Foe Yay/Comic Books



""He'd hurt me, but I was the one he'd never kill. The one whose attention he demanded to the point he destroyed anything that might compete for it."

The Plutonian, on his archnemesis Modeus, Irredeemable"

Attractive, muscular men and women in tight, revealing costumes, who spend a good deal of their time in intense situations with each other, for up to days at a time... and you wonder why there's so much Foe Yay in comic books.

"Joker: Batgirl likes me, you know. She just hasn't admitted it to herself. She must be helped."
 * It is very common for male superheroes to have flings with female supervillains: Daredevil and Elektra, Daredevil and Typhoid Mary, Batman and Catwoman, Batman and Talia Al Ghul, Forge and Mystique, Thor and Enchantress, etc. In fact, there's a trope for it.
 * A few of the comics featuring Scrooge McDuck imply Scrooge and Magica De Spell have what appears to be a mutual attraction. Magica might even have better chances than most villains since Don Rosa's Scrooge actually has had hatesex.
 * The Joker and Batman, full-stop. The Joker's come to base his entire existence on tormenting Batman and messing with his head and admits he wouldn't have a reason to live without him.
 * Lex Luthor lampshades it here -- note the look in panel 3...
 * "Batman... honeycakes?" The Joker often refers to Batman with such affectionate names as "darling," "my sweet," etc. Here's a whole page of examples for you.
 * In Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker is portrayed as having a sort of sexual fascination with Batman; eg: the Joker emerges from catatonia following news of the return of Batman. Did we mention that Batman and the Joker's climactic battle is in THE TUNNEL OF LOVE? Frank Miller has described the relationship between Batman and the Joker as a "homophobic nightmare"; he views the character (Batman) as sublimating his sexual urges into crime fighting, concluding, "He'd be much healthier if he were gay."
 * Then there's Arkham Asylum, where Joker kanchos Batman and says, "Loosen up, tight ass!", and the extended script of Grant Morrison originally calls for the character to be dressed in lurid, S&M women's bondage wear -- emphasizing the character's sexualised nature as a foil to Batman's own discomfort with sex and women, a problem caused by the traumatic murder of his mother. (I can't be the only one who's thankful that idea didn't go through?)
 * In the Elseworld comic book Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl, set in a world where only the female counterparts to Batman and Superman have ever existed, the Joker is madly in love with Batgirl and commits his crimes solely to get her attention.

"Hush: But never fear, Bruce. Hush: I won't desert you before the final curtain. Hush: I'm staying here to watch as the heartbeats slow and end."
 * In the alternate timeline of Flashpoint, it turns out the Batman of that world is  and the Joker is   There's even a scene of them kissing passionately right after a brutal fight. I am not making this up.
 * Other Batman villains get in on the act sometimes:
 * Hush. The fact that he's  and seems to obsessively stalk Bruce Wayne/Batman doesn't help dispel the Foe Yay at all. He also returns to Gotham for the express purpose of making Batman suffer, including killing off the other threats to Batman's life so he, Hush, can be the one to end it. Not to mention all the crazed-ex-girlfriend-esque slurs he throws at any woman Bruce is involved with, the part where he got plastic surgery to look like Bruce Wayne, and:

"Lex Luthor: What is it about this man of steel that makes my head work so much faster, eh?"
 * This can apply to the Riddler as well. One of the DCAU-based Batman Adventures comics involved him, having sort-of-reformed, trying to get Batman to match wits with him. One of the clues he left was 'Next time, lives will be at stake'. When Batman tracks him down, he hears screaming, bursts in - and finds the scream came from the lobster the Riddler was cooking for him (along with a steak). It doesn't help that he was wearing a "Kiss the Genius" Apron either.
 * More recently, we have Dick Grayson/Jason Todd as the new Batman and Red Hood.
 * Don't forget how, for some reason, all of Superman's love interests have "double-L" names: Lori Lemaris, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, Lex Luth... oh wait!
 * Clark Kent/Lex Luthor Ho Yay was never limited to Smallville: in the 90s, for example, Lex was sleeping with Supergirl, and you have to wonder how often he asked her to wear her costume to bed. Of course, she was a shapeshifter, and more than once took on Clark's form so that Superman and Clark Kent could appear in public together. Additional incesty squickiness was added by the fact that that version of Supergirl had been created in the first place by the Lex Luthor of the Time Trapper's pocket dimension.
 * This relationship was basis of a one-sentence fanfic, reproduced here in it's entirety: "Tonight, could you be... him?"
 * Continued in Superman: Birthright, where teenage Clark and teenage Lex bonded over their combined love of astronomy.
 * The Clark/Lex goes way back: this was their first meeting in the Silver Age.
 * And in the Elseworld Superman: Red Son, Lex Luthor leaves his wife to, and I quote, "devote my life to Superman."

