Rapper Music/FiftyCent has a quote similar to the one from ''Film/FortyEightHrs'' in both of his songs "Life's On The Line" and "Get In My Car".
-->"We ain't buddies, we ain't partners, and we damn sure ain't friends."

-->'''Spider-Man:''' ''[Concerning evidence that almost helped to catch Mr. Negative]'' Hey, we're still best-buds, right?\\

'''Spider-Man:''' ''[Clearly hurt]'' Well, ''that'' got dark real-quick!

* ''WebVideo/NightmareTime'' In the episode "Abstinence Camp," Grace believes that she is Steph's friend, telling the adults in their life about Stephanies "sex addiction" in order to get her help. From Steph's perspective, Grace is a nerdy prude who tattles and gets her in trouble.

'''Homer (annoyed):''' Hello, Flanders.