Living Emotional Crutch / Anime & Manga

Living Emotional Crutches in Anime and Manga.

---

• In Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, it's shown in episode 4 that Hajime has become this to Yue when the Hydra boss casts an illusion spell to make her see her inner worst fear of being abandoned by Hajime, the vision terrified Yue so much that her will was broken and collapsed onto the floor, making herself vulnerable to the Hydra. Hajime reassures her that he won't abandon her by kissing her lips, which grants her the willpower needed to overcome the Hydra's subsequent debuff spell.
• In Adekan Kojiro appears to be one for Shiro, and Shiro actively allows Kojiro to get close to him most of the time stemming from his Dark and Troubled Past and as a kid was very close to Anri who served as a Living Emotional Crutch for him before Kojiro came into the picture. It's even said outright that since Shiro had his humanity stripped away from him he's learning to be kind and care about people again ever since he got close to Kojiro, given how Kojiro himself is such a kindhearted guy.
• Kaori is one of these to Tetsuo from AKIRA, and is the one person keeping him from losing his mind completely. In the anime, she dies horribly when she's engulfed by the...thing that Tetsuo has become after losing control of his powers. In the manga, she's gunned down by Tetsuo's treacherous lieutenant and Tetsuo not only kills said lieutenant, but carries her lifeless body around in his arms.
• Mikage from Asteroid in Love, unwittingly, becomes this to Mai, the underclassmen in her Japanese School Club. Mai admires her so much that she begins to use Mikage to soothe her Nervous Wreck traits. This becomes evident when she and Mari hand over the club presidency to Mai half a year early; Mai's response is a Heroic BSoD by going Ocular Gushers for days while clinging on to her own belongings as they were Memento MacGuffin. Luckily, Mai does Grew a Spine later.
• Astro Boy: Astro, or more accurately, Tobio, is this to Dr. Tenma in the 2003 series, even though he had had a funny way of showing it when Tobio was alive. In the original Japanese, he flat-out tells his young son that he’s the only thing that keeps him in the world. True to form, Tobio’s death drives Tenma completely off the deep end. This segues into being obsessed with Astro and shaping all his machinations around making Astro the king of robots so they can be together again. Once he accepts that Astro isn’t Tobio and that his son is truly gone for good, he sees no more point in living himself. Though he manages reconcile with Astro anyway.
• Attack on Titan:
  • Eren is one to Mikasa: as he saved her from the people who murdered her biological family and is the only one of her loving adopted family left, she's deeply attached to him and even joins the military solely to protect him (despite her status as The Gift). Needless to say, she has more than one massive (but tranquil) Freak Out after she thinks something bad has happened to him.
  • Krista being one to Ymir is a darker example: Ymir is completely willing to side with the villains and take away Krista's future if it means she can have her to herself, and she openly admits it. That said, she does ultimately leave Krista behind to keep her safe when she leaves the walls with Bertholt and Reiner.
• Attack on Titan: Junior High: Again, Eren to Mikasa, although the reason for her dependence on him isn't clear. When deprived of Eren for too long, Mikasa loses 70% of her skills and confidence. Played as a joke.
• Berserk:
  • Casca is this to Guts, because without her around Guts would utterly give into his Superpowered Evil Side as she's the one thing keeping him human. Schierke was even able to snap Guts out of Beast of Darkness's control simply by making him remember Casca causing Guts to actually rush away from the battle to her location. Not to mention that Griffith raped Casca to insanity because he knew that she was Guts' weakness and he wanted Guts to suffer, and Guts all but broke after not being able to save her. When the reincarnated Griffith takes Casca (right after she's been restored to her former self) away in Chapter 368, Guts collpases in utter despair, having literally lost all will to fight or live with Casca gone.
  • During his time with the Hawks, Guts eventually became Griffith's crutch. Griffith trusted Guts with the seedier elements of his power plays and opened up to him more than anyone, even Casca. The downward spiral toward the Despair Event Horizon that would eventually result in Griffith becoming Femto started when Guts decided to leave the Band of the Hawk.
  • Casca also had shades of this when it came to her relationship with Griffith, since she had also seen a more vulnerable side to Griffith that no one else had seen and helped him through it. Griffith did not take it well when he found out that she and Guts had become an item, which was the final straw before his Despair Event Horizon. Averted after his Face–Heel Turn where Casca is horrifed of what he has become and tries to escape from Griffith after being captured by him.
  • Chapter 372 confirms Guts is just as much to this to Casca as she is to him. Despite living in the lap of luxury in False Utopia Falconia, Casca can't take comfort in a single thing knowing she is far, far way from Guts. Eventually, Casca snaps and goes on a Unstoppable Rage againist Griffith's guards desperate to escape to and go back to Guts, with her thoughts terrified of what will happen to Guts if she can't reunite with him (a well justifed fear given what misery Guts is going through with her gone). Guts being this to Casca was forshadowed in Casca's Journey to the Center of the Mind chapters with him making up almost the entirety of her happy memories.
• Betrayal Knows My Name:
  • Yuki to Luka.
  • Every Zwelit partner to another, especially Hotsuma and Shuusei, and who state multiple times that they cannot live without the other.
• In the second series of Black Butler, Claude appears to be this for Alois. It backfires. Horribly.
• Bleach: As the plot progresses, it becomes rather blatant that Orihime relies on Ichigo for moral support.
  • When Nel chastises Orihime for not cheering on Ichigo during his fight with Grimmjow, Orihime realizes that this is a two-way street and begs Ichigo to not get himself killed.
  • It gets to the point that she can't even resurrect him after Ulquiorra shoots a hole in his chest because she can't concentrate enough to use her Reality Warper powers properly. Feeling utterly powerless, she falls back to her default response and starts muttering Ichigo's name repeatedly, before screaming and begging him to help her. She gets her wish. Sort of...
  • Much later, even though she's been brainwashed and thinks that Ichigo is going insane, she still can't help but turn on the waterworks when she hears him screaming in despair.
• In Brave10, Saizo is one for Isanami. After watching her home being burned to the ground and almost everyone she knew being killed, she adopts Saizo as "her light."
