Foe Yay/Film

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


"Join me. Imagine what we could accomplish together."

Examples of Foe Yay in Film include:

  • Constantine has one-sided Foe Yay from Balthazar and Lucifer towards Constantine. Hell wants him bad.
  • There's more than a hint of one-sided Foe Yay in Onmyoji. The bad guy Doson murmurs and smiles at Seimei whenever he's done something dastardly, and commits suicide while saying that he'll be watching him. And during the final battle, he asks Seimei to rule the world with him while stroking his face and throat and clutching at his clothes. Seimei (who hangs out with pretty lady shikigami) isn't impressed by the offer.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger's character John Matrix and the antagonist Bennett in Commando, best summed up in this wonderful piece of dialogue:

Matrix: I'll be back.
Bennett: I'll be waiting for you, John.

    • Not to mention:

Matrix: Put the knife in me and look me in the eye and see what's going on in there when you turn it. Don't deprive yourself of some pleasure... come on, Bennett, let's party!
Bennett: I DON'T NEED THE GIRL! I DON'T NEED NO GUN! I'M GONNA KILL YOU NOW!

  • The Western 3:10 to Yuma was chock full of Foe Yay between the captured criminal Ben Wade and the man hired to bring him in, Dan Evan. At one point, Evan and Wade are alone in a hotel room and Wade looks up at the ceiling, wondering how many brides had taken in the same view. (Funny what you notice if you spend long enough online.) But that's not the worst part...
  • In Legion, Gabriel, the badass archangel who has absolutely no qualms about killing a newborn baby (or all of humanity for that matter) is nearly brought to tears at the thought of having to harm his rival Michael, who lovingly caresses Gabriel's cheek and tells him "It's enough".
    • It should also be pointed out that technically they're BROTHERS, a point definitely not lost on the slash-happy Supernatural fangirls in the audience.
  • The Jesus Christ Superstar section on fanfiction.net is loaded to the brink with Jesus/Judas slash. Plus, like all good gay love stories, it ends in tragedy. Some would contend that Jesus/Judas was the whole point of Superstar in the first place. Have you listened to some of Judas' lyrics?
  • Bond/Le Chiffre from Casino Royale (2006). When your naked torture scene begins with the villain eyeing Bond up and saying "You've taken good care of your body"... This is actually more explicit in the novel where Le Chiffre addresses Bond as "dear boy" during the scene and of course, is the fact that Fleming based him on the bisexual Alastair Crowley. It's also worth noting that the idea of Le Chiffre having a girlfriend is movie only (the original liked to patronize the string of brothels that he owned).
    • Not to mention that Le Chiffre didn't seem particularly bothered about the thug threatening to chop off his girlfriend's hand. Of course, that was probably supposed to be a Kick the Dog moment for Le Chiffre rather than a statement on his sexuality.
    • It's likely his indifference was because the girl was actually a Mook posing as his girlfriend. Of course, that in itself implies something.
    • Craig's Bond is not the first to have Foe Yay with the villain -- there was an amount of homoeroticism between Bond and Alec in GoldenEye.

Alec: "James and I used to share everything...absolutely everything"