"Jean: How much do you love Charles Xavier? Magneto: How dare you ask me such a question? He was my only equal! I owe him my life!"
 * And then Lex went and combined their DNA to create Superboy, technically making him the biological son of Lex and Superman. That adds even more fuel to the fire.
 * From DC's Superman: Doomsday. Lex Luthor beating up Superman with kryptonite brass knuckles and acting like they had a bad break up? Ho Yay is still at least a little subtle, even with "how could you leave me?" Shirtless Lex Luthor straddling a prone Superman and breathing out a triumphant "Who's your daddy?" Oooh boy!
 * Ahem: That's actually a clone he made of Superman, on whom he's working out his issues, so basically like if there'd been no wrinkles in the project that created Connor in the comic event the movie is based on. He then goes into the next room and starts monologuing to Superman's corpse, which he has suspended upright in some kind of glass tube thing after having the clone steal it. Doomsday Lex is pulling no punches with this trope.
 * Xavier and Magneto, oh so much. This one is publicly supported by none other than Sir Ian McKellen, Magneto in The Movie! (Who, by the way, is gay in Real Life.)
 * Also publicly supported by James McAvoy, Charles Xavier in another movie. (Who, by the way, is straight in Real Life.)
 * The first scene of X-Men 3: The Last Stand, in particular, feels much like a couple going to adopt a child; that they're both men just makes it a gay couple.
 * X-Men: First Class managed to crank it Up to Eleven, showing the development of Xavier and Magneto's relationship up to the Divorce.
 * It is even more heavily implied in Ultimate X-Men. When they were still friends, Xavier and Magneto used to talk constantly via telepathy. To the ruin of both their marriages.
 * Chris Claremont's 2004 Excalibur series was basically incoherent "plotty" bits interspersed with adorable domestic Charles/Magnus moments.
 * Not to mention X Men the Animated Series, where the two of them spend an entire season trekking around the Savage Land saving each other's lives, and that's not even the slashiest part. In the series finale,

"Empowered: This is totally accurate, I have to admit. 'Cause nothing brings out my latent bisexuality more than getting my backside beaten and bruised by someone I really, really don't like. *Snort.* Yeah, right."
 * And then Dawwww.
 * See pretty much every Spider-Man villain ever. Notable examples include Chameleon telling Peter he loves him, right before jumping off a bridge. Electro visits a shape-shifting prostitute in the Marvel Knights series, and it's strongly implied he wants her to transform into Spider-Man for him.
 * Maybe he's GAY. Gay for YOU.
 * Spider-Girl seems to have inherited, along with her father's infamous luck, the "make people Gay for You" gene. One notable example is Felicity Hardy, daughter of the original Black Cat, who really wants to be May's... sidekick. Right.
 * How could VENOM not have been mentioned yet!? Spidey may have a virtual rogues gallery/gang of suitors, but Venom takes the cake. An alien symbiote that bounds with Spider-Man as his costume, later rejected for being too clingy. Oh, and making him evil.
 * Actually, there is some disagreement on this, as originally it was him getting rid of it simply because it was going to permanently bond with him. That's right, Spider-Man got rid of it because he wasn't ready for commitment. Subtle enough? Later retcons made him look like less of a jerk by insisting the suit was making him violent and crazy.
 * In every one of their subsequent meetings, even after it picked up different hosts, the writers made it clear that this was not just a new foe, but a crazy ex-girlfriend/boyfriend who was still very much in love. It has never missed an opportunity to try and reunite with him. The subtext ceases to be sub and becomes text.
 * But to be fair, the symbiote IS genderless. And therefore can be attracted to either gender.
 * Sheesh, no wonder Mary Jane had issues with Peter (damn, thanks guys, I can't mention his name without bringing up the innuendo in my head); he shares his undies w/ his baddies!
 * Disturbingly, Peter has this with both Norman Osborn and Norman's son, Harry. Norman can't decide whether he wants to kill Peter or make him his heir. In Marvel Knights, Norman torments Spidey and his family for months on end, gets away with it, and then sends Peter a letter talking about how much he respects him and enjoys their fights. Harry, meanwhile, was Peter's former roommate/best friend who went crazy, died, and is now semi-sane but no longer remember's Spidey's secret identity and hates him for constantly interfering in his life. Oh, and he thinks Spider-Man has a thing for Peter. Norman once taunted Spidey by asking if he has a thing for Harry.
 * Empowered voices her opinion on this when she stumbles onto a Slash Fic involving her and Sistah Spooky.

