- Choose a video-game where players are put in teams and have to play against one another. Any game. Even if one team has better players, if they're not working together or supporting one another, and the other team is, the other team is almost certainly going to win.
A recurring theme in Dragon Age:
Depending on how you play the Warden, Dragon Age: Origins has some very powerful examples of this. A female Warden who befriends Morrigan can induce her to admit that she has never had or even wanted a friend before, but has come to view the Warden almost as a sister. A number of the other companions have similar trust issues, but with thoughtful gifts and compassionate dialogue choices, you can get them to make similar confessions regardless of the Warden's gender. This translates in gameplay as stat boosts.
In Dragon Age II, the mechanic returns, allowing you to build up Friendship by making choices your current two companions agree with... As well as building up Rivalry, which makes them fight just as hard to either sway you to their reasoning, prove you wrong, or just out of spite. Ultimately, however, both the Power of Friendship and the Power of Rivalry lead to Undying Loyalty if you spend enough time with a character
- The Ebony Blade as seen in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a sword that technically runs off the Power of Friendship... by which we mean the sword gets stronger if you use it to murder characters you have become close friends with. The Ebony Blade as seen in previous Elder Scrolls games did not have this ability.
Final Fantasy:
- Final Fantasy IV (II in its firstwestern release):
- The player's party is about to be wiped out right before the final battle, when the camera switches back to Earth, to show people sending "their prayers" to the characters. After that, several of the protagonist's friends (some dead ones too!) materialize briefly by his side with words of encouragement. Each such speech heals the members a bit, until they're at full strength again.
- The same game also turns it against you with the Archfiends. After taking down the final Fiend, Rubicante, he realizes that you beat him because your party fought him as a team (he realized this sooner when you defeated him in his solo boss fight).
- In Final Fantasy VI, upon reaching the Final Boss, the party responds to his nihilistic revelations by talking about all of the individual bonds they've made with one another, what they've learned throughout their individual experience, and why real love is worth risking their lives and fighting to preserve. The villain's response? "This is sickening. You sound like chapters from a self help booklet!" Kefka is wrong. He is stopped. It's also worth noting that in a game where one of the central themes is "human connection makes you a person," Kefka, the villain, is alone in absolutely every way.
- In Final Fantasy IX, after a particularly distressing revelation, Zidane turns into a zombie-like Jerkass [SUP]note [/SUP]and tries to go it alone. His friends gather around him and convince him that they need each other, helping him turn back into a nice guy.
- This is used more literally during the ending; after the party is completely wiped out by Kuja's Ultima and helpless when Necron appears, the four party members not participating in the final battle hand their power over to the four others, fully healing them and giving a few encouraging words as they do so.
- Final Fantasy XII pulled this one twice: once when the main cast is getting ready to fly off to destroy the source of the game's Applied Phlebotinum, and again when they're just getting ready to fight the Big Bad.
- Grand Theft Auto V of all things heavily employs this trope, particularly in the Golden Ending. Rather than kill his two friends and mentor figures at the behest of Devin Weston and the FIB, Franklin instead opts to get Michael and Trevor together to take down everyone who wants them dead, despite the latter two's ongoing feud. In the end, the protagonists eliminate all their enemies, deal with their inner demons, strengthen their bonds, and earn their happy endings. The other endings where Franklin betrays one of the two are much bleaker.
