A Boy and His X/Playing With

Basic Trope: Human forms an emotional bond with a non-human friend.

• Straight:
  • Adam, a 7-year old boy, has a close animal friend.
  • Alice, a 7-year-old girl, becomes friends with a robot.
  • Adam becomes friends with a paranormal creature.
  • Alice becomes friends with something that is either living, unliving yet still moving, undead, or inorganic but sentient.
• Exaggerated:
  • Adam becomes friends with an inanimate object.
  • Alice gets an alien friend. Strong emotional and physical bonds form between them, such that their lives are dependent on each other. By the end, they fuse together.
  • Adam has an alien friend who has a Ridiculously Cute Critter friend.
  • Alice becomes friends with everything.
• Justified:
  • Adam lives in a world where many people have close relationships with non-humans.
  • Alice must have a relationship with this creature, or she and/or it will die.
• Inverted:
  • A non-human and his human sidekick.
  • Adam is the only human with a non-human sidekick and has to cope with it.
• Subverted:
  • Adam has a ghost alien friend. However, it turns out to be a hologram prank by bullies.
• Double Subverted:
  • ...But it turns out the hologram was contacting the REAL ghost alien, who comes to visit Adam.
• Parodied:
  • A Rubber Forehead Alien boy and his Rubber Forehead Alien dog.
  • A non-sentient Companion Cube has a lot of potential to be played as a parody of A Boy and His X.
• Deconstructed:
  • The family doesn't pay attention to Alice and her "X" is her only friend.
  • Alternatively, once the parents discover that Adam has an X, they pay attention to X only.
  • The family exploits or seeks to end their relationship.
• Reconstructed: Alice eventually learns to have friends other than his "X".
• Analyzed: Bob wonders why a human-like behavior to non-alien friend causes a great affection compared to normal human/human friendship.
• Zig Zagged: Adam is friends with "X", it turns out that it's a hologram, but it turns out the hologram was contacting the REAL "X", and then you find out he's in a psychiatric hospital.
• Averted:
  • Adam has no "X"
  • Adam and his "X" are not unusually close.
• Enforced: "We need a cute animal to capture female audiences."
• Lampshaded: "Here's a new pet. You'll become best of friends, I bet!"
• Invoked: "I'm lonely, I wish I had a companion of some kind."
• Defied: Adam refuses to like the new companion.
• Discussed: "You know, you're really that kind of child who could use a non-human friend"
• Conversed: ""Wow, I love Adam's new puppy! I hope they show it more, and they become really close."
• Played For Laughs: The companion is a hindrance to Adam, in comical ways.
• Played For Drama:
  • The "X" dies, leaving Adam alone.
  • Adam dies, leaving "X" alone.
  • Alternatively, Both of them die together of course.
  • As time goes on, Adam and his "X" start to drift apart.

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