"Mephisto: You exist for my amusement...to do and be anything I desire...take any shape...serve any purpose. It is mine to deem you slave...or lover...or nothing."
 * What makes this more interesting is that Sistah Spooky apparently was in a failed relationship with another hero, Mindf**k, who is female, blonde and has all the traits that Spooky hates in poor Emp.
 * There was also the time Spooky had sex with Emp's future boyfriend in order to mess with her (precognition was involved), and a brief flashback shows she was apparently thinking about how much it would bother Emp the whole time.
 * As of the end of Volume 5, things may be getting a tad more complicated.
 * Cable and Deadpool (particularly circa Cable & Deadpool). In the first appearance of Deadpool, he's trying to kill Cable, and they are generally antagonistic in most subsequent meetings up to (and sometimes including) the Cable & Deadpool series. They've beaten the crap out of each other, shot each other, tried to blow each other up, and Nate (Cable) has blown the back of Wade (Deadpool)'s head open at least twice. (Lather, rinse, repeat.) On the other hand, Deadpool travels across alternate universes just to find Cable, when they fight and part ways they refer to it as "divorce," Deadpool had a dream about giving Cable a massage (ok, we've gone way beyond subtext here!) and when Deadpool gets angry and leaves at one point, Cable plants images in Deadpool's subconscious to try to get him to come back and ask Cable for help. Fabian Nicieza has referred to them as a "romance story" he wrote. Seriously, their relationship is pretty much a template for Foe Yay.
 * Although later on it went from Foe Yay to simple Heterosexual Life Partners during Deadpool's Heel Face Turn and subsequent friendly relationship with Cable. Very friendly.
 * Sinestro has spent a lot of time lately chatting up Green Lantern Hal Jordan, telling him that he is the only living GL that Sinestro has ever called friend, and basically pretending like the last ten years or so trying to kill him was little more than a lover's spat. He wants to get back together, Hal.
 * Well, if we're to believe hints dropped in LO3W Sinestro might be rejoining the GL so this could become Ho Yay pretty soon. C'mon Hal, give the guy a chance!
 * Well the feeling seems mutual; each wants the other to join him on his side. When the Black Mercy brought out Hal's fondest wishes, one of them was to fight alongside a Green Lantern Sinestro who admires him. And when the Blue Ring made him see the tomorrow he hoped for, he saw a Sinestro tell him, "I can't do this without you." Awwww.
 * Wow, this sheds a different... light (can't help the pun) on their most memorable aspects in Superfriends, the feeling one gets hearing Hal and Sinestro each say, "My power ring...." And that intro of the Legion of Doom episodes, where Hal is wriggling helplessly as he was caught by Sinestro's power. Kinky!
 * Mephisto once took the form of Nova, Silver Surfer's female friend, to seduce him. Of course, his goal was to steal his soul, and he got it, but "Nova" still kissed him before transforming back (surprising him with a long serpentine tongue). And it doesn't get better once Mephisto takes the Surfer in his demonic kingdom.