• In Case Closed, Shinichi Kudo aka Conan Edogawa has his almost-girlfriend Ran Mouri. At best, the thought of her showing interest in other guys makes him almost childishly jealous and it's mostly Played for Laughs. At worst, whenever Ran has disappeared/been attacked/been wounded/believed to be dead, Conan has either fallen into Heroic BSODs and, at least once, has been dangerously close to crossing the Despair Event Horizon. Ran is no better, considering that when he disappeared, she was worried to the point of insomnia and is now waiting for him to come back without knowing where he is or what he's doing. She also shows jealousy whenever any girl appears to be interested in him.
• Ceres, Celestial Legend:
  • Aya becomes one to Touya. He's mostly stoic and uncertain about anything he ever does or says, because his lack of memories made him worry about who he actually is; and also why he was so hesitant to reciprocate her feelings. He was scared that everything would turn out to be a lie, if he ever got his memories back. And when he decides that Aya is more important to him than his memories, he fully commits to her, being much more open with his emotions, including joking and laughing. Touya even stopped killing indiscriminantly because he knew that Aya did not approve of such behavior, even if their opponents are set on killing them. And when it appears like Aya might be stuck in a Lotus-Eater Machine forever, Touya actually breaks down crying. Fortunately, she awakens.
  • In turn, Touya ends up being one for Aya. Whenever the two are brutally separated,like when Touya regained his memories as 'Touya Mizuki' and completely forgot about Aya, or when he gets killed later on in the series, Aya is shown to be a complete, emotional wreck. She tries to hide it behind a smile at first, but the slightest scratch makes her dissolve into tears.
• Last Order to Accelerator from A Certain Magical Index, his Morality Pet that catalyzed his Heel–Face Turn after his defeat at the hands of protagonist Kamijou Touma. Seeing how she is integral to the SISTERS network, she is also the embodiment of his redemption. Also, she gets kidnapped. A lot. The entire second half of Accelerator's story arc is his quest to save her, which involves turning on the city that raised him, him travelling through Siberia, facing off against Angels and spontaneously figuring out and using magic, something which usually would at least severely harm any weaker Esper and definitely kill the stronger ones like Accelerator. He also is taken care of by Yoshikawa, who has a great effect on his mental health. And then there's Misaka Worst, a girl who is his crutch and he is hers in return. Their relationship is… entertaining.
  • Touma has recently become this for Othinus with Ollerus mentioning that if Touma were to die in front of Othinus then she would become even more of a monster than she once was.
• Citrus: This was the basis of Mei's relationship with Yuzu for the first few chapters. While Mei would often tend to ignore her for the most part, the few times where she would exert power over Yuzu would be whenever she was becoming emotionally unstable, or as a means of controlling the situation. This culminates when Mei's father returns home for a visit, and Mei is so distraught by him stating that he wasn't going to reclaim the academy, she tries to make advances on Yuzu. However, once she had faced her trouble with her father, Mei gradually grows to legitimately care for Yuzu as an equal rather than an emotional crutch.
• Code Geass:
  • C.C. was this for Mao. And he wants her back! Cue heavy, heavy drama with a bit of squick thrown in.
  • More subtly, Nunnally for Lelouch Lamperouge. Compare how Lelouch is when Nunnally is around to when she isn't—or even more so, when she is his opponent or he thinks she is dead.
  • Euphemia is this for Nina. Just look at how Nina reacts when Euphemia dies.
  • Euphemia is this for Suzaku Kururugi. It's also implied that Nunnally and Lelouch serve a similar purpose. When Euphemia is killed by Lelouch and Suzaku betrays Lelouch in turn to his own father, he starts slipping hard and fast barely clinging to sanity by using Nunnally. Then he accidentally "kills" her...
  • Lelouch is this to Rolo, which he exploits to make him do a Heel–Face Turn.
• Cowboy Bebop:
  • Juila is pretty much this for Spike. He states that when he met her it was like meeting "someone who was truly alive" for the first time in his life and without her Spike sees his existence as a waking dream. Depending on who you ask Spike's One-Man Army rampage againist Vicious's syndicate at the end is a Death Seeker display over Juila dying. Though the Tiger Stripped Cat story and Spike's last words to Faye do give some room for doubt in that regard. Word of God also confirms Faye, Jet and Ed hold a dear place in Spike's otherwise dead heart, even if he often acts like he doesn't care about them.
  • Surprisingly Spike ends up being this for Faye by the end of the series (the Femme Fatale, who until then only seemed to care about money). After Faye learns of her previous life before the Astral Gate accident and finds that her old house and family are long gone, Faye realises she's only ever felt at home on the Bebop with Spike and co. When Spike leaves to settle things with Vicious, Faye points a gun at him before breaking down completely and tearfully begging him to stay with her.
• Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: Maine's status as David's father figure helped give the boy the emotional support and strength needed to handle cybernetics. Maine's death is a major factor to David succumbing to cyberpsychosis.
• Lina from Cyborg 009 is this for Phil, despite his protests. When she's thrown into the Bad Future alongside Joe/the titular 009, Phil is devastated to the point of an Heroic BSoD, and Mai lampshades the trope by saying that without Lina, the child simply will NOT survive.
• Daimos: Erika is this to her brother Richter. Her departure had a great effect on him. He was also hurt when she refused to talk to him after being returned to the Undersea Castle, and asked if she didn't trust him anymore.
  Richter: "Why can't you tell me, your own brother, about it?"
  • After he diverged paths with her, it became Aizam. That didn't end well.
• Light Yagami to Misa in Death Note (whether he wants to be or not). This becomes a plot point when Rem realizes that she cannot kill Light without taking Misa's will to live, since she has become dependent on him. Light uses this trope to his advantage and forces Rem to kill L for him, even if Rem would die after doing it because she would voluntarily influence Misa's remaining life time which is forbidden for Shinigami to do so.
• Digimon Universe: App Monsters provides a heartwarming yet tragic example for a mere kids show. Apocalypse Maiden of the show, Yuujin, cares for Haru, the protagonist, to the point he takes his own life out of his will just to make sure Haru isn't burdened to sacrifice him to defeat the Big Bad. Haru himself, whose Heroic BSoD was always caused by Yuujin snatched away from him, is cornered into Sadistic Choice. Though he can't abandon the world for Yuujin after all, he promises Yuujin that he will grow up to be someone that can save him one day.
