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Security Blanket

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He can't be without it.
"AAAAAAAUGH! I need my blanket! I admit it! Look at all of you! Who among you doesn't have an insecurity? Who among you doesn't depend on someone, or something, to help you get through the day? Who among you can cast the first stone? How about you, Sally? You with your endless "Sweet Babboos"? Or you, Schroeder? You with your Beethoven, Beethoven, Beethoven?! And you, Lucy, never leaving Schroeder alone, obsessing over someone who doesn't care if he ever sees you again? What do you want?! Do you want to see me unhappy? Do you want to see me insecure? Do you want to see me end up like Charlie Brown?! Even your crazy dog, Charlie Brown. Suppertime, suppertime, suppertime! Nothing but suppertime 24 hours a day! ARE ANY OF YOU SECURE?!"

As defined on The Other Wiki, "A security blanket is any familiar object whose presence provides comfort or security to its owner, such as the literal blankets often favored by small children."

When you deal with small children, it is a common sight to see them carrying something such as a blanket or stuffed toy. In fact, some children are attached to this object to the point of making it a Companion Cube. There are numerous reasons for this, but the simplest and most common is the fact that, as the definition above says, it provides comfort to the owner.

While blankets are perhaps the most common, the Security Blanket can be any object. A toy, a pillow, some kind of trinket. Can also be a type of Magic Feather, giving its owner a bit of confidence where otherwise they would have none. It has also been used, from time to time, to provide cover for a MacGuffin.

If the character is separated from their Security Blanket, or it is otherwise destroyed before they're ready to let go, expect the crying and Inelegant Blubbering to commence ad nauseam. Especially, in Real Life.

Can overlap with Girls Love Stuffed Animals, Sentimental Shabbiness, and Sentimental Homemade Toy. Compare Living Emotional Crutch and the Companion Cube. May be a #1 Dime.


Examples

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    Advertising 
  • Chef Boyardee: Abby and Bridget still have their Blankies, despite trying to pretend they don't. According to Abby's blanket, she is acting like she is too old to have a Blankie but not for Boyardee Ravioli. (Which makes one wonder how one can outgrow canned Ravioli.)
  • Silentnight Beds: The baby of the Hippo and Duck family, Henry, is shown with one.

    Anime & Manga 
  • Attack on Titan: Junior High: Armin has a pink futon called Bigbee that he always has wrapped around himself. He becomes upset if it is taken away from him.
  • Matsuri of Ayakashi Triangle is quite attached to his fundoshi—as in, his underwear.* Eventually, he tries to develop mental fortitude by wearing something else and starts off too timid to speak in front of his class or go up to the school's roof. Upon realizing its importance, Matsuri begins thinking of his fundoshi as a Companion Cube he bids a tearful farewell to.
    Ever since I've wanted to become an exorcist ninja, I've been living with the support of fundoshi. Not wearing it makes me realize that fundoshi provides great support for my spirit too.
  • Ayako: Ayako spends more than 20 years locked in a basement by her family. Once she's rescued, large boxes and trunks seem to be a comfort zone for her, as she will hide herself in such whenever she feels too stressed. She even slips into a shipping crate and has herself delivered to her cousin Jiro's home so she can be with him.
  • A bit twisted in Berserk, since Guts's security blanket is his BFS. He says that he's more at ease when he has it on hand and has a hard time sleeping without it. Of course, he had a very nice time sleeping without it when he was with Casca....
  • Subverted in Black Butler. Ciel says he can't sleep without his preferred pillow, but it was just an excuse to hide the blood on Sebastian's chest.
  • Sawyer throws a fit and then goes unresponsive in Black Lagoon when she loses her Ultravoice, the device that allows her to speak.
  • Himeno, the main character of A Centaur's Life still needs to have Mr. Steppy, the bathroom stool she used to use as a child, with her when she uses the bathroom at home.
  • Date A Live:
    • Yoshino has her puppet Yoshinon, whom she sees as her ideal self, claiming that it's the only reason she can stay calm while avoiding the AST's attacks. Without it, she became much more easily frightened and prone to summoning Zadkiel. It was suggested that Yoshinon is another personality Yoshino developed to cope with the AST's constant assaults without fighting back. This is further proven given her appearance in her Inverse Form: her hair becomes white, her eyes glow red, and she wears an eyepatch on her right eye; the impression leaves one wondering if "Yoshinon" takes over her body. This is made more obvious as Inverse Yoshino has a puppet that lacks all of Yoshinon's usual decorations (sans the dress) with its eyes being shut, like the shy girl Yoshino normally is.
    • Kotori has this in the form of her ribbons. Her personality depends on which ribbons she's wearing: she acts like a perfectly normal girl her age when she's wearing white ribbons, but switches to a Dominatrix when she's wearing black ribbons, and she's rarely seen without either set on. In one case, to see if she was the real Kotori and not Natsume in disguise, Shido removes her ribbons and she immediately becomes a wangsty mess in front of him.
  • In Dragon Ball Super, Future Trunks doesn't have a real need for his sword, but, as he explains to Vegeta, carries it around anyway as it helps him feel calm and secure.
  • Dream Eater Merry's Merry Nightmare panics when she misplaces her nice hat, as shown in the very first episode. When she’s reunited with it in that same episode, she explains that she’s just not comfortable without a hat on her head.
  • A bit subtle, but Celty from Durarara!! seems to feel this way about her PDA; whenever she's really stressed she holds onto it really tight. Probably justified because it's the only way she can communicate without her head (and possibly because Shinra gave it to her).
  • Erio Towa, the Hikikomori main character of Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl finds it difficult to interact with people without having herself wrapped securely in a futon. Even after getting over the worst of this, she finds it soothing.
  • Iino from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is incapable of sleeping without her childhood blanket, even bringing it with her on school trips. Onodera is quick to point out that this isn't normal behavior for a teenager and that she should probably seek professional help. She also listens to "Hot Guys Encourage You" CDs to help her calm down in stressful situations.
  • Akagi from Kemono Jihen is Terrified of Germs and must carry a tub of wet wipes wherever he goes.
  • In Pokémon the Series: Black & White, Ash's Krokorok loses its confidence when its Cool Shades are taken away from it. Later in Pokémon the Series: XY, the gang encounters a Pangoro, rendered almost catatonic when Clemont's Chespin accidentally burns its bamboo leaf.
  • In Rebuild of Evangelion, Asuka Langley Shikinami is awfully attached to her little red doll... Which is either ironic or creepy when you recall how Asuka Langley Soryu felt about dolls in the original series.
  • In Sands of Destruction, Kyrie claims he never lets his Animal-Eared Headband out of sight. Of course, this probably has less to do with feeling personally attached to it and more that it keeps him from facing the brunt of the Fantastic Racism of the land.
  • Nodoka from Saki can't sleep without her stuffed penguin, Etopen. She's also encouraged to hug it when she plays Mahjong with other people, just as she does online, with the hope of improving her skill.
  • Kiri Komori's blanket in Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei. The episode where she loses it references Linus.