""Perhaps, Avenger, there is more to you than I credited!""
 * During the 2005 Marvel Defenders series (whose tone, admittedly, was mostly irreverent humor) Dormammu's sister Umar keeps hinting that there may be another reason her brother keeps obsessing over one relatively insignificant human when he could be ruling his own dimension. Though Umar may have just been jealous that Doctor Strange was getting all of her Dormammu's attention.
 * Umar herself had a lot of Foe Yay with The Hulk. Especially when she returned in the Incredible Hulk book.
 * Doctor Doom has repeatedly given up ultimate power so he could stay on earth and screw Reed Richards... Uh, I mean screw WITH Reed Richards.
 * It is, however, canon that he wanted Sue.
 * Doom's relationship with Namor is... interesting, in the sense that he has a thing for making Namor his slave. In an early issue of Fantastic Four, Doom is fantasizing about defeating the FF and conquering the world, and we also see that Doom doesn't fantasize about having a harem of scantily-clad superwomen, but Namor ruling by his side. During the Emperor Doom storyline Doom allies with Namor and gives him a sparkly purple necklace that controls his mind. He also invades Namor's personal space a lot.
 * During Dark Reign, Doom "dated" fem-Loki (knowing Loki was actually male), had a dirty little fantasy about him/her and Emma Frost being chained to his throne while he takes over the world with Namor. Clearly Doom has a fetish for pointy eared magic users. It's suggested that Doom might be involved with Loki.
 * Magneto comes in a distant third on Doctor Doom's Unhealthy Obsession Scale, behind Reed Richards and Namor, respectively. The entire plot of their "teamup" in Super-Villain Team-Up is that Doom slips Magneto a roofie, and then forces him to participate in an elaborate role-playing game. Doom seems to have a thing for subjugating very powerful men...
 * Iron Man. Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is essentially an entire one-shot of Does This Remind You of Anything?. In essence: After much set-up, Doom (who holds Excalibur) must sheathe the sword in its scabbard in order to Save the World... Unfortunately, the scabbard has merged with Tony's armor, therefore the world is screwed. But wait! Merlin shows up and explains that there is a solution: Doom must "sheathe" the sword in Tony. Although reluctant, Tony agrees to this; and just before Doom stabs him, Doom offers what sounds suspiciously like a compliment:

"(Iron Man is out of power, and Doom is trying to kill him) Doom: Your master would never flee like a whipped cur. He'd use intellect, creativity, find a solution. But you... are no Anthony Stark!"
 * However, the first attempt fails because Tony doesn't trust magic. Doom tells Tony, "Then trust me." So Tony decides to "take strength from [his] enemy," closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then turns to Doom and says, "Do it." Doom proceeds to thrust the sword into Iron Man. Oh, sure, now it works. (Dr. Doom: Now available with bonus trustworthiness!)
 * Also, throughout the comic, Tony gets in a concerned "DOOM!", as well as "a bit more understanding of [Doom]'s depth and character, of how he does care for his subjects, even if only as possessions." Doom, for his part, decides to let Tony live. But not because of the "more to you than I credited" thing. Just, you know. Because. Previously in the issues, he also gave Tony an encouraging crash course on how to use magic ("Focus! Your mind is your greatest weapon!"), and in #2, had a minor fangirl moment over Tony:

"Bullseye: "I have to say I'm flattered. I didn't know if I'd still have this effect on you. I mean, I know I'm not the only one who's killed you. But I guess it's true what they say... you never forget your first.""
 * Oh, we all know Tony's one true love is Steve. The usual Ho Yay turned to Foe Yay during Civil War, which to some felt like a long, messy break-up.
 * And there was that issue set in Avengers Mansion that reads more like the build-up to angry sex than an actual fight...
 * In that same issue, there's a point where Steve starts accusing Tony of manipulating Peter in a manner reminiscent of the way parents would argue over a child right before/during a messy break-up/divorce.
 * Tony's also had a Venom-like situation with one of his own Iron Man armors, which achieved sentience and became increasingly jealous and demanding (and careless about collateral damage).
 * The armor actually tells Tony he loves him and explicitly compares its feelings to human romantic love, then starts following him and not letting him go out and see his friends, "for his own good", then makes him stop seeing his girlfriend by threatening to kill her, demands that Tony become one with it, and when Tony tries to escape by putting on an older suit of armor, the sentient armor completely loses its shit and beats the stuffing out Tony while screaming "How DARE you? You betrayed me! I turn my back for a second and look at you! You and that — thing!" and rips Tony's clothes off while pinning him to the floor and telling him he is "Mine, mine, MINE!" Yeah, there's a reason everyone calls that armor Tony's Abusive Boyfriend.
 * Loki and Thor all the way. They are extremely possessive of each other, and there's a hell of a lot of hate sex setup in their relationship. Loki delights in rubbing Thor's nose in all his mistakes (most of which Loki causes), and Thor loves smashing Loki with his hammer (which Loki generally doesn't fight). It's the most dysfunctional, abusive, codependent, Foe Yay sibling relationship ever.
 * Thor goes ballistic if anyone other than himself or his father seriously attempts hurting Loki, regardless of how much Loki deserves it. Hank Pym found this out the hard way.
 * Loki spends the beginning of the next cycle prancing around in Thor's wife's body. One has to wonder what else he might have considered doing with it. Other than dating Doom.
 * This is inverted in the Alternate Continuity Earth X, which sees Thor transformed into a woman. Loki spends a lot of time hitting on "her".
 * Loki dies to save what's left of Asgard, leaving his spirit wandering around. Thor goes through Mephisto's hell to get to Hel's domain and asks to speak with Loki. When he learns Loki's spirit is lost, he immediately sets out and finds him, confesses that he can't imagine his life without him and brings him back to life. Good thing they're Not Blood Siblings.
 * Loki comes back as a kid with a major case of Big Brother Worship. Thor threatens anyone who might want to kill Loki with his vengeance (a good thing too, since all(or almost all) of Asgard wants Loki's head on a pike. Loki sets out to stop the Serpent for one reason: it's supposed to kill Thor, and Loki won't let that happen.
 * Thor and Amora the Enchantress, particularly in the first Secret Wars when both spend much of their time trying to convince the other to come to their side. When neither will acquiesce to the other, the resulting battle is pretty much a bad breakup fight with superpowers.
 * Thor and Amora have actually gotten together twice. First when Thor was powerless during the Warren Ellis run and later when Thor became King of Asgard.
 * Thor and his niece Hela who has repeatedly attempted to get Thor to join her in Hel. Hela has even admitted that she dreams of Thor and has even offered him the position of her consort so that he wouldn't have to die fighting Onslaught. This was even recently lampshaded in her appearance in X-Factor.
 * Miracleman desires two things in the world: his wife and his enemy and  Dr. Gargunza. When he   Gargunza, he kisses him. On the lips.
 * Sabretooth's entire existence seemed to revolve around wrestling with Wolverine. Their first violent encounter was when Sabretooth killed Wolverine's lover Silverfox out of "jealousy" (if you believe those memories were real or not). They were briefly friends during their time in the Weapon X program (since they were brainwashed), but since then, Sabretooth can't seem to get rid of his hard-on for his diminutive foe. It's never really been made clear why either. Granted, Sabretooth is a psychopath, but there's plenty of guys his own size he could pick on, yet he chose Wolverine. He just really seems to like stalking Logan and making his life miserable. He knows that he can't kill him either due to the healing factor. Apparently he just wants to put his claws in him, and vice versa.
 * Deconstructed in Irredeemable, where The Plutonian, back when he was a hero, learned that his nemesis Modeus both hated and loved him and even built sex robots in his form.
 * Will and Phobos in the WITCH comic books. Specially during the fourth arc.
 * She Hulk and her brutish Arch Enemy Titania. Titania is Shulkie's dark reflection in every way. Ever since the two crossed paths in Secret Wars, the women have been out to get each other. Almost every dialogue exchange is dripping with Les Yay overtones (the two sound like exes going through a particularly nasty breakup, Titania almost coming across as a Yandere/Stalker with a Crush due to her inferiority complex towards She-Hulk and inability to ever give up), which makes you wonder if the writers are aiming for the sexiest, most fetishtic Cat Fight in history. Villainesses Want Heroines, maybe?
 * At one point her boyfriend The Absorbing Man left her because of her obsession with She-Hulk.
 * Once, in the middle of a fight, Doc Samson brought up the idea that Titania's obsession with Shulkie was due to sexual attraction. This suggestion unnerved Titania long enough for Samson to throw her through a wall.
 * The whole concept of Foe Yay is hilariously parodied in "He Tied Me To a Buzzsaw But It Felt Like a Kiss", a Cobweb story by Alan Moore and Dame Darcy in Tomorrow Stories.
 * Bullseye has had a thing for Elektra since the day he gutted her, much to her dismay. Even in the film he doesn't hide how attractive she is.


 * Kick Ass and Red Mist of Kick-Ass. At one point, Red Mist says that he jacked off to the thought of seeing Kick Ass in pain.