• Dragon Ball Z:
  • Mr. Satan and Bee (the puppy) become this to Fat Buu. He completely loses it when they're shot by a madman to the point that he releases all his inner evil, which took the form of Evil Buu. They're also the primary reason he is ultimately redeemed.
  • Goku and Krillin to each other. They were training buddies and in Krillin's case, the first real friend he ever had. When Goku isn't around Krillin is noticeably pessimist (more than usual) and is more prone to depression. For Goku, hurting or killing Krillin tends to sends him into murderous rages.
  • Goku is also this to his son, Gohan. When Goku isn't around, Gohan tends to have less self-confidence in himself and it's his father's encouragements that inspires him to make one final stand against Cell.
  • Piccolo and Gohan are this to each other too. At first, Gohan was terrified of Piccolo, and Piccolo was annoyed by Gohan's constant whining, but their relationship after they bonded over the course of their training for the Saiyan. Every time Piccolo dies (In Z, GT, and Super), Gohan will be saddened. Piccolo believed Gohan had died fighting Majin Buu, he was also greatly affected.
  • Trunks and Bulma are this for Vegeta after his character development. If his family is threatened in any way, he will react violently, as seen when Cell kills Future Trunks upon his return, and Beerus striking Bulma in retaliation for slapping him.
  • Similarly Chi-Chi, Gohan and Goten are this for Goku. While he loves fighting and eating, it's his family that does give him the most joy in life. This is most clear when Zamasu informs Goku that he butchered Alternate Universe Chi-Chi and Goten out of spite after taking his body, Goku in reponse goes absolutely apeshit beating the living piss out of both Zamasu and Goku Black. It's even more extreme than it was with Frieza killing Krillin, as here the usually All-Loving Hero Goku simply wants to hurt Zamasu as much as possible with no regard for the fight itself.
  • In Dragon Ball Super: Broly the fierce big green alien creature Ba was this for Broly. Seeing this as a weakness, his scumbag Paragus shoots Ba's ear off in front of Broly making sure he would not longer trust Broly. Afterwards Broly keeps Ba's ear around his waist all the time to remember the goods times. Cheelai and Lemo soon become this to Broly due to being the ones who truly care about him.
• Eureka Seven:
  • Played straight for Eureka in episodes 24 to 26. She is constantly in grief at Renton's absence and determined to see him to the point that she departed from Gekko behind everyone's back, including the three kids, to find Renton. She was finally emotionally at ease when she was reunited with Renton. In episode 45, Eureka had a severe emotional meltdown when Renton and the kids found out about her left limb going through some form of mutation change. Her greatest fear of not being able to stay with Renton tormented her tremendously. Renton responded in kind to damage his own hand to share Eureka's pain, which divert Eureka to focus her worries on Renton's welfare.
  • Also, Anemone starts off as a violently psychotic Tyke Bomb, but grows much stabler in the presence of her handler/guardian Dominic. Late in the series, he manages to restore her sanity completely through the Power of Love.
• Fairy Tail: The main Exceeds in the series to their respective Dragon Slayers. When it looked like Jiemma had killed Lector, Sting had a major Freak Out that ended with him blasting Jiemma through the stomach. And it was Frosch's death at the hands of an evil Gray Fullbuster in an alternate future that caused Future!Rogue to turn evil.
  • Happy is clearly distraught over the prospect of Natsu dying because of how his life is to linked Zeref. He cries uncontrollably, begging for Natsu to live.
  • Lucy has Fairy Tail as a whole for crutch, as her Lonely Rich Kid background can attest.
  • Juvia is officially this for Gray, having lost so many people in his life, such as his parents, his Master and foster mother, and his father once more. When Juvia is nearly killed Invel during the war against the Alvarez Empire, he becomes so bent on revenge that he nearly fought to the death with Natsu, who is revealed to be E.N.D, his greatest nemesis. Thankfully, Juvia survives, and Gray comes to his senses.
• In Free!, Makoto is Haruka's crutch, functioning at Haruka's all-in-one intermediary, alarm clock, and constant companion, making Haruka's life as easy and non-confrontational as possible. It should be noted that Haruka also functions as an occasional emotional crutch for Makoto, too. When Makoto tells Haruka that he is going to attend a university in Tokyo, Haruka has a BSOD; even then, Makoto discusses the issue with Rin, and prompts Rin to take Haruka to Australia, where Haruka (re)discovers his love for swimming. At the end of the series, Haruka also ends up in Tokyo, though he's not living with Makoto, so it's up in the air whether Makoto will remain Haruka's crutch.
• Freezing:
  • Kazuya Aoi is this for Satellizer. Before she met Kazuya she was a Broken Bird, unable to stand any physical contact and suffered constant torment from her half-brother's sexual abuse. After meeting Kazuya, she underwent massive Character Development and was able to face all of her problems and improved greatly for it. Now, her greatest fear is losing Kazuya, so much so that when her greatest fear manifest, it's in the form of Kazuya's sister, who was the closest person in Kazuya's life before her. Recently, it's becoming more mutual with Kuzuya and his family issues.
  • Gengo, Kazuya's grandfather, is this for his bodyguard Su-Na Lee. As The Sociopath, Su-Na had difficulty socializing and understanding emotions such as grief. As a result she was ostracized, even by the few friends she had. She eventually tells Gengo about herself and instead of shunning her, he accepts her and offers to be her "family". Afterwards, she seems to grow quite a bit as a person.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • This is essentially stated to be the case with Hawkeye and Mustang. When she's told that he's dead, she loses the will to live. Later, when he threatens to be consumed by his own desire for revenge, she—fulfilling the oath she made before the start of the series—prepares to shoot him; the fact that she intends to kill herself afterward keeps him from crossing his Moral Event Horizon. Later still, when she's on the brink of death, he begs her not to die and leave him alone. They're an unfortunate case of Love Hurts, but they'd still rather be together.
  • The Elric brothers are also a form of this for one another.
  • On the villainous side, there's Lust and Gluttony. Considering how Gluttony's a literal bottomless pit who only cares about his next meal, it says a lot how he listens to Lust and misses her, especially after she dies. It's taken even further in Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), wherein Gluttony becomes so consumed with grief that he doesn't even think about eating after Lust dies.
• Kaname gradually becomes one for Sousuke in Full Metal Panic! as he begins defrosting, with Sousuke readily admitting by Into the Blue that Kaname doesn't need a bodyguard so much as he needs her.
