A Positive Friend Influence is a character that helps others within their social circle, be it their friends, family, or Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, to start making their way in overcoming their issues and becoming better people. They often play The Heart to the group or even the Morality Pet. More often than not, the character that is being helped genuinely never experienced being on the receiving end of such kindness or is simply amazed at how this positive friend's actions bear results or simply by the friend being a genuinely nice person who shows heroic attributes.
It's also very much possible for this to be a two-way street. If a character that is nice is also basically an Extreme Doormat, a more selfish character might teach them to stand up for themselves and become more assertive, while also receiving lessons on being nicer and kinder to others.
Different than The Paragon, a Positive Friend Influence can't help anyone in their Character Development if they aren't close by, while a Paragon might influence entire societies in their development. If the one being helped changed after falling in love with their positive friend influence, then this is Love Redeems and likely Single Woman Seeks Good Man, a Positive Friend Influence is a platonic trope, though they can eventually fall for said friend way later in the plot. If the Character Development was not completed or the friendship ended terribly, then it's possible for that friend to revert to their old ways instead of staying as a healthier person if their positive influence isn't around.
Truth in Television, there really is such a thing as a positive influence when it comes to people, and hanging out with good people can help you become better as well.
A character with this trope often has traits of All-Loving Hero, Ideal Hero, The Heart, and often Endearingly Dorky.
See also The Power of Friendship. Compare Contagious Heroism, where the traits passed from one to another aren't just good, but outright heroic and the characters themselves are heroes. Compare also Living Emotional Crutch, a more perpetual, personal version of this; this trope is a step up from that one, where the friend outright cures as opposed to merely being a crutch. This can also overlap with more optimistic variants of Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick.
Contrast Toxic Friend Influence.