  • National Treasure fandom has a lot of Ben/Ian. Gag.
  • The Joker to Batman: "You complete me!"
    • Not to mention the Joker pretty clearly enjoying Batman beating the hell out of him. Combined with a Funny Aneurysm Moment when the Joker says "I can see us doing this forever."
    • One reviewer seems to have noticed the Foe Yay, commenting that the Joker delivers that particular line "like a bride to a groom".
    • This particular bit of Foe Yay goes back a long way, and has become more or less canon in the comics.
    • Considering how they only shared one scene, this troper found the Joker to have an alarming amount of this trope with Rachel Dawes.
      • Indeed. Aside from repeatedly calling her beautiful, sniffing her and ignoring her personal space he said "a little fight in you; I like that" in response to her kicking him in the crotch. That really comes across as the reaction of a Stalker with a Crush.
    • And then there's at the end where the Joker actually straddles the Batman to prevent him from interfering with his plans.
    • The Joker breaking Harvey's mind and leaning over him while he was laying in bed.
  • Death to Smoochy: Rainbow Randolph's obsession with Sheldon (Smoochy) sure looks like this at times, like when he's in disguise driving him to the set-up Nazi rally, he starts insulting himself to try and prove Sheldon hates him, and he calls himself a "pillow biter" among other things. Later, he accuses Sheldon of being gay, saying "You should have seen the way he was eying me in the car". Sheldon even says Randolph "Might have some problems with sexual identity". And then there's the end: Smoochy and a post-Heel Face Turn Rainbow Randolph ice skating together while Jackie Wilson's "Higher And Higher" plays. You don't get much more fabulous than that.
    • Also? Rainbow Randolph. Come on, that's not even subtext anymore.
  • In Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest, Lord Cutler Beckett, while holding the brand Captain Jack Sparrow has on his wrist, says that he and Captain Jack Sparrow have left their marks on one another. When Will inquires as to what mark Captain Jack Sparrow left on him an extremely uncomfortable look passes over Beckett's face. He doesn't answer.
    • Jack and Norrington's rivalry in the first movie definitely has elements of this. The deleted scenes (which is where most of Norrington's character development ended up) especially.
      • The Sparrington fanbase was getting pretty massive before the sequels happened.
      • Add in the fact that Johnny Depp has stated that Jack is Bi...
    • And then there's Davy Jones, who leaves Jack feeling "sullied and unusual" after basically molesting the Black Spot off his hand.
    • Actually, can we just say anyone who comes in contact with Jack Sparrow?
    • Barbossa and Elizabeth in the first film.
    • In At World's End, Elizabeth is taken to Captain Sao Feng's chambers where they talk for a bit before he plants a violent kiss on her. (An explosion soon interrupts him.)
  • The Foe Yay is so prevalent in Point Break that most people can't even remember the movie had a female lead (Lori Petty).
  • Black Widow (1987). There's definite lesbian subtext between serial killer Catherine and the female Justice agent pursuing her, most notably in a scene where one is practising mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the other: "You're not taking this personally, are you?"
  • Lifeforce. The astronaut protagonist is obsessed with the beautiful space vampire he is hunting, even though to touch her means death. There's even a Ho Yay moment when he's driven to kiss her while she's occupying the body of Patrick Stewart. He later discovers the reason for his obsession is that she took the image of the perfect woman from his subconscious.
  • Basically the plot of D.E.B.S., which is centred around a lesbian love story between one of a team of Charlie's Angels-type heroines and the Big Bad. In fact the short film on which it is based has the villain having to think up all these nefarious plans simply so the two of them can get together for some quick sex without attracting suspicion.
  • Star Wars: Pre-Empire Strikes Back, you could have made arguments for Vader/Luke... then it got Squicky. Also: Jabba/Han (especially in the Special Edition), Jabba/Leia (considered fanon verging-on-canon by certain segments of the fandom), Palpatine/Luke...okay, I'm starting to Squick myself...
    • Speaking of Palpatine, he was getting pretty cozy with Anakin while trying to bring him to the dark side.
    • Anakin and Obi-Wan arguably get more slashy after Anakin jumps off the slippery slope. Obi-Wan's "I loved you" certainly helps.
      • Strictly speaking, Obi-Wan got more slashy with Anakin after he tried to jump on the slippery slope...get it?...Anyone?
  • While Xerxes, as portrayed in 300, appears to be into everything, and his feelings were not reciprocated, his interest in Leonidas certainly appeared to be more than political.
    • This was actually deliberate, as the director felt that the teenage boy demographic would find Xerxes scarier if he was presented as a Depraved Homosexual intent on molesting the protagonist. Unfortunate Implications ahoy!
  • Dirty Harry. Scorpio's reaction to seeing Inspector Callahan's .44 Magnum revolver for the first time. "My, that's a big one."
    • Reportedly actor Andrew Robinson ad-libbed that line, which made the crew laugh.
    • One of many allusions to Scorpio's stereotypical "gayness". Look at the hair, the whiny, murderous hissy fits, and, when Callahan stabs him in the leg, hear the strangled, limp "uuuuuuuugh" he emits, as opposed to a full-throated "AAAAAARGH!"
  • There Will Be Blood focuses a lot on this dynamic between Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday, featuring several scenes of one beating the other up, physically or mentally. It's so prominent that nearly all of the fanfic written is for this ship.
  • Hook: Captain Hook says to grown up Peter Pan:

"How did you manage to fit into those smashing tights again, Peter?"

  • On that note, the 2002 remake of Peter Pan had even more subtext--made weirder, as this Peter is still a prepubescent boy.
    • And then there's this YTMND. Yes, it's made of two different scenes taken out of context, but still... oh dear. Not Safe For Your Childhood.
      • Hook/Wendy, and strangly and thankfully its more on her part than Hooks. Its made worse when you realize that the actor who plays Hook also plays her father, Mr Darling.
  • There are Rocky Horror Picture Show fanfics that pair up Riff Raff with Dr. Frank N Furter. This is possibly due to when Frank whips Riff... S&M anyone? Or due to this line (which seems to indicate that Riff was jealous of Frank):

'Riff Raff: They didn't like me. HE NEVER LIKED ME!