• Yukiteru for Yuno in Future Diary. One reason Yukiteru continues a relationship with her as the series goes on, despite her psychosis, is the fact that she is noticeably more stable and calm when she's with him, and he believes he can help her. And she turns out to have a deeply heartbreaking and screwed up reason to love him.
• Gakuen Babysitters: After having a fever-induced nightmare about losing Kotarou in the same plane crash that took their parents, Ryuuichi admits to himself that Kotarou's presence is what has been helping him deal with his trauma. In general, he's terrified of anything bad happening to Kotarou partly because Kotarou is his only living relative and he's terrified of being alone in the world.
• In The Garden of Sinners Mikiya Kokutou becomes this to most characters. Specially to Shiki over the course of the series, although she doesn't notice it until the final moments of the last film. After she and Lio (who was very attached to Mikiya as well) mistake him for dead, their reactions go to the extremes. While Lio goes more Ax-Crazy than he already was, Shiki goes through a Tranquil Fury and murders Lio, the culprit, 7 times over in the space of a few seconds. She then falls over, and realizes that she really doesn't have any reason to get up. Then Mikiya then claws his way back to her.
  • Of course, keep in mind that Mikiya is explicitly characterised as a literal bodhisattva. The relationship between Shiki and Mikiya is one of the most complex possible, actually, since it mirrors the theoretical dynamic between Buddha (Mikiya) and Christ (Shiki).
• Goblin Slayer becomes this for Priestess after he saves her from dying in her rather disastrous first adventure. Any time he is brought to the brink of death, Priestess reacts by entering a state of shock, which makes her lose the focus necessary to maintain Miracles like Protection. This nearly results in getting Goblin Slayer's party killed several times.
• Great Teacher Onizuka: Onizuka is one for Urumi, who goes so far as to put a box cutter to her wrist when Onizuka flatlines even before the doctors begin resuscitation.
• Happy Sugar Life: Shio is this for multiple characters. She’s the first and only person Satou comes to love, Asahi thinks he can’t truly have a happy family if she’s not in it, and Taiyou is convinced she’ll be the one to “purify” him. As a result, Satou is willing to anything to protect Shio and keep her to herself, while Asahi and Taiyou want to find her so that they can have their own chance at happiness, which leads to various clashes between the three characters. Satou winds up becoming Shio’s crutch and continues to be so even years after her death.
• In Hetalia: Axis Powers Russia is normally an Ax-Crazy Stepford Smiler. It's also hinted that Russia has feelings for his "favorite" Lithuania. Additionally if you ask the fandom, Lithuania is the only one who can keep Russia relatively sane.
  • Also, Russia truly loves his older sister Ukraine as much as his insanity lets him.
  • Germany for Italy, with the latter having fits of panic and depression whenever it's even hinted that Germany might stop being friends with him.
  • It's also likely that North Italy is one for Germany, as he mentions that Italy is one of the first friends he has had.
• Issei to the Occult Research Club from High School D×D. When he dies in Ophis' dimension, the entire club goes into a severe Heroic BSoD. After all, when you have Akeno, the beautiful, serene and seductive heavyweight of the club go catatonic due to Issei's death, then you know things can't get any worse.
• Imaizumin-chi wa Douyara Gal no Tamariba ni Natteru Rashii: ~DEEP~: Reina notices Imaizumi make a Hidden Eyes face for just a moment and offers him a hug, which he needed. She also cites a scientific belief that it acts as stress-relief.
• Princess Finé in Izetta: The Last Witch is this to the titular character Izetta. Izetta admitted to herself she used to be lonely and hated herself before becoming friends with the princess, and she only started liking herself thanks to the kind princess.
• Yata of K for Fushimi—or at least he used to be. It was when Fushimi thought Yata was distancing himself that he started going over the deep end. Yata is still something of his crutch, albeit in a twisted sort of way.
  • Totsuka seemed to be one for Mikoto before his death. After he died Mikoto seemed to have become something of a death seeker.
• In Kaguya Hime, Midori is very much this to Yui, who becomes a useless crying mess every time they're separated. Midori hates it. And you can probably interpret a lot of other pairs as having this dynamic (Akira as Mayu's, Kaede and Katsura as each other's, Miller as Nobuo's, Yu-Ling as Gao Li-shi's, etc).
• In Koharu no Hibi Akira is this for Koharu. Very much so.
• Miki is this to Ayumu in Life (2002). She's the only person who knows of Ayumu's Self-Harm habits for most of the manga.
• In Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan: Precious Lies, the titular characters are each others' crutches. The horrific ordeal they endured together in childhood screwed them up very badly, and their relationship is the only thing that lets them maintain even a semblance of sanity. As messed up as they are, the third kidnapped child aka the real "Mii-kun" is even more broken. The protagonist wonders if real!Mii-kun would have been less screwed up if he had remembered Maa-chan.
• The least controversial interpretation of Nanoha and Fate's relationship in the Lyrical Nanoha franchise is that Nanoha serves as Fate's Living Emotional Crutch in the late first and most of the second season, following Precia's abuse and abandonment of Fate. Fate herself later serves as this to other characters, e.g. Erio. A recurring theme of the franchise is that while anyone can require an emotional crutch at some point, they will eventually be healed of their traumas and live a happy and satisfying life, if given enough warmth and care. And firepower.
• Catarina in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! is this for all of her friends. Her friends all had various issues in their lives which were solved by her empathy and kindness. They visit her frequently and go out of their way to keep her around them at all times. It's to the point that when she's in a dark magic-induced coma, they openly say they'd lose the will to live if she were to die.
• Naruto:
  • Itachi is this for Sasuke, with Sasuke not realizing it until Itachi dies and Sasuke learns that Itachi had done everything to protect him in a horribly convoluted way. He then goes mad with grief and has a huge moment of Sanity Slippage.
  • It's Implied that Orochimaru is this for Kabuto.
  • Rin is a Crutch for two characters. She is Obito's entire reason for living, and also the only one who keeps Kakashi's mental health together out of a promise he made with Obito. When she dies by commiting suicide by Kakashi's hand after she's forcibly turned into an Apocalypse Maiden, everything goes to hell for both boys: Obito becomes a psychotic terrorist hell-bent on assimilating mankind, while Kakashi becomes a mentally damaged person whose sanity is barely hanging on and is dangerously close to being Driven to Suicide like his father before him.