    Comic Books 
  • The title character of Empowered has her old stuffed monkey doll, named Mellow Mr. Monkey. She insists that he has the power to prevent her from having bad dreams. A certain chapter told from the viewpoint of her boyfriend reveals that it doesn't prevent her from having nightmares, it just prevents her from remembering them.
  • The Powerpuff Girls: In "Bow Jest" (DC Comics, issue #20), this happens to Blossom when she loses her hairbow in a battle against Princess Morbucks. Buttercup yanks Blossom's chain by stealing it, and Mojo Jojo deduces that the bow must contain some intangible power since Blossom can't function without it. Of all people, it's Bubbles who sets things right and lights a match under Blossom's butt about it.
    Bubbles: It's just a stupid bow!! You're still a Powerpuff Girl whether you have it or not!!

    Fan Works 
  • A Chance Meeting of Two Moons: Literal example with Artemis, who tends to sometimes bury himself under a fortress of clothes and blankets in his closet.
  • Christmas Ghosts ends with Bonnie Rockwaller (Kim Possible), having experienced Yet Another Christmas Carol, taking part in a toy drive for a local orphanage. While she didn't have time to pick up a new gift for her assigned orphan, Katherine, Bonnie instead gives the girl her old teddy bear, telling Katherine that she hopes Lucille will give her comfort the way the bear helped Bonnie feel better in the past (in the original future Bonnie witnessed, it was mentioned that Katherine killed herself by walking in front of a car two months after Christmas because nobody was ever there for her).
  • The Kakashi Way: In order to help Kakashi cope with being stuck in protective custody and enforced therapy, Inoichi presents him with his collection of Icha Icha books. Embracing them, Kakashi reflects that he might have to reconsider using them as a means of ironic deflection and distraction if he's truly this attached to them.
  • Little Hands, Big Attitude: Obsidian treats his stuffed toy Ducky as one even though he is mentally an adult (he has been de-aged to an infant). Unfortunately, this doesn't always work because many times his inner panic or guilt are too much to be soothed by a stuffed animal, and he's literally incapable of talking about his problems.
  • Metal Gear: Green: Shortly after being rescued by the MSF, Miller has a plushie of Snake made for Izuku to help combat his night terrors. While Snake is baffled at this, he does accept Miller's reasoning that it would help the kid sleep better.
  • In the Frozen (2013) modern AU fanfic A Snowflake In Spring, Elsa's braid functions as such. She clings to it when nervous or insecure - a great deal of the time - and occasionally covers her mouth with it. Her relying on it less and less is one of the signs that Anna is succeeding in coaxing her out of her shell.
  • In Pursuit of a Single Ideal: Shirou admits to himself that he treats the Saber card's cloak as a security blanket, but he resolves to never say it out loud to anyone.
  • A tragic variation in the Justice League fic The Phoenix Corps. Kara Kent wears a small piece of Kryptonite around her neck and refuses to take it off in anything less of the direst of circumstances, because she fears turning out like her cousin, Justice Lord Superman, if she starts using her powers again.
  • In Progress, a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic, Luna has a security abacus, of all things.
  • Elise mentions in Sweet Sorrow that she had a stuffed animal Greta that she carried around everywhere as a child. She avoided other kids but loved Greta, especially after her father died.
  • This Steven Universe comic has Yellow Diamond having a sword to sleep with her in bed.

