Examples of The Power of Friendship in Fan Works.
- Easily the strongest theme of Advent Crossover Crisis is how the heroes, combining their skills and willing to put others ahead of themselves, can best even the most powerful villains, who in turn have difficulty grasping this.
- Advice and Trust:
- The only reason Shinji and Asuka were able to perform a joint synchronization with Unit-03 was because they were friends with Hikari and she had been absorbed during the previous angel attack. Said friendship also managed to get her out of the Eva when the battle was over.
- In a more mundane example, Rei found in her research that emotional support from friends and family is highly important when dealing with the psychological withdrawal symptoms of the drugs that Doctor Akagi had put her on. And since the only "family" she has is Gendo (the same person who had Ritsuko give her the drugs in the first place), she understandably asks Shinji and Asuka for help instead. Her second detox, on the other hand, falls more under The Power of Love.
- One of the central themes of Bird is that people are more than their flaws. Taylor's perspective always hints at more under the surface, beyond any violent outbursts, or inability to talk. Her willingness to look past sometimes glaring difficulties and cultivate the good she sees is what gathers her the True Companions her friends all become.
- Boldores And Boomsticks: A literal example with Nox the Zubat. When realizing he's not strong or fast enough to get his trainer Ruby Rose out of danger, he triggers his evolution into Golbat... and then keeps evolving all the way into Crobat before his first evolution is even complete. It counts as this trope because, in the games, Golbat can only evolve when they have a maximized Friendship statnote . Though on the downside, the evolution was so fast that Nox is much smaller than Crobat usually are, but he doesn't really mind.
- The Bolt Chronicles: An important recurring theme in these stories, with several examples.
- In "The Seven," Bolt and his six puppy friends work as a team to survive their abandonment in a puppy mill and get adopted to loving homes.
- In "The Survivor," Mittens's friendship with Petey and his circle of pals allows her to survive many of the worst excesses of her abusive owners.
- Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino cement their friendship in the post-canon stories of this series, beginning with "The Blood Brother." It enhances their quality of life immensely and leads to Bolt and Mittens becoming a successful romantic couple.
- Bolt and Penny's continuation of their close master-and-dog bond in post-canon (shown most clearly in "The Walk," "The Imaginary Letters," and "The Car") contributes directly to their happiness. It allows Penny to cope with school and life challenges, helps them enjoy a long book signing tour, and results in Bolt finding the girl's soulmate.
- The Bridge (MLP) naturally has this with the Equestrian side, where bonds like friendship and it's close cousin The Power of Love can grant someone a massive boost in magical potential. But as long as the feelings and bonds are genuine, anyone, even non-native Equestrians in an Equestrian realm such as Equestria proper or the Equestria Girls realm can experience it. Gigan manages to unknowingly tap into it when he throws everything he has at a rampaging Kaizer Ghidorah for the sake of his teammates.
- A Champion in Earth-Bet: Since the Avatar is powerful enough to kill an Endbringer, Shadow Stalker scoffs at him choosing to accept orders from Armsmaster. The Avatar chuckles at her naivete and points out that cooperation is the superpower that has allowed humans to dominate the planet despite having almost no natural weapons. Even killing Leviathan was a team effort, with other heroes hindering Leviathan's movements, inflicting some of the damage, and identifying its weaknesses.Avatar: You say that I'm powerful, Shadow Stalker, and you're right. You are oh so very right. But a near-century of superpowered fights has shown me, again and again, that power comes in many forms. Sometimes, power is the ability to blast enough energy to raze a mountain. Sometimes, power is the cleverness required to come up with a brilliant plan mid-battle. And sometimes, power is the ability to make friends and allies who will fight by your side. You would be amazed at how many times that last one has saved me.
- A Darker Path: Atropos promises to defeat the Endbringers "With the power... of friendship." Dragon almost bursts out laughing, but she has seen enough to believe that Atropos really can weaponise anything including friendship.
- Doctor Whooves Adventures, being at its core My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fiction. One example includes a pony befriending the TARDIS and asking her to save the day. Which she does.
- Doctor Whooves – The Series, a Crossover of Doctor Who and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic treats Power of Friendship as Magic A Is Magic A - friendship even powers the TARDIS in the equine universe!
- This, along with The Power of Love, is what drives the good guys in the Elemental Chess Trilogy, and is the reason that several characters survive what happens to them.