    • Obito and Kakashi are also this to each other. After Rin's death, and then the death of their sensei, Minato, the only thing that kept Kakashi going was his promise to be Obito's eyes. Even in his "death", Obito was so important and integral to Kakashi's character that the latter modeled everything in his life as a tribute to his best friend, from his personality, to his mannerisms, to even the reason why he became a pathological procrastinator (which is spent staring at the names of his team on the Memorial Stone for three hours, everyday). Obito, meanwhile, claimed he no longer cared for Kakashi after Rin's death, but it becomes patently clear that is not true. Obito's ideal world, the world he tried to force on humanity, is one where not only Rin is alive, but also one where Kakashi isn't a guilt-ridden wreck and was able to live up to the ideals that Obito had passed on to him. In spite of everything that has happened between them, Kakashi was just as important to him as Rin was, and one of the only reasons he bothered to keep on living for so long.
    • Perhaps even more so than Rin or Obito, Might Guy became this to Kakashi. After the death of his original team, Guy was the only positive relationship Kakashi had prior to the formation of Team 7. He was pretty much the only person preventing Kakashi from succumbing completely to his crippling self-loathing and falling straight into a Despair Event Horizon, and is also revealed to have been the driving force behind Kakashi being released from ANBU and becoming a jounin instructor. The latter occupation proves itself to be much better for Kakashi's mental health, which was exactly why Guy begged for his friend's immediate discharge.
  • Naruto and Hinata are this to each other. Both suffer from severe self-esteem issues, yet they help each other out during some of the darkest moments of their lives. Naruto's determination inspires Hinata to never give up on herself, while Hinata gently encourages Naruto during his moments of despair.
    • Naruto's emotional dependency on Hinata first became apparent during the Invasion of Pain arc. Along with still reeling from his master Jiraiya's death, Naruto has just seen his village completely demolished, confirmed that his sensei Kakashi is dead, and just saw his frog-sensei get killed in front of him, and yet he still maintains control of his emotions. But as soon as he is Forced to Watch Pain almost fatally stab Hinata with one of his chakra rods, right after she sincerely confessed her love to him — which was the first time he ever heard anybody say that to him genuinely — Naruto crosses the Despair Event Horizon, completely loses his will to live, and nearly releases the Nine-Tails.
      Naruto: When Pain struck Hinata I was so mad, so full of rage, my heart instantly connected with the Kyuubi's will.
    • If one were to keep a close eye on their interactions throughout the series, Naruto seems calmer around Hinata and more open about his insecurities with her than with anybody else, as if being with her helps him be at peace with all the pain he's been through in his life.
    • In the Canon movie The Last: Naruto the Movie, after Hinata "rejects" Naruto (actually a ruse so that she could have a better chance of rescuing her younger sister Hanabi and save the earth), Naruto (who didn't know about her plan) falls into a deep depression for four days — three of which he spends in an Angst Coma — and comes very close to giving up on everything. A pep-talk from Sakura regarding the depths and unwavering nature of Hinata's love for him snaps him out of it and gives him a Heroic Second Wind. After the Final Battle, Naruto and Hinata finally become a couple, get married, and have two children together.
    • This quote from Sakura Hiden explicitly states just how important Hinata is to Naruto:
      "Throughout that mission, Naruto realized that Hinata's being was irreplaceable and essential to him."
• In No. 6, it's hinted that Sion and Nezumi are this for each other. Nezumi for Sion especially. Take for example Sion's reaction to a guy almost killing Nezumi in episode 10.
• In No Game No Life, Sora and Shiro are this to each other. It's shown that if they stay several meters away from each other for only a minute, both of them will suffer an emotional breakdown and completely shut down until they are together again.
• One Piece:
  • Ace is definitely this for Luffy. Notice Luffy's reaction when Ace died. In turn, Luffy was this to Ace, to the point that he says that he probably wouldn't want to live if it wasn't for him and Sabo.
  • All the Straw Hats are this to each other. They all helped each other in their time of need and become noticeably depress when separated from each other. It's Luffy thinking of his crew that gives him the will to live after Ace's death, just like how Robin's will to keep living was rekindled when she realized that the Straw Hats were the friends she's been searching for all her life. In Whole Cake Island Sanji tries making a bento for Pudding his fiancé in his Arranged Marriage but unconsciously ends up making Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin and Franky's favorite foods instead.
  • Over the many sagas the series goes, there are several key points in which Nami's devotion to Luffy is put on focus in times where it seems all hope is lost; the whole Straw Hat crew is shown to have Luffy as the anchor for their dreams, with varying levels of openly expressing it, but Nami is the one who completely breaks down if she starts thinking, for a moment, not even Luffy is able to get them out of the given tough spot. Examples being the last advance against Eneru in Skypiea, the apparent total defeat against Kuma in Sabaody, and Luffy's presumed "death" against Kaido in Onigashima, all of those events show Nami breaking down in utter despair at the prospect of Luffy not being able to guide the Straw Hats forward anymore.
• In One-Punch Man, Genos serves one to Saitama as his closest friend. When Genos is killed by Awakened Garou, the normally unflappable and heroic Saitama completely loses his shit and nearly kills everyone in his rampage against Garou if it weren't for Blast' s intervention and caused galactic-level collateral damage.
• Osomatsu-san: The titular man relies on his five younger brothers more than they rely on him. When they all start leaving home in "Letter", Osomatsu becomes withdrawn and unstable.
• PandoraHearts: Elliot to Leo. Leo by far appears to take Elliot's death the hardest, blaming himself entirely for Elliot's death and losing his sanity in the days that follow. Elliot's also the only reason that Leo was even friends with Oz with Leo stating to Oz that now that Elliot is dead there's no reason for them to be friends anymore but rather enemies.
  • Alice to Oz. Oz goes into Love Makes You Crazy mode over Alice when he thinks she died and when she's feeling pain.
  • Oz for Gil. Big time. Also, Gil for Vincent. Though sometimes even Gil isn't enough to rein in Vincent's Ax-Crazy tendencies but its implied he would go completely and irreversibly Ax-Crazy if Gil ever died.
• In Penguindrum, what keeps Shouma and Kanba united despite their differences and the absence of their parents is their common care and affection for their sister Himari. Also, according to the flashbacks of episodes 19 and 20, Shouma used to be one for child!Himari, and he may still be.
• In Puella Magi Madoka Magica Madoka Kaname is basically the only reason Homura Akemi keeps going. She also sort of acts as this for Sayaka, at least at first. This does not go over too well when Homura eventually becomes convinced that Madoka is unhappy with having sacrificed herself and become God and so resorts to...extreme measures to bring her back.
• Oriko and Kirika, of Puella Magi Oriko Magica are basically two crutches leaning against each other. The former is the town pariah, and a Knight Templar who becomes increasingly conscious of the consequences of her actions, while the latter was antisocial even before being warped by her wish to the point of psychological dependency. Neither one seems able to survive without the other, happily risking their lives for the other's sake and no one else's, and neither seems to have any real friends outside of the other. The last scene of the manga shows this trope almost literally, with Kirika promising to shoulder half the burden of Oriko's guilt as they pass into the afterlife holding hands.
• In Ranma ½, although neither would admit it both Akane and Ranma are this to each other. Case in point, when he thought Akane had died Ranma went into a Heroic BSoD so bad that he only came out of it when he learned that Akane was still alive.
• Tsuna is this for Gokudera in Reborn! (2004). He reacted quite fiercely to learning Tsuna died and was the only one to visit his grave and did it quite often too.
  • This is the main reason Chrome Dokuro is Willfully Weak. She loves to rely on Mukuro.
• Rebuild World: The protagonist Akira serves as this for Sheryl. Sheryl was living as the favorite of a slum gang slumlord, who Akira captures after massacring the gang's leadership in self-defense. Sheryl being desperate to do something to stay in his good graces, Akira appoints her leader of the gang, dragging her into tense life-or-death situations repeatedly, traumatizing her until she breaks down crying, to which hugging Akira is the thing that brings her back to her senses, letting her return to her Iron Lady persona she keeps as a mask; this happens multiple times. When Akira is out of contact with her for too long, she gets agitated and counts the days until she'll snap, and insists on spending several minutes hugging him whenever he comes back.
• Re:Zero:
  • Subaru and Rem are this to each other. After he saves her from a mabeast attack and helps her overcome her guilt and self-hatred over the loss of her sister's horn, Rem falls in love with Subaru and becomes completely devoted to him. Being by his side and protecting him becomes her new reason for living and as long as she is able to do this she's happy. While she's normally kind, sweet and quiet, she will instantly become ruthless, murderous and violent towards anyone who tries to hurt Subaru. In turn, Subaru becomes very attached to Rem due to her unconditional love and support that she shows him and comes to view Rem as perhaps the most important person in his life. This causes him to also develop feelings for her as well despite being in love with Emilia. Subaru will also go into a rage if Rem is hurt or killed in any way or if anyone talks about her in a negative way.
  • Ram and Rem are also this to each other as well. Rem looks up to and greatly worships her older sister and is murderously protective of her whereas Ram is very protective of Rem who is the only living family member she has left. In one of the failed loops of Arc 2, Ram was very enraged and upset when Rem died from a curse and attempts to avenge her by killing Subaru because she suspected him of being involved with Rem's death.
  • Emilia is this to Pack as Pack says that Emilia is his only reason for living. Should she ever die, he becomes a ferocious beast that he is bent on destroying the world, stating that the world is meaningless without Emilia.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena:
  • Touga is this for his sister Nanami. She's very attached to him and he even managed to stop her from killing Utena in one duel.
  • Akio and Anthy are a dark example for each other—they manipulate and betray everyone besides each other because, after the massive shit they went through as Prince Dios and his sweet little sister, they're too afraid to live any other way. Their relationship isn't portrayed as healthy or pleasant for either of them (and in Anthy's case), it's clearly abusive.
• Rurouni Kenshin:
  • Kaoru is this to Kenshin. When he believed that she was killed by Enishi, he shuts down and loses the will to live. He only partly snaps out of it because of his desire to protect his friends.
  • Kenshin is also this to Kaoru. When he left for Tokyo and gave his final goodbye, she became so emotionally distressed that she laid in bed for days. She only got up to go after Kenshin and bring him back.
  • Before Kaoru, there was Tomoe. She was explicitly said to be the sheath (sanity) to his sword (savagery) and brought him out of the darkness of being an assassin.
  • To a lesser, Kenshin is this to Sanosuke. It was Kenshin that helped him get over his grief and anger over his mentor's betrayal and death. When Kenshin left for Tokyo, Sanosuke was the first one to go after him.
• In the beginning of Saikano Chise is acting as Shuuji's crutch. By the end, Shuuji is the crutch to an emotionally destroyed Chise.
• In Sailor Moon, Usagi seems to be this for all the Guardian Senshi, at least at first. Said Guardian Senshi, in order of introduction, are: Ami Mizuno, a shy honor student who is snubbed by the other students due her shyness being mistaken for arrogance, who never had a friend before; Rei Hino, who became an outcast due her Psychic Powers and a string of kidnappings near her temple; Makoto Kino, a Huge Schoolgirl treated with fear and hostility due to an undeserved fame as a bully; and Minako Aino, a competent Senshi who is Married to the Job and, because of this, the local poster girl for Broken Ace and Stepford Smiler. With time they recover, but they still remain rather attached to Usagi. It's even lampshaded in the R movie, when The Dragon is torturing Usagi and the girls, after recalling the above depicted sad pasts, they throw themselves at the feet of said Dragon while begging him to not kill Usagi:
  Rei: "You don't understand it [what she means to us], do you? WITHOUT USAGI, WE WOULD'VE BEEN ALONE FOREVER!"
• In Saint Beast, the half-human, half-angel brothers Kira and Maya are this for each other.
• In Saiyuki the four main characters are arguably this to each other, as due to their pasts no one in the group functions at all correctly when they don't have the others to fall back on. This was best demonstrated when Gojyo left the party and things started going wrong almost immediately. More specifically though, Goku is Sanzo's (before he met him, he was emotionally dead) and Gojyo is Hakkai's. Both those relationships work the other way around as well, though Gojyo and Goku have much less volatile personalities so it isn't as apparent...Though without Sanzo, Goku becomes Seiten Taisen much more easily, and you don't get much more volatile than that.
• School Days:
  • Setsuna is this to Sekai. Setsuna knows it clearly, too; hence why she wants her to be with Makoto, so he can protect her because she's soon moving abroads and doesn't want Sekai to be all alone.
  • Makoto is one for Kotonoha. When she found out that he was cheating on her, she started falling into denial and despair.
• School-Live!:
  • Megu-nee is this to Yuki. Without her Yuki would have a breakdown and her delusions that she isn't in a zombie apocalypse would shatter. Megu-nee isn't actually alive, though. She in herself is a delusion but others trying to remind her that Megu-nee died weeks ago causes Yuki to freak out.
  • Yuki is a far more subtle version of this to Yuuri. Rii seems to be a stable, Cool Big Sis character but it's shown she's Not So Stoic several times until she outright starts slipping when Yuki's mental health starts getting better. Yuki's optimistic and cheerful attitude, due to her being oblivious of the Zombie Apocalypse, keeps everyone going.
• Hatori serves as one to Chiaki in Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi. Despite their personality types being reversed, Chiaki is unable to function without Hatori who has been taking care of him all of his life. Without Hatori by his side, Chiaki loses the will to do anything. And Hatori technically takes advantage of this by brutally raping his best friend. The dependancy is so strong that Chiaki is willing to ignore what happened to him just so Hatori will stay by his side. Naturally, this dependancy is shown to actually be more harmful than good.
• Played very close to literally in Serial Experiments Lain, in which Masami Eri attempts to talk Lain into loving him because, as he claims, no one else is capable of doing so—but in order to even exist, he not only needs Lain's affection, but also requires that Lain worship him as a God, and the most powerful being in the Universe. When Lain turns on him and criticizes his own manipulative logic and renounces her belief that Eri has ever been a God and is only a narcissistic wannabe created by the real God, Eri literally just disappears, blinking out of existence completely, since by that point in the story, Lain was the last person left in the world to believe he was God.
• Seraph of the End:
  • Mahiru was this to Guren, and after her being sealed in his sword, he never looks for love again in anyone.
  • Shinya dedicates the reason he lives and his own self-worth to Guren. It's to the point that it could be seen that he is invoking the trope Satellite Character to himself when it comes to Guren.
  • The Hyakuya orphans and his current comrades are this to Yuu. Mika is his biggest emotional crutch, however, given that Yuu drastically drops his revenge attitude after learning Mika is alive and even attempts to save Krul - the vampire queen, one of those he hates - and get to know her better, as she was the one who saved Mika.
  • To Mika, Yuu. It's all but stated that the reason he put up with being turned into a vampire and being near the very one who killed his family was because he hoped one day, he could be reunited with Yuu. It's easier to list the times he isn't thinking about Yuu than when he is, and he even gets angry and jealous at the Shinoa Squad for "taking Yuu-chan away". His adoptive mother Krul is also this to him, but to a lesser extent.
  • For Krul, her brother Ashera a.k.a Asuramaru. She used to be smiley, cheerful and generally sweet, but after their father manipulated him into becoming a demon, leading to her also being forcefully turned into a vampire, she just gets downright sarcastic and sour from there. However, her interaction with her adoptive son Mika somewhat puts her in a much better light.
• Kaede from SHUFFLE!. As long as she can live with and take care of Rin, she's the nicest, gentlest person around. It's only when he starts shutting her out of his life that trouble starts. To her credit, she tries to keep it under control and feels shame when she can't. The difference between her and a regular Yandere is that she doesn't care how many girls are in Rin's life, as long as she's one of them.
• A Silent Voice Shōko and Shōya ultimately become this for each other. Both suffer heavy depression due to their deeply traumatic childhoods together and have suicidal thoughts with Shōko eventually acting on them before being saved by Shōya but after finding each other again later in life and Shōya wanting to atone for how tormented her they soon come to cherish each other's company, especially when together at their meeting spot at the bridge. This is shown when Shōya literally wakes from his coma all because it was tuesday — the day he reguarly meets Shōko at the bridge and even runs out of hospital to reach it, somehow knowing Shōko (who woke up herself) is there and crying over his absence. After reuniting they promise to help each other truly live and enjoy life together.
• Spy X Family:
  • Loid and Yor are most certainly this for Anya, as her adopted parents. She would do anything to help them being able to read their thoughts and worries and does her upmost to please them in any way she can, as well as prevent them from getting hurt or killed. In turn they come to cherish her, with the Consummate Professional that is Loid even getting distracted and even messing up because he starts caring more about making Anya happy and being a good father to her than his actual spywork. Loid and Yor also eventually become this for each other, with Yor desperately wanting to be the ideal wife for him and Loid himself finds waking up in Yor's lap the most comfortable he's felt since being with his mother as a boy.
  • Overlapping with Even Evil Has Loved Ones with Yor being this to Yuri, her a A Nazi by Any Other Name brother who's a Ostanian Secret Police officer. While undoubtly a goose stepping asswipe and Torture Technician, Yor is still the very centre of his world as she looked after him throughout his early childhood and Yuri geuinely wants her to be happy. This is seen when Yuri decides to go rescue his adopted niece Anya after she's kidnapped along with the rest of the Eden Academy kids as despite not giving a shit about her, Yuri knows Anya's death will despair Yor and he does care about that. Indeed Yor is so much this for him, Yuri actually becomes ill when his sister is out of the country! Naturally Loid being her husband causes him immense jealously, even though he's partly the reason they had a Marriage of Convenience in the first place.
  • Loid is certainly this for Fiona aka Nightfall, beneath her emotionless facade she's pretty much worships the ground he walks on and wants to be his wife (fake or not) more than anything else in the world. In one chapter we see that Fiona literally counts the minutes she spends with him in her mind and earlier on just Loid holding her hand for a moment was enough to enrapture her◊ (when she pulls away she curses herself). One of the saddest moments in the series is Fiona watching Loid being happy with Yor and Anya, leading to a Gray Rain of Depression, though at all other times her jealously of Yor is played more for humour. Hell Fiona is even able to hold back Yor's Super-Strength tennis swerve through her love for Loid and determiation to be his wife, but her racket can't hold out and breaks apart.
• In Sword Art Online, Kirito and Asuna are this to each other. Their love for each other is so strong that neither can live without the other. Asuna declares that if Kirito were to die then she would take her own life. While losing Asuna causes Kirito to either utterly break or his mind to snap, and he will do anything in his power to bring her back.
• Both Simon and Kamina, from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann are interesting examples, as they are both crutches for each other. Simon has a limitless amount of potential, but too timid to live up to it. Kamina, meanwhile, knows how to inspire confidence, but can't do much by himself other then boast. For these reasons both believe they need the other to go on. When Kamina dies, Simon falls to pieces as a result. He recovers and gains his confidence thanks to Nia's support.
  "Listen up, Simon. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in me, who believes in you!"
  • As he faces death Kamina does realize the unfortunate and unintended consequences of how and his brother rely on one another, including what would happen to Simon when he [Kamina] was gone, which is why his final words is telling Simon to believe in himself:
    Kamina: "Listen, Simon, never forget. Just believe in yourself! Not in the Simon that I believe in, not in the Kamina that you believe in, believe in the Simon...that believes in you!"
• In Tiger & Bunny, Kotetsu eventually becomes Barnaby's Only Friend and confidant. It's because of his influence that Barnaby is able to adjust to having any sort of life after spending twenty years socially withdrawn and preoccupied with revenge. According to the creators, if Kotetsu had actually died in the final episodes, Barnaby never would have recovered.
• In Trigun Rem was this for Vash. Not only refusing to leave her side in his childhood but in the manga she was able undo his Despair Event Horizon (after Vash sees what humans had done to other Plants like him) by getting in the way of his attempt to kill himself and getting hurt - which makes Vash have a moment of clarity and quick panic, rushing to patch her up. It was Rem's death due to Knives' actions that set Vash on his path to end his brother no matter what. After Rem, Meryl and Milly become this to Vash being the two people he cares about the most in the world and the ones who can bring him out of his depression. He's even willingly take a life (Legato), despite being a Badass Pacifist, to protect Meryl and Milly from harm.
• Tokyo Ghoul:
  • Tsukiyama is one for Kanae. The idea of Tsukiyama choosing Sasaki/Kaneki instead of her lead her to become susceptible to Eto's torture and manipulations as well as becoming increasingly unstable and murderous. She even sacrifices herself so Tsukyama can live because she can't live without him.
  • Kaneki is initially one for Tsukiyama as the thought of loosing him to anyone makes him crumble into despair and his apparent death leads to his Angst Coma. Merely learning about Sasaki's existence in the sequel is enough to revive his health. However, after choosing his family over continuing his obsession with Kaneki/Sasaki his family becomes this for him.
  • Torso's backstory reveals he grew up isolated from others and was abused by his father. He states the best time of his life was when he made his first female friend. When his father killed her he killed him. Mutsuki also ends up becoming this for Torso and he considers Mutsuki to be a replacement for his deceased friend though he resorts to unscrupulous means to keep Mutsuki by his side.
  • In chapter 114 Sasaki/Kaneki is revealed to be one for Mutsuki as Mutsuki states to Uta wearing Sasaki's face that they love him and thinks "Without you around I..." Given what we know about Mutsuki we know they are attached to Sasaki because of his kindness towards them that they grew up living so long without due to abuse from their father in their childhood and from Torso. They may be mentally unstable now but according to them they are much more well adjusted and calm around the actual Sasaki/Kaneki.
• In Violet Evergarden, Gilbert is this to Violet, as he was the first person to treat her as a person and not a weapon. Violet wants nothing but to be useful to Gilbert and after the war, she isn't sure how to function in a world without him and goes off the rails when she thinks he has died. In fact, this is why Claudia was reluctant to tell her about Gilbert's fate.
• Wolf Guy - Wolfen Crest: Aoshika and Inugami are this to each other. When Haguro found out, he set out to break Aoshika so he would tear them apart. It failed.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • Both Yugi and the Other Yugi to one another, at least initially. Once aware of his existence, Yugi depends on the other Yugi to handle situations he can't, usually with the copious amounts of bullies at his school and with other duelists in both tournament arcs. The other Yugi depends on Yugi for a purpose, and the link between their souls later boosts him during the Millennium World arc. The Ceremonial Duel is essentially a test to see if Yugi is ready to 'stand on his own'.
  • Rishid more or less takes this role for his Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds kid brother Malik, since Rishid swore to protect Malik when their mother was dying after Malik's birth, and he has a bit of a guilt complex about having once tried to murder Malik—plus, Rishid is grateful toward Malik because Malik considers him a brother despite the fact Rishid was a foundling and was only taken in grudgingly by their dad. Therefore, Rishid is committed to putting up with Malik's crap. It actually manifests in a particularly obvious way: Malik's Superpowered Evil Side can only take over if Rishid is unconscious. And if regular Malik is pretty unpleasant and maladjusted, Yami Malik is much worse.
  • Guardian Eatos is this to Rafael. After she gets destroyed, Rafael gets a massive O.O.C. Is Serious Business moment, by sending all of his beloved monsters to the graveyard to empower Eatos' Evil Counterpart, despite Rafael did everything to protect his monster cards before.
• In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Johan quickly becomes this for Judai in season 3. When Judai starts questioning himself and his motives for dueling, he opens up to Johan and ends up latching on him emotionally, even to the point of obsession (more details on that here). So when Johan gets left behind in the other dimension, the second half is almost entirely devoted to Judai's search for him (and his other friends hesitatingly coming along). His obsession leads to his friends getting captured and killed.
• In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, Odd-Eyes Dragon/Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is this to Yuya. Whenever it gets destroyed, Yuya becomes incredibly sad. This is until he learns that destroyed Pendulum Monsters don't go to the graveyard, but to the Extra Deck instead, so they can be Pendulum Summoned again.
  • Yuzu is this as well for Yuya. When Yuzu disappeared from the Standard dimension and Yuya thought she was either kidnapped by Academia or worse, killed, he couldn't think straight in his duel against Reiji. In said duel Yuya reveals his inner feelings about Yuzu, that she was always with him, supporting him even when he was bullied, and that she never left him. His worry only escalates in the Synchro Dimension when he sees her repeatedly put in danger. It's also her voice that makes him calm down once he starts becoming controlled by Zarc.

---