History Main / InterclassFriendship

* [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]] has Betty and Veronica. Betty is not dirt poor, but everyone in Riverdale is in comparison with the super-rich Lodge family. When they're not feuding over Archie, they're good friends. And when they are, it's mostly [[FriendlyRivalry friendly]]. The economic differences in their friendship as described by Betty in one issue:

** DependingOnTheWriter and continuity, Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} are this. Clark Kent is a refugee space alien raised by the Kents on a farm and who is a reporter (which makes him middle-class[[note]]Though in many continuities he's a Pulitzer Prize winner, the kind of thing that tends to get reporters a much higher salary and would probably vault him into upper-middle class.[[/note]]) and Bruce Wayne is from the wealthy Wayne family and one of the richest men in the DC Universe. The relationship tends to fall in the VitriolicBestBuds because of their own world views. Though, they do respect each other.
** [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]], a LonelyRichKid from the same neighborhood as the Waynes, and Conner Kent, who was [[BornAsAnAdult born as a teenager]] in a Cadmus lab and later became a FarmBoy when he was taken in by Ma and Pa Kent, were unquestionably best friends who always had each other's backs prior to Flashpoint.
** Following in their father's and predecessors' footsteps but with more [[HeadbuttingHeroes headbutting]] is Jonathan Kent, "regular" old FarmBoy raised by his reporter parents and LonelyRichKid Damien Wayne who was raised by the League of Assassins.
** Before Jonathan Kent was put to paper the incredibly wealthy Damain's first friend was the orphan Colin Wilkes, who lived in a Catholic orphanage in a run-down part of Gotham and after surviving being kidnapped and experimented on roamed the streets using his new power to protect other down on their luck kids from Gotham's criminal underworld.

** Before becoming boyfriend and girlfriend [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] and [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Stephanie Brown]] were friends from entirely different economic backgrounds. He was from Gotham's richest neighborhood where he lived next door to Bruce Wayne and she was from a run-down middle-class neighborhood with an unsuccessful criminal for a father and a drug addict mother. These differences became less pronounced when Tim's dad lost most of his money on the stock market and Steph's mother started working again but by then they were dating.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In the backstory, [[spoiler:King Andrias, then a prince, was best friends with one of the castle guards and a gardener. He didn't care about their status, but his father disapproved of him having genuine bonds with anyone, assuming that the only reason anyone would befriend royalt would be to exploit them for favors. This, along with one of Andrias' friends rebelling against Newtopia's "conquer and destroy" policy and the other hesitating in capturing her, led to the friendships coming apart at the seams.]]

** In the [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender first show]], Aang is an airbending monk and he quickly joins up with SiblingTeam Sokka and Katara. Their dad is the chief but the Southern Water Tribe is the most impoverished location in the series so they’re quite poor. Along the way, they pick up Toph whose family is one of the richest in the entire Earth Kingdom, if not the world, and Zuko who’s a prince.
** [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]] in the SequelSeries is also the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe (but this he’s democratically elected) who originally came from a rich family in the Northern Tribe so she’s pretty well off (although she lived in a compound her whole life where she didn’t need to worry about money). The first friends she makes in Republic City are former StreetUrchin brothers Mako and Bolin (who also come from a poor family on their dad’s side) and then they bring extremely wealthy heiress Asami into the fold.
** Aang’s predecessor, Roku, came from a noble Fire Nation family and he was friends with Aang’s monk ParentalSubstitute, Gyatso. Kyoshi, his predecessor, was also an orphaned StreetUrchin but at the beginning of her [[Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi novel]] her only friends are Yun (another poor orphan) and Rangi, a girl from a noble Fire Nation family.