- Subverted in Equestria: A History Revealed. You would think that an essay detailing the past of Equestrian history would have a large focus on friendship, but it seems as though the Lemony Narrator doesn't believe this at all, and actually takes the real world's message of the show as a part of Celestia's "pro-friendship agenda". This is problematic as most of the major conflicts in the show are solved by friendship. But she finds another way to interpret this instead.
- Fallen King examines and ultimately deconstructs this. While their friendship sustains them and helps them to never give up, Joey realizes that the villains can and will use it as a weapon, and ultimately decides that he, Tristan, and Tea must stop being friends to save the world.
- Fallout: Equestria: As a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fic, of course this comes up. Littlepip is an Action Survivor, but her real power is gaining even more powerful friends who help her. The Watcher also mentions that the failure of this was why the apocalypse happened. Luna tapped the Mane Six to help save Equestria, believing they could do anything together. And they could... but managing an entire country during a war required them to be separate, which caused their flaws to magnify. Instead of working together, they just created more and more problems until everything fell apart.
- Fate Revelation Online: One of the kids at the boarding school apparently has a spell that literally works on the power of friendship. Diabel didn't ask too many questions at the time (because the kids were in danger), but puts a pin in it for later.
- In The Fifth Act, Cloud unintentionally invokes this. Due to his arrival, he reaches out to help Genesis get cured of his horrible illness, acts as a rival for Sephiroth and as a mentor to Zack and Kunsel. This causes the Soldiers to become closer friends and prevent them from falling to the spiral of despair, death and madness most of them went through in canon.
- In the Hetalia: Axis Powers fanfic Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità
, it was this that caused Germany and Japan to be so close to Italy in the first place and want to fight over him as their feelings of friendship evolved into feelings of love. - The Warblers in Hunting the Unicorn are the main source of heartwarming, comedy, and heartwarming comedy in an otherwise soul-crushing Deconstruction about Kurt and Blaine.
- Without this, Kyon: Big Damn Hero would likely be far less upbeat. For a start, Tsuruya would likely be dead. Or illegally shipped to another country as a slave.
- A major facet of Taylor's powerset in Liaison is building strong relationships between people, especially others and herself. The stronger her relationships, the less effort required for her power-buffing and debuffing.
- Used realistically yet to a devastating effect against Superman in Loxare Hinder when he managed to corner Red Hood, since the Hood goes out of his way to help kids and be nice to them. Consequences? A kiddie mob yelling at Superman he's a big bully who hurt their resident hero.
- Averted in My Brave Pony: Starfleet Magic. The author is not afraid to proclaim how much he hates the very idea of it. Doesn't stop him from having the main character's friendships be the only reason why he doesn't get his butt kicked by every Monster of the Week (although this is probably unintentional).
- One thing that makes The Night Unfurls stand out is that the fanfic spectacularly inverts this trope, Russian Reversal style. In universal media, having friends gives you strength. In The Night Unfurls, having strength gives you friends.
- Sanakan and Hugh started out as lonely orphans and pickpockets, barely noticed by peasant or noble. It is when they trained hard and kicked a lot of asses as apprentices of the strongest knight in Eostia that they start to find companionship with said knight's two other apprentices, Lily and Soren. The four of them don't explicitly say that they are friends, comrades, or any of that cringey stuff, but it is clear that the camaraderie is there. Moreover, Sanakan says to Kyril outright that they are a big happy family of misfits, even though Kyril is the mentor. All because the two wastes of skin asked him to help them become strong. The mentor gave them strength, and with it, the opportunity to have friends.
- Patterns of the Past, being an Series/Odd Squad fanfic, naturally has this trope in play. Olesya and Ogden, who were partners back when the former was an Investigation agent, were good at solving cases but had poor partner chemistry. They become friendlier by the end of the story, with Ogden showing his Hidden Depths, and it's implied that he had romantic feelings for her after she got promoted to the Management department and became Old Missie's successor, but she doesn't notice them.
- Zig-Zagged Trope again in A Pikachu in Love. Pikachu spends most of the fic questioning just how strong his bond with Ash really is, how long it would honestly last, and does consider leaving him at a few points to stay with Pichi, who he could have a full relationship with due to both of them being Pokemon. Gets Reconstructed in that Pikachu eventually realizes just how much Ash and Co. really love him, and feels ashamed of himself for thinking Ash would forget about and leave him behind one day. It then gets deconstructed again in that it's his friendship with them that forces him to leave Pichi for a final time, and just after she had confessed her love for him in hopes he would stay with her...
- Done in a purely symbolic way in Power Rangers GPX. By the penultimate chapter in Part 1, four of the Rangers have become a tight friends even after one Ranger split from the team. Actually, make that two, since he dragged his younger sister with him. Anyway, with said symbolic power, they were able to defeat the enemy general.