    • Of course, considering the whole nature of Rocky Horror, there's also fanfics that pair Brad/Frank, Janet/Frank, Magenta/Frank, or pretty much anyone with Frank considering he's the antagonist of the film.
      • And has, according to various bits of dialogue and action, already paired himself with most of the major cast members at one time or another.
  • In the live-action He-Man movie Masters of the Universe, Skeletor takes He-Man as his "slave" by threatening his friends. He strips him to even less clothing, then has him tortured with a sort of laser-like whip while watching with almost aroused glee. To make it worse, it actually looks like He-Man is leaning his butt into the whip as if he enjoys it.
  • There is a strong albeit disturbed vibe from Hannibal Lector towards Will Graham in Red Dragon.

Clever boy. I think I'll eat you heart.

"He tasks me... he tasks me and I will have him!"

"[Kirk] did not lie awake thinking about Khan; Khan lay awake thinking about Kirk."

  • Spartacus has so much Ho Yay between Spartacus and Antoninus, along with Crassus and Antoninus, but Foe Yay was shown between Crassus and Spartacus.
  • Jason Statham got no end of ribbing from the film crew on the second The Transporter movie for the "Kiss of Life" he performs on a thug in order to survive crashing into deep water. There's also that fight scene of him fending off a ton of Mooks shirtless and covered in motor oil...
  • Arrow to Rudolph from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Movie. A common Alternate Character Interpretation is that he was trying to break up Zoey and Rudolph because of his love for Rudolph.
  • Many Narnia fans pointed out the unintentional foeyay between Caspian and High King Peter.
    • The White Witch and Edmund in the first film.
  • In Scanners 2, The Dragon Peter Drak makes a point of repeatedly referring to protagonist David Kellum as a "pretty boy", "Davie", and commenting on his "pretty eyes".
  • Razor Blade Smile is a film about two ancient vampires battling their way down the centuries. When the heroine finally has her sword at the Big Bad's throat they make out and then start it all again, it's a game to keep them from dying of boredom.
  • There's some Freddy Krueger and Nancy Thompson fanfics out there, mainly caused by the line:

"I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy."

Whirl Jack: "The leader of my order had a particular fondness for one woman about your age. She kept turning up, and he let her go each time".

  • Fight Club. Aside from the fact that they're basically the same person, there's a large amount of subtext between The Narrator and Tyler, as Tyler is the epitome of everything the Narrator wishes he were, compared to the Narrator's docile, repressed sexuality. The movie opens with Tyler shoving the barrell of a gun down the Narrator's throat, they live together, bathe together, spend their nights beating each other to a pulp while shirtless and covered in sweat, and let's not forget the chemical burn scene, in which Tyler kisses the Narrator's hand and holds him down while he burns him, and Marla's almost jealous reaction when she sees the scar ("Who did that to you? Guy or girl?").
  • The Green Goblin/Spider-Man Foe Yay from the first Spider-Man film. I mean, what with the Goblin completely ignoring Spiderman's personal space, paralyzing him and catching/carrying him bridal style to the top of a building where he chats with him about getting him to join his side. He almost seductively whispers for him to "Wake up..." and says he's an "amazing creature" and that "you and I are Not So Different". The whole time he's talking to him, he's crouching in front of a paralyzed Spidey and getting in his face. Then, the Goblin says breathlessly that compared to everyone else "we're exceptional", grabs Spidey's face tightly in his hand, turns it toward him and threatens "I could squash you like a bug right now but I'm offering you a choice. Join me. Imagine what we could accomplish what we could create..." Of course, Spiderman ends up refusing the offer and the Goblin takes it about as well as you'd expect, by pretty much acting like a jilted lover and spending the majority of his time threatening Spiderman and his loved ones, kidnapping Mary Jane and taunting Spiderman with a Sadistic Choice involving Mary Jane's life or the lives of a bunch of children, and brutally beating up Spiderman with the serious intent to kill him.
    • Spidey's comment to J. Jonah Jameson, telling him to be quiet because "Mommy and Daddy are talking", didn't help matters either.
    • Harry and Peter have this too before it goes back to Ho Yay.
  • Roxy/Velma from Chicago. Even besides the whole Girls Behind Bars aspect of it, Roxy and Velma do spend a lot of time glaring at each other while wearing nothing but skimpy underwear. And during the last number they seem... a lot more friendly.
  • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Blondie does spend an awful lot of time tying Tuco up and dumping him in places for him to start mouthing off like a jilted girlfriend. It doesn't help the comic implied the hanging scheme was initially Tuco's idea, which makes the movie look less like a Masochism Tango and more like a mutually fulfilling breathplay S&M game...
  • According to author Gore Vidal, who cowrote the screenplay for the epic Ben-Hur, he and director William Wyler persuaded Stephen Boyd, the actor playing the villain Messala, to portray him as though he and Ben Hur had been lovers as youths, and thus his hatred for the hero would be motivated by sexual and romantic rejection as much as by ideology. Vidal states, however, that he and Wyler did not tell this to Charlton Heston, the actor playing Ben Hur.
  • How has nobody mentioned The Matrix? Neo/Smith, with both of them going inside each other.
  • Draco/Harry (their rivalry) and Voldemort/Harry (that scene in the trailer where he grabs Harry's face in his hand and gets close to his face) in the Harry Potter films.
    • Also (in a way, since it's just personal hatred rather than actually being enemies) Snape/Harry. Snape does like invading Harry's personal space when he attempts to discipline him, and in Order of the Phoenix he drags him by the hand down to the dungeons and then spends several scenes trying to penetrate Harry's mind... it doesn't help that Alan Rickman's voice is the sexiest thing in existence.
    • Bellatrix pinning Hermione to the floor when torturing her during their "girl talk".
    • Bellatrix grabbing Harry by the hair and pulling his face close next to hers after his face got hit by a spell from Hermione. Bellatrix/Harry is also a popular pairing in fanfiction.
    • Scabior, the head Snatcher in Deathly Hallows to Hermione. After he captures Hermione, he calls her "My lovely" and sniffs her hair.
    • Lets not forget Lucius/Harry. (that part in the second movie where he pulls Harry close to him after taking his hand to look at his scar). "Your scar is legend."
    • Dumbledore/Voldemort. At the end of Deathly Hallows Part 1, when Voldemort stole Dumbledore's wand from his grave, Voldy was so close to his corpse's face, that I half expected him to kiss Dumbledore then and there.
  • IT has the scene where Adult Ben thinks he's kissing Beverly when it turns out to be It in drag, who then shouts "Kiss me, fat boy!"
  • Rippner and Lisa in Red Eye, especially on Rippner's side.
  • Ching and Ling in the Hong Kong Organ Theft thriller Koma.