* ''WesternAnimation/AroundTheWorldWithWillyFog'': Fog is clearly of a high social status. He lives in a grand house on London's fashionable Savile Row and acquired a £40,000 [[note]]a lot of money in 1872[[/note]] fortune somewhere down the line. Rigodon and Tico, by contrast, are from a more humble background, having worked as circus performers before becoming Fog's servants at the beginning of the series. Despite this, Fog regards them as friends and, when he has to pay £2000 bail to get them out of having to serve time in an Indian jail, he doesn't hesitate to pay, much to the judge's surprise:

* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'': Although she's not on the same level of friendship with Ginger as Dodie and Macie, Courtney Gripling is nevertheless on good terms with her and often tries to be Ginger's friend despite coming from a rich family while Ginger is middle-class. Her younger brother Blake has a friendly rivalry with Ginger's younger brother Carl.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Middle-class Nadine is best friends with the wealthy Rhonda Wellington Lloyd.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Twilight Sparkle, a mare of a fairly upper-class Canterlot family and protege of Princess Celestia, and her friends from Ponyville, a small rural community. Though the significance is entirely lost on Twilight herself, episodes like ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E9SweetAndElite Sweet and Elite]]'' have made it quite clear the majority of the Canterlot upper-class view Ponyville residents as uncultured boorish hicks.
** Rarity is a posh fashion designer and owns two boutiques who's best friend is Applejack, a tomboy country girl who works at an apple farm. They originally started off as not really liking each other and having a rather nasty feud in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E8LookBeforeYouSleep Look Before You Sleep]]'' but character development in later seasons made them very close friends. One thing they also share is that they're the only two ponies in the main cast who run their own businesses.

** In the beginning of the series, Hylas, who's a goatherd and an Outsider, has for four years been best friends with Telamon, the son of Lykonia's chieftain who often sneaks out of Lapithos to hang out with Hylas and his little sister Issi. [[WeUsedToBeFriends Unfortunately]], this friendship comes to an end after Hylas and the other Outsiders become hunted by Telamon's ruthless kin. After spending the two first books [[ConflictingLoyalty torn between his kin and best friend]], Telamon ends up pulling a FaceHeelTurn and becomes Hylas' ArchEnemy.
** Hylas befriends in the first book Pirra, the [[RebelliousPrincess runaway daughter of Keftiu's High Priestess]] who'd gladly give up her status and riches to live her life freely like Hylas. Of course, their friendship slowly develops into budding romance in the middle of the series, and ultimately, [[spoiler:Pirra lets all of Keftiu think she's dead, assumes a commoner's life without hesitation and mates with Hylas at the series' end]].

* Asuka Kazuma and Emilie De Rochefort from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' play with this trope. The two are rivals, with the latter wanting to constantly fight the former to her utter annoyance. However, Lili's ending in the sixth game implies that Lili wants to be friends with Asuka but doesn't know how to express it [[LovingBully except by fighting her]]. And then there's Asuka's ending in ''7'', where [[spoiler:Lili buys her family's struggling dojo and moves with in Asuka at her house]].

* ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'': As in canon, the friendship and eventual relationship between billionaire Oliver Queen and working class Laurel Lance. Unlike the show, attention ''is'' drawn to their societal differences. Laurel is nervous at attending a party of the wealthy elite (calling herself "a fraud" and that "she doesn't belong"), and [[spoiler:when Oliver decides to run for mayor]], the fact that he's dating someone from a working class family is seen as a selling point. It shows he treats people as equals, and truly believes in his dream of a unified city.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': Ran Mouri is the daughter of a DefectiveDetective who can barely solve a proper case (thus depriving him of income) without the help of Conan. Her best friend is Sonoko Suzuki, who is the daughter of a conglomerate group, and her other ChildhoodFriend turned lover Shinichi Kudo is the son of a bestselling author and a former actress.

** Hylas befriends in the first book Pirra, the [[RebelliousPrincess runaway daughter of Keftiu's High Priestess]] who'd gladly give up her status and riches to live her life freely like Hylas. [[spoiler:In the middle of the series, Pirra lets all of Keftiu think she's dead, assumes a commoner's life without hesitation and even mates with Hylas at the series' end.]]

** In the beginning of the series, Hylas, who's a goatherd and an Outsider, has for four years been best friends with Telamon, the son of Lykonia's chieftain who often sneaks out of Lapithos to hang out with Hylas and his little sister Issi. [[WeUsedToBeFriends Unfortunately]]], this friendship comes to an end after Hylas and the other Outsiders become hunted by Telamon's ruthless kin. After spending the two first books [[ConflictingLoyalty torn between the loyalty between his best friend and kin]], Telamon ends up pulling a FaceHeelTurn and becomes Hylas' ArchEnemy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Middle-class Timmy is best friends with upper-middle-class A.J. and lower-class Chester.

* This is a recurring theme among the various Team Avatars in the ''[[Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]] '' franchise. In the [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender first show]], Aang is an airbending monk and he quickly joins up with SiblingTeam Sokka and Katara. Their dad is the chief but the Southern Water Tribe is the most impoverished location in the series so they’re quite poor. Along the way, they pick up Toph whose family is one of the richest in the entire Earth Kingdom, if not the world, and Zuko who’s a prince. [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra Korra]] in the SequelSeries is also the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe (but this he’s democratically elected) who originally came from a rich family in the Northern Tribe so she’s pretty well off (although she lived in a compound her whole life where she didn’t need to worry about money). The first friends she makes in Republic City are former StreetUrchin brothers Mako and Bolin (who also come from a poor family on their dad’s side) and then they bring extremely wealthy heiress Asami into the fold. Aang’s predecessor, Roku, came from a noble Fire Nation family and he was friends with Aang’s monk ParentalSubstitute, Gyatso. Kyoshi, his predecessor, was also an orphaned StreetUrchin but at the beginning of her [[Literature/TheRiseOfKyoshi novel]] her only friends are Yun (another poor orphan) and Rangi, a girl from a noble Fire Nation family.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'': Ran Mouri is the daughter of a DefectiveDetective who can barely solve a proper case (thus depriving him of income) without the help of Conan. Her best friend is Sonoko Suzuki, who is the daughter of a conglomerate group.

** In general, most of the Straw Hats are from lower-class backgrounds(especially Nami, whose foster mother Belle-mere struggled to provide for her and her adoptive sister, Nojiko), but have several friends who are royalty. Princess Vivi of Alabasta is the most prominent example, being an HonoraryTrueCompanion of the crew who had actually temporarily joined them.

* In the anime/manga of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'', while they don't forget Arslan's position as prince and heir to the throne, their group remains close and devoted to each other despite the differences in class. There is Arslan, Narsus (former lord), Daryun (high-ranking military officer), Elam (freed slave) and Farangis, Gieve, Alfarid and Jaswant (commoner).

* [[TheOjou Haru]] from ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'' is best friends with the middle-class Akane. Due to Haru having worn the mask of being a RichBitch since elementary school, she occasionally refers to Akane as "commoner" by reflex. Their boyfriends have a similar relationship.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has the friendships between Class 1-A students, who are wealthy (especially [[TheOjou Yaoyorozu]], [[TheAce Todoroki]], [[ClassRepresentative Iida]]) to comfortable ([[TheHero Midoriya]]) and relatively poor ([[GenkiGirl Uraraka]]). The class disparities between the students are played both for laughs and drama.

* In the anime/manga of ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'', while they don't forget Arslan's position as prince and heir to the throne, their group remains close and devoted to each other despite the differences in class. There is Arslan, Narsus (former lord), Daryun (high-ranking military officer), Elam (freed slave) and Farangis, Gieve, Alfarid and Jaswant (commoner).

* The Chilean film ''Machuca'' is about this: the friendship between a low-class kid (Pedro Machuca) and a high-class kid (Gonzalo Infante), both met when a group of poor children were taken by a prestigious school in order to promote the no-discrimination between social classes. The plan of the school, as well the friendship between Machuca and Infante, went broken because of the UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet's coup d'etat.