- Invoked in The Rigel Black Chronicles when Tom Riddle tries to blackmail "Rigel" by making threats against his cousin Harriett; Rigel insists that Harry would never want to be used against him that way and that Riddle can do his worst.note
- In the Hunger Games fanfiction Some Semblance of Meaning, this is how Vale Whitaker makes it so far in her Games. She isn't a strong fighter by any means, nor is she at all ruthless, and she survives mainly by making friends instead of war. She has a lengthy list of allies—Kit, Fen and Lark, Phlox (though she quickly makes a Face–Heel Turn), and eventually Obsidian —and when she does die in the final confrontation , it is because she is defying the Capitol, not due to any betrayal. Both she and Obsidian comment over the course of the story about how it's more important to stand for something and to forge bonds than it is to win by plowing through everyone in your way.
- In the Total Drama fanfic, Total Drama Genesis, Melissa provides an exaggerated example during the Virtual Reality challenge. In this fantasy role playing game, she can’t bring herself to fight any of the Always Chaotic Evil monsters she encounters, instead talking to them (aided by the game using Turn-Based Combat), befriending them and providing them with her signature baked goods. As a result, she’s still only Level 1 at the final battle, but quickly raises a formidable army merely by calling on her new friends.
- The heart of the Twice Upon an Age series is the friendship between the Lord and Lady Inquisitor, supplemented by their friendships with the rest of the cast.
- Ultra Fast Pony takes a middle-of-the-road approach to this one. On the one hand, it acknowledges how great it to have someone you can trust to be on your side in a fight. (Even if the friendship is very dysfunctional.) On the other hand, the series loves to mock the idea that friendship is a literal, supernatural power.Apple Bloom: Well, isn't friendship magic?
Applejack: I don't know. Do you have friends?
Apple Bloom: Yeah...
Applejack: Are you magic?
Apple Bloom: No...
Applejack: Well, there you go then! - Viva La Vida: This being an Odd Squad fanfic, and specifically one about Olive and Otto, this trope is in full effect. The Good Ending has Otto be relieved that his partner isn't getting fired from the organization in spite of the nasty argument the pair had earlier and Olive actively antagonizing him during her Face–Heel Turn, and also has Olive herself realizing what makes a real partner.Olive: [thinking] Real partners make up and forgive each other after arguments. Real partners care for and help each other. Real partners solve problems differently, but they do it together because that's what partners are for. Real partners are not just partners, but friends.
- Weasley Girl is all over this trope, even though Ronnie mocks it a little in the first story.Ronnie: That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!
Hermione: Ronnie!
Ronnie: C'mon, Hermione, even you have to admit how completely pants it sounds! You-Know-Who couldn't touch Harry because we're friends?! Because we just love each other that much?
Dumbledore: Love is a very powerful force. It goes beyond any magic, and far beyond Voldemort's comprehension. You see, Voldemort loves and trusts no-one but himself. If he had known the true meaning of love, of sacrifice, he would not have been the Dark Lord he is.
Ronnie: Great, just great. So the next time we meet a Dark Lord we should just start snogging. - In With Strings Attached, the obvious love the four have for one another, despite their frequent quarrels and cranky moods, impresses the Hunter far more than any of their magic. After all, he's no stranger to power, but he doesn't have a single friend in the world. Ultimately, he is won over by this quality.
- The only reason Sailor Jupiter is able to defy history and transform through sheer force of will in Sailor Moon: Legends of Lightstorm.
- In With This Ring, this is Paragon!Orange Lantern's biggest strength. While he's a new superhero, he makes friends with mostly everyone he meets. This makes the Team more cooperative and cohesive than canon and unable to be torn apart by rumors of a mole. Orange Lantern is able to call many other heroes when he's in trouble due them wanting to lend a hand.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series:
- Given its prevalence in the original show, this trope is spoofed every which way.Yugi: Losing a children's card game has caused me to have an existential crisis!
Tea: I have prepared a friendship speech for such an occasion!
Yugi: NevermindI'mallbetternow.
Tea: [to a doctor] Go back to your leeches and your potions! Friendship is the only cure! - One episode even had a drinking game for how many times friendship was mentioned. Though it also happens to be the one where Yugi and Joey have to duel each other to the death.Yugi: I just wanted you to know how important your friendship is to me, Joey. It means even more to me than card games.
- Given its prevalence in the original show, this trope is spoofed every which way.