"No one can take your kidney... but me."

  • Between approximately everyone and Louis in Interview with the Vampire.
  • Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: Major Jack Celliers (played by David Bowie) and Captain Yonoi (played by Japanese rock star Ryuichi Sakamoto). The Foe Yay is entirely intended - Celliers has had "no romantic interludes of any real importance" and Yonoi watches him sleep when he's in solitary confinement.
  • The Wicked Witch and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
  • The Prestige. Borden and Angier spend the entire movie being obsessed with each other, at the sacrifice of their signifigant others.
  • In the remake of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Ryder has a ridiculous amount of one-sided Foe Yay with Garber. He demands to speak only with Garber for the whole movie and keeps getting more and more obsessed with Garber's life. Ryder spills his guts to Garber over and over and even admits in his death scene that Garber is his hero. It culminates in this hilariously out-of-nowhere line:

Ryder: He sounds sexy. He would've been my bitch in prison!

  • Megamind is absolutely drowning in this.
  • Labyrinth had some of this too, especially evident in the Novelization when there was an attempted kiss scene.
  • Saw has Hoffman and Jill. When he finally found her in Saw 3D, he leaned in so close to her that it looked like he was going to lick her neck. The actors who play them wanted a sex scene between their characters, by the way.
  • A pretty perfect example in the 1970 Sci-Fi thriller "Colossus: The Forbin Project" between Forbin and his creation Colosuss. It starts becoming blatant towards the middle of the film with Colossus insisting that cameras be set up throughout every single one of Forbin's rooms to monitor him at all times, with no exceptions, except for a few hours four days a week which Forbin insists he needs for man/woman sex (AKA time to plot against Colossus). Colosuss comes across as a little jealous and probing, and there are plenty of scenes of him. . . I mean. . . it . . . zooming in on Forbin and seriously checking him out after he gets out of the shower, and after he undresses in front of Colosuss. And let's not forget this bit:
    • Colossus: "In time you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe, but with love."
    • Dr. Forbin: "Never!"
    • After this comes more zooming in. . . and then still more zooming in on Forbin.
  • The 1964 film "Becket" starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole is a textbook example. Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England are the best of friends...until Henry gets the bright idea to make Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury, which means Becket is now conscience-bound to oppose his king. As a result of their estrangement, Henry becomes unhinged and ultimately has Becket murdered.

Henry (to Becket): I would have gone to war with all of England's might behind me, and even against England's interests, to defend you, Thomas. I would have given away my life, laughingly, for you. Only I loved you, and you didn't love me. That's the difference.
Empress Matilda (to Henry): You have an obsession about him which is unhealthy and unnatural!

  • In The Quick and the Dead, Big Bad John Herod (Gene Hackman) invites Ellen (Sharon Stone) over for a romantic candlelit dinner and offers to make her his mistress if she'll drop out of the dueling contest. Later, as he's about to fight Cort (Russell Crowe), he leans in really