    Films — Animation 
  • The Land Before Time: Littlefoot, a young herbivorous Long-Neck (an apatosaurus) carries around a tree-star, large (to a young child) star-shape green leaf on his back for 2/3rds of the movie as a Security Blanket, Companion Food and Tragic Keepsake of his deceased mother who gave it to him shortly before dying to a T-Rex attack. This is especially notable because the whole movie takes place during a widespread drought/famine which sets the course of the plot of whole dinosaur herds migrating in search of the Green Valley, a rumored paradise of food and peace. Littlefoot briefly expresses anger toward the remorseful Petrie who attempts to bite into it, not knowing the immense sentimental value Littlefoot has for it. The leaf remains in largely great condition for the whole movie, in spite of it being worn on top of Littlefoot's back like a cloak as he travels across the land (including through an active volcano!) and used as a blanket by the whole protagonist group at one point... up until the climatic final encounter with the T-Rex where it gets stomped under its foot and torn to shreds in the process of Littlefoot and his companions panicking upon waking up and finding out they're in danger.
  • In Toy Story 3, Andy's toys are shown to be this for Andy, especially Woody. He balks at the idea of his mother donating or selling them but tries to cover it up by justifying that the toys are junk no one would want. He then resolves to take Woody with him to college and puts the rest of the toys in a garbage bag that he meant to put in the attic but accidentally gets put outside for trash pickup by Andy's mom instead. He's heartbroken when he finds out that his mom threw his toys away. Later, when Andy is giving the toys away to Bonnie, he reflexively withholds Woody for a split second before relenting.
  • In Turning Red, Wilfred the stuffed animal serves as one: Mei has had it for years, she sleeps with it, and she holds tight to it for comfort after her red panda form manifests. It's the one thing her parents let her keep when they empty her bedroom of all her other belongings so that they won't be damaged by her repeated, uncontrolled transformations.

    Films — Live Action 
  • Blazing Saddles:
    Hedley Lamarr: Where's my froggy?! Where's my froggy?!
    Daddy loves froggy. Froggy love daddy?
  • In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy has a small teddy bear that she cuddles for comfort at night following her nightmares of past incarnations.
  • In Best in Show, one of the contestants in the dog show is extremely high-strung (like her owners) and can't function without a specific toy called a "Busy Bee."
  • Po from A Boy Called Po is very attached to his dead mother's scarf, which he carries around the house and sits under while he daydreams. At the end of the movie, he gives it back by draping it over her headstone.
  • Amanda from Change of Habit is very attached to her Raggedy Ann doll and gets upset if anyone tries to take it away.
  • Martha spends the first part of Dancing Trees carrying a doll everywhere. At her mother's funeral, she throws the doll into the grave after her coffin.
  • Down in the Delta: Annie, an elderly woman with Alzheimer's, has a doll that she carries everywhere, including the hospital.
  • The Drummer and the Keeper: Ciara, an autistic girl who spends all her time in the music room at Christopher's institution, spends every scene tightly wrapped in the same blanket.
  • Final Destination 5: Glasses-wearing Olivia goes to get eye surgery when she asks if she can have the stuffed bear sitting in the corner of the room. The ophthalmologist performing the procedure says that the bear is meant for little girls... as well as some bigger girls.
  • The Innocent (1994) has the autistic child Gregory's stuffed rabbit. Barlow takes it from his room and brings it to him in the hospital, and his mood immediately improves when he sees it. Barlow and Gregory take it with them when they flee to Barlow's cabin, and Gregory is very attached to it.
  • In L: change the WorLd, Maki has a pink teddy bear that provides comfort for her whenever she's in distress.
  • Laura's backpack in Logan has shades of this. She carries it with her in almost every scene and gets very clingy and protective of it when Logan tries to nose through it without permission.
  • In Mario (1984), Mario carries his stuffed coyote everywhere. At one point he accidentally drops it off a boat and endangers his life jumping after it.
  • In Mr. Mom, Jack Butler's child Kenny carries around a security blanket, which after a heartfelt talk with his dad he ends up discarding.
  • A sad example in The Nanny Diaries: Grayer carries around one of his dad's business cards, which Annie refers to as "a security blanket." Annie questions what kind of culture it is, when a child does this.
  • Leo Bloom in The Producers always had a small piece of his blue blankie in his jacket pocket.
  • In Ted, Ted himself is a Deconstruction of what happens when the common wish of a child that his Security Blanket was really alive comes true. Even into adulthood, John is reliant on Ted to the detriment of his relationship with Lori.
  • In When the Bough Breaks (1994), the disturbed teenager Jordan keeps a baby doll with "Jenny" written on her forehead in his room. He becomes violently upset if anyone other than himself touches her. The doll is a substitute for his lost sister.
  • Kayden from When Time Got Louder has a stuffed Eeyore, which used to belong to his older sister Abbie. He carries it everywhere and cries into it when he misses Abbie.

    Literature 
  • In the Arthur and D.W. books, and the television series, Dora Winifred "D.W." Read had "blankie." One of the books and television stories centered around its being lost. One of the title cards in the television series depicts her wearing it as a superhero cape.
  • Alison from Are You Alone on Purpose? has her stuffed crab Josephine, who was her confidante when she was a kid. She recently gave away all her other toys, but kept Josephine "as a bed decoration." Josephine still makes her feel safe, even though she's too old for stuffed animals.
  • Lisa from Asperger Adventures carries a faded blue satin rag, which she stretches against her chin and rubs her ears to calm herself.
  • Beautiful Music for Ugly Children: Paige's wubbie was a pink baby blanket that she sometimes brought to school when she was in kindergarten. As an eighteen-year-old, she lets Gabe in on her secret: she wears a scrap of her wubbie in her bra every day because it still makes her feel safe.
  • In Discworld, blankets are the primary form of defense against bogeymen. You can either put it over your own head so they won't notice you, or put it over their head to make them think they don't exist.
    • Not a blanket, but Esk in Equal Rites finds comfort in having her wizard's staff close at hand, even when it's disguised as a broom and isn't doing anything to help her.
  • In The Egypt Game, there’s a literal example as Marshall constantly carries around a stuffed octopus called Security.
  • Tommy from Evidence of Things Not Seen is so attached to his notebook that his classmate James compares it to his blankie.
  • The protagonist of Feline Therapy, Izzy has anxiety about multiple aspects of their life, and their best coping mechanism is when their best friend Sasha drapes their jacket over them. This jacket is crucial to the story's climax, as a desire to return the gesture restores Izzy's humanity.
  • McCall from Fractured Stars has her brass charm bracelet, which her mom gave her when she was nine as a reward for not sucking her thumb anymore, and which she still wears everywhere. She calms herself by spinning it around her wrist to hear the clinking of the brass charms and even chews on it once when she's particularly upset.
  • Drea from Harmonic Feedback used to have a gray blanket named Mr. Fuzzy that she took everywhere. One of the first things she notices about Justin is that his eyes are the same color as Mr. Fuzzy. As a teenager. she has a blue lunchbox that serves the same purpose.
  • In Robert A. Heinlein's Have Space Suit – Will Travel, Peewee admits she can't sleep at night without her doll Madame Pompadour, even as she admits, "I'm perfectly aware that it's just a doll; I've understood the pathetic fallacy for — oh, years and years!"
  • In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it is important to know where your multi-purpose towel is. At all times.
  • Hitty, Her First Hundred Years presents itself as the autobiography of a doll, who serves this role for many children over her first century of life.
  • How to Fly with Broken Wings: Willem carries a small model Spitfire everywhere so he can calm himself by fidgeting with the wheels and the propeller.
  • Older Than Radio: Jane Eyre's childhood attachment to her doll:
    "It puzzles me now to remember with what absurd sincerity I doted on this little toy, half fancying it alive and capable of sensation. I could not sleep unless it was folded in my night-gown; and when it lay there safe and warm, I was comparatively happy, believing it to be happy likewise."
  • The Light Jar has Mrs. Ellie-Fant, a stuffed toy Nate's had since he was a baby. He takes her with him when he and his mum run away from Gary.
  • MARiiMO has Expo Ernie, a stuffed toy Tammy's parents picked up at the 1986 World Fair in Vancouver. She slept with him throughout her childhood and into adulthood. After her parents died, he was her only companion. When Mariimo is activated, Tammy gives Ernie to her, and she becomes obsessed with him. Later, Tammy realizes that she and Mariimo have both taken Ernie's place as each other's friend.
  • The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly: When Charlie was seven, his dad told him he was too old for his baby blanket. Charlie shoved it between his bed and the wall. He still touches it to comfort himself, but no one but him knows it's there.
  • Kevin Henkes's picture book, Owen, is about a boy mouse named Owen who carries around a dirty, torn, and raggedy yellow blanket that he's named "Fuzzy." His parents and neighbor, Mrs. Tweezers, all worry about him carrying it, especially since he's starting school soon. They first try to have him, on the neighbor's advice, give it up to the "blanket fairy," but Owen refuses to put it under his pillow. Then they try the "vinegar trick", where they put his favorite corner in vinegar to which Owen responds by picking a new favorite corner and rubbing the smelly corner in dirt until it no longer stinks. They finally try a hard line, only for Owen to break down and have a crying fit. In the end, his mother makes a part of the blanket into a handkerchief that Owen carries with him, a solution that satisfies everyone.
  • Nova from Planet Earth Is Blue has her NASA Bear, which was given to her by her mother, and which she takes everywhere.
  • In The Real Boy, Oscar carves a small wooden cat he names Block. He carries her around and squeezes her to calm himself. In the end, he gives her to a younger child, saying, "She's nice to have when things aren't safe."
  • Lauren from Slug Days Stories has a squishy ball her dad gave her. She squishes it and bounces it against her hand to help her cool down in class.
  • Early in Small as an Elephant, Jack shoplifts a small toy elephant, which he carries throughout his journey, using it as a source of comfort and distraction.
  • Jack from There's More Than One Way Home always carries a black pawn in his pocket to fidget with. He gets very upset if he's separated from his pawn.
  • Transpecial: When Suza leaves her childhood home, the only thing she takes with her is a stuffed koala. She holds it to comfort herself, even though she knows it makes her look childish. Unfortunately, it gets left behind on Mars when Suza is taken by the ky'iin.
  • Alvie from When My Heart Joins the Thousand takes a Rubik's cube everywhere because playing with it calms her. She thinks that if she didn't have it, she probably would have taken up smoking.
  • Wicked Good: As a little boy, Rory wouldn't go to daycare without his dump truck, its wheels worn down from spinning.

    Live Action TV 
  • The Boys (2019): When Homelander was growing up, his blanket was his only source of comfort in an otherwise cold and loveless laboratory environment. In a subversion of the trope, the sight of it actually drives him to anger rather than comfort, while he's filming a faked Back Story of his life growing up as The All-American Boy.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • Buffy's Security Blanket is apparently her favorite stake, Mr. Pointy. This stake was originally the favored stake of Buffy's fellow Slayer, Kendra, who gave it the name.
      "I guess I don't really have a security blanket...unless you count Mr. Pointy."
    • Buffy uses this trope to explain to a social worker why Spike needs to grab a blanket before leaving the house in daylight.
    • The Angel writers mocked how much Spike needed his coat to boost his self-esteem. When it gets exploded in "The Girl In Question", he gets upset and Angel points out he pulled it off a dead slayer.
  • Broad City has Abbi's stuffed toy Bingo Bronson, which Abbi and Ilana both hold onto during unpleasant medical procedures.
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine: One of Terry's daughters Cagney has a blankie with a cow on it that she's named "Moo-Moo" that she carries everywhere and can't sleep without. Naturally, when Jake babysits, Moo-Moo gets lost.
    Terry: Cagney can't sleep without Moo-Moo. And if Cagney doesn't sleep, then Lacey doesn't sleep. And if Cagney and Lacey don't sleep...
    Jake: Terry doesn't sleep.
    Terry: No! Jake doesn't live.
    Jake: [rightfully terrified] Oh my God.
  • In an episode of Castle, the title character figures out that the kidnapping of a young girl had to be an inside job because the kidnapper took the girl's security blanket (a plush bunny) as well.
  • In Clarissa Explains It All, it's revealed that Clarissa's brother, Ferguson, still sleeps with his blankie. She was able to sabotage his election for class president by releasing a picture of him with it throughout the school.
  • Friends: Ross claims that Chandler still had a security blanket when they were college roommates.
    Chandler: That was a wall hanging.
    Ross: It didn't spend much time on the wall!
  • Stephanie Tanner from Full House had Mr. Bear. Even after the character outgrew carrying the toy it remained a common sight in her bedroom.
  • On Gilligan's Island, Mr. Howell sleeps with a teddy bear, the fact that he needs it being one of his most visible weaknesses.
  • In Honey West, Honey's ocelot Bruce has a baby blanket and attacks anyone who tries to take it away.
  • Murr from Impractical Jokers has a blue knit blanket that was supposedly made by his grandmother, and he takes it everywhere he goes. In one punishment, the other Jokers arrange for a Mola Ram expy to burn what turns out to be a replica of the blanket (Murr didn't know it was a replica until afterwards).
  • The Love Boat episode "Aquaphobiac" has a man who's so scared of water, he wears a life vest everywhere. In the end, he overcomes his fears and tosses the vest into the ocean. To the crew's surprise, it sinks.
  • In M*A*S*H, Radar slept with a teddy bear (likely to symbolize his childlike innocence) which he was always a little embarrassed about. However, in the episode where he left the cast (where his going-away party was cancelled due to an emergency rush of wounded shipped in and he had to leave without saying goodbye to anyone), he leaves it behind so they can remember him; Hawkeye and the others find it in the last scene.
    • They place it in the time capsule, representing all the soldiers who came there as boys and left as men.
  • In the Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn episode "The Quadtest", the titular quadruplets are shown to each have one of these: Dawn has a blanket she uses as a sweat towel for soccer, Dicky has a rubber duck for his baths, Ricky has a toy bear he keeps in his backpack, and Nicky wears baby-mittens on his fingers in order to sleep.
  • Odd Squad:
    • Obfusco's mustache serves this purpose for him. He believes that it is a Good Luck Charm that helps him solve cases, and in "Moustache Confidential" he falls into a Heroic BSoD when it's stolen. Eventually, Oprah, the culprit of the theft, makes him realize that he doesn't need his mustache to solve cases and he does well even without it.
    • In "Follow the Leader", when Opal puts three villains to sleep using the Nap-inator (and later on, the Slightly-Longer-Nap-inator), they are shown clutching these. William Ocean and Star Wipe have teddy bears, while Cardboard Carl has a blanket.
  • Used for a Bait-and-Switch gag in Shadow and Bone. The Conductor tells the Crows to buy a goat for when they're crossing the Shadow Fold, which is assumed to be The Bait for the flying monsters that exist there. Turns out it's in case one of their own panics—they can then pet the goat to calm themselves down. Jesper ends up getting quite attached to it and has a tearful parting in the following episode.

    Newspaper Comics 
  • When Baby Blues' oldest child was a baby, she was inseparable from her "Boo-Boo Bankie".
  • Calvin and Hobbes: Hobbes. Bill Watterson purposely left it ambiguous as to whether Hobbes was an Imaginary Friend or some magical Living Toy. This aspect of their relationship is showcased most clearly in the series of strips in which Calvin and his parents go to a wedding (with Hobbes being left behind) and come home to find their house has been robbed. Calvin goes into an absolute panic, worried that the robbers might have stolen Hobbes.
  • When Doc Boy visits Jon in a Garfield story arc, it's revealed he hasn't been able to sleep until his mother gives him his old blanket. Also, Garfield has Pooky the teddy bear, and his own blue blanket.
  • Linus and his blue blanket from Peanuts are perhaps the most famous example, and also the Trope Namer as The Other Wiki credits the series for the term "security blanket." An early '60s set of strips showed Linus having a full-on nervous breakdown in the time it took for the blanket to run through the washer and dryer. In a Pet the Dog moment for her, Lucy rushes to get it to him before he completely collapses into catatonia. In a less kind moment, Lucy takes the blanket away from him and buries it in an undisclosed location. Linus spends around a week of strips going increasingly-less-quietly nuts and digging up everyone's lawns to try to find it. When Charlie Brown, trying to be helpful, offers to let him borrow a dishtowel, Linus responds "Would you offer a starving dog a rubber bone?" Charles Schulz claimed that Linus' blanket was inspired by blankets like this that his own children carried around, and claimed that he had no idea that he would end up coining the term "security blanket" as a result of it. Funnily enough, Linus eventually began quietly outgrowing it, and in the latter years of the comic, the blanket rarely appeared.

    Puppet Shows 
  • Sesame Street::
    • Ernie has his rubber duckie. He even has a song about it.
    • Sonny Friendly had his teddy bear in The Crying Game Show. The winner of this game show segment was whoever cried the hardest in reaction to the story he told, so when the teddy bear was revealed as the grand prize, Sonny Friendly ended up crying harder than any of the contestants - including the winner, Pierre Blue - and he ended up winning the game over Pierre.
    • Julia has her well-loved rabbit doll Fluffster. Justified as she’s autistic, and he helps her calm down after a meltdown.
    • Herry Monster has his doll Hercules and Ruby Monster has her favourite truck. The Monsterpiece Theatre song Guys and Dolls focuses on the two of them singing about how much they love playing with them.
    • Big Bird has his teddy bear, who in a Shout-Out to M*A*S*H, is named Radar. He’s one of the few possessions of Big Bird’s to survive his nest getting destroyed by a hurricane.
  • Barney & Friends: Baby Bop, of course, has her yellow blanket. She becomes very upset whenever she thinks she’s lost it.

     Tabletop Games 
  • Warhammer 40,000: Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists and one of the greatest Badasses in the setting, had an almost literal example in that he purportedly kept the fur-lined cloak of his adoptive grandfather, and slept with it every night, even centuries after the man's death.

    Theatre 
  • The plot in Cirque du Soleil's Mystère kicks off when two babies (played by adults) lose their loveys — a big red ball for the male, a toy snail for the female — and venture out into the world to find them.

    Video Games 
  • Bug Fables: Bomby the beefly is a rather excitable kid who likes to flirt with the older Vi. But when he loses his hat that was given to him by his mom, he turns into a sobbing mess until Team Snakemouth finds it for him.
  • ClaDun: Sunday is extremely shy and paranoid around others. The only thing that truly gives her comfort is her sword.
  • In the Final Fantasy XIV Moonfire Faire 2023 event, the NPC Lyonell suffers from Performance Anxiety whenever he acts without a helmet because of an incident where he was knocked out by an attack while trying to protect a convoy and was blamed for it and, since it's hot at Costa del Sol, he can't wear a helmet that he can hide his face under. He's later given the costume of the Sunshine Savior that allows him to function without melting in the heat.
  • Pikmin 3: Captain Charlie brings a rubber duck with him on every mission because he considers it good luck. His odd love of it becomes an amusing Running Gag.
  • Puyo Puyo: Klug is always, without exception, seen carrying around an infamous spell-book called the "Record of Sealing", not to keep himself battle-ready, but simply because it makes him feel stronger than he actually is. The local librarian even quotes this very trope at him when Klug refuses to bring the book back to the library. Given that the soul sealed inside the book has tricked, insulted, and even possessed Klug before, his attachment to it is truly extraordinary.
  • Sakura Wars: Iris, as a result of her being cut off from society by her parents due to her psychic powers, starts off withdrawn and scared of everyone (particularly in the anime adaptation) and holds on to her teddy bear, Jean-Paul.
  • Senran Kagura: Murasaki has a blue bear doll called "Bebeby" who she carries with her whenever she goes outside. It also acts as a Companion Cube for her.
  • The "Reassurance Bucket" from The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe acts somewhat like this for Stanley as well as a Companion Cube.
  • The Walking Dead: Season One: Clementine's walkie-talkies, which she uses to communicate with her parents from her treehouse. One ends up smashed at the end of episode one, with the other accidentally taken by Glenn when he leaves. It turns out it isn't nearly as broken as it seemed. At the end of Episode 3, it's revealed that Clementine appears to have been communicating with an unknown man in Savannah who claims to know where her parents are.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X: The Zaruboggans are very possessive of their Gorkwa staves, as they are the only way they can safely consume voltant away from their homeworld of Bedun. One of their rites of passage has young Zaruboggans go on pilgrimages to claim their own Gorkwa, which are said not to be made by the Zaruboggans (who in turn claim that Golbogga left them on Bedun). When Arsenican has a child born on Mira (who is seemingly trapped there with the rest of them), the adults realize they may need to make some cultural adjustments to cope with their new home for the time being due to being deprived of the resources their homeworld provided in abundance (in the meantime, Orleron has to get by with a Gorkwa taken from another deceased Zaruboggan).

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • LissySandwich of The Bowlingotter Show has a water bottle and a stuffed Cookie Monster, either of which she holds in front of her eyes during scary moments in horror games.
  • Homestar Runner: According to the Strong Bad Email "bedtime story", The Cheat has a "security... um, item" in the form of "The Denzel", a dirty old sponge covered in bandages and a crudely-drawn face.
  • The official manga for RWBY seems to hint that Ruby Rose wears her cloak with her school uniform as a manner of this trope. Weiss just thinks she just picks and chooses when to be panicky around crowds.
  • In We Are Our Avatars, Asagi Asagiri has Wildcat, her BFG. When it was nearly taken away from her by DNP, she went into a Corner of Woe.

    Western Animation 
  • In The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Possession", the Wattersons' old fridge turns out to be a magical storage for emotions and good memories that Richard values too much to let go, until Nicole and Granny Jojo convince him otherwise.
  • After being Trapped In Amphibia, Anne Boonchuy's phone becomes one for her. Not because she's a Phoneaholic Teenager, but because her phone has all of her photos and videos from back home.
  • Bob's Burgers:
    • Louise Belcher, surprisingly enough, has two: top on the list is her precious pink bunny ear hat, which she wears constantly, even to bed or while swimming. She becomes aggressive towards anyone who tries to tell her to take it off, and in "Ears-y Rider", she has a full-blown nervous breakdown when Logan steals it. Her other security blanket is her Kuchi Kopi night light, which she's so attached to that she swore never to forgive her family when they accidentally destroyed it. She gets over it after an episode-long fever dream convinces her that not forgiving them isn't healthy, and after seeing how sorry they are and that they (mostly Bob) bent over backwards to replace it.
    • In "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters For You", the bride and groom adorned their wedding arch with their old baby blankets. The bride had named hers "Frankie the Blankie", and calls out for it by name when it gets blown over the cliff by the windstormnote . Losing the blanket is specifically one of the things she cries about when she snaps after realizing what a disaster the wedding was.
  • Braceface: Sharon once found her older brother still seeking comfort in his blanket. She knows this is his security blanket, so after asking what the problem was, he informed her that he had lost a lot of money in the stock market.
  • In the second season of Code Lyoko, Aelita finds a stuffed elf that she recognizes as "Mr. Puck" for some reason, which makes her nightmares go away. It is later revealed that it was a gift from her father, Franz Hopper.
  • Courage the Cowardly Dog: The Sandman himself can't sleep because he loses his teddy bear.
  • Cow from Cow and Chicken had one in "Cow's Magic Blanket" until Chicken lets the other kids know and they mock her for this, resulting in Cow throwing it away. Then she tells Chicken that blanket was Supercow's source of power and that, without it, there's no Supercow. Upon overhearing this, Red Guy started hurting the other kids, until Chicken rescued the blanket.
  • Dee Dee from Dexter's Laboratory has a teddy bear named Mr. Fuzzums. In "Down In The Dumps", when Dexter throws it away, Dee Dee has an Angst Coma of sorts in which she acts like a zombie and repeats "Fuzzums, Fuzzums, Fuzzums" over and over, so Dexter has to go on a quest to retrieve it.
  • Steve of Detentionaire has a lucky towel, which he calls Bub-bub. It has been in his family for generations and is covered in sweat and dirt, but he still carries it around with him everywhere and is absolutely devastated when Bub-bub is stolen. Steve is not only in High School but also one of the toughest jocks you'll find there. Steve is not ashamed of Bub-bub in the least.
  • Dragon Tales:
    • Cassie's little brother Finn has one.
    • Her little sister Kiki also has one in the form of a purple fruit that she calls "Squishy". When Ord accidentally squishes Squishy, Kiki, who is already in a foul temper for other reasons, gets hysterical. Ord, feeling bad, insists on getting a new Squishy for Kiki; while he and Max are doing so, Kiki makes do with Zak's head though she immediately releases him when she sees Ord carrying the new Squishy, much to Zak's relief.
  • Franklin, the turtle in the books and TV series by the same, had a blue one. At one time, he took it everywhere with him, though eventually he only slept with it. Late in the series, in Back to School With Franklin, he gave it to his little sister, Harriet, who later lent it to Beaver's little brother, Kit. Franklin also has his blue stuffed toy dog Sam, whom he is very attached to. One episode deals with him being worried that his friends will tease him for having Sam, only to discover they all have their own stuffed toys. A large part of the plot of Franklin's Magic Christmas hinges around Franklin being upset with Harriet for taking Sam and then him getting lost in the snow just before they leave for their grandparents' farm, meaning that he is without Sam during the trip.
  • The Owl House
    • King's crown works this way. When Luz finds it in the first episode, it turns out to be nothing more than a paper crown from Burger Queen. Eda explains that, if he thinks it makes him powerful, then it does.
    • In a matter of speaking. Luz Noceda wearing Eda's letterman jacket serves as a shorthand for the viewer that she's going to go through some sort of horrible trauma in that episode. In fact, the only episode where she isn't shown wearing it in between her first receiving it in "Reaching Out" and her finally beginning to heal emotionally in "For the Future" is the Breather Episode "Them's the Breaks, Kid".
  • The Powerpuff Girls:
    • The Powerpuff Girls (1998):
      • Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are revealed to have one each in "Pet Feud." Eventually, Buttercup was convinced in "Cover Up" to let hers go when it became a problem for her and passed it to Professor Utonium.
      • More prominently, Bubbles has her stuffed octopus called Octi, who sometimes gets the Companion Cube treatment, a fact taken advantage of by HIM in "Octi Evil".
      • It's a little-known fact that Buttercup has another security blanket of her own: a stuffed crocodile that she snuggles with while she's asleep.
    • The Powerpuff Girls (2016): While the series retains Octi for Bubbles, "Toy Ploy" gives Blossom and Buttercup two new stuffed toys, which are (respectively) known as President Dinosaur and Monsieur Ducky. The episode involves Mojo Jojo trying to use the toys as a means to find the girls' weaknesses.
  • In Rugrats, Angelica's ratty old doll Cynthia is her security blanket. She goes ballistic when the babies lose it.
    • In All Grown Up!, Angelica talks to Cynthia in one episode, shortly pondering why she just talked to her doll a second afterwards. In the episode where Angelica demands that Charlotte rid her room of everything "pre-13", this invariably includes Cynthia. Once Angelica realizes Cynthia is gone, she goes into hysterics and stops at nothing to get her doll back.
  • Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race: To handle his fear of flying, Owen gets a teddy bear named Beary. Unfortunately for Beary, he doesn't mix well with Owen's other method of dealing with stress, and Owen eats him without realizing it. Owen replaces him with Noah from then on.
  • Work It Out Wombats!: Snout, a plush toy, provides Zeke lots of comfort, and being away from Snout is very distressing for him.

    Real Life 
  • As noted above, "security blanket" originated with Peanuts; insurance companies quickly adopted the term.
    • So did Microsoft, using the term for security features in its Distributed Component Object Model.
    • Project Linus also took the idea and ran with it. Volunteers with this non-profit organization sew, knit, crochet, and quilt security blankets for children and teenagers who are hospitalized or suffer other traumatic experiences.
  • Zooey Deschanel has become known for almost always wearing tights, though it's only been recently that she revealed in an interview that this is mainly because tights are her security blankets.
  • Children often have a stuffed animal or other toy they can't do without. Plenty of adults have stuffed animals, toys, or blankets they need, too. Many of these adults never let go of their childhood security blankets, but some of them developed a reliance on a stuffed animal or blanket in response to trauma or because the item was given by a loved one. Many adults with mental illnesses like anxiety and depression or a disorder like autism rely on security blankets as well (holdovers from childhood or otherwise).
  • In the U.S. military, the standard-issue poncho liner/field blanket is jokingly treated like this, even to the point of being nicknamed a "woobie."
  • Somewhat related is how EMTs and other emergency services will give out blankets during traumatic events. Car accidents, building fires, mass casualty events, any horrible yet mundane event you can think of. While mostly to help regulate the patient's temperature and to protect them from any more debris, the psychological benefits of being wrapped in a blanket are statistically significant. Plus it acts as a visual identifier for who's been seen by the Emergency services on sight.

 
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When Franklin's little sister Harriet is upset, he gives her his blue blankie to comfort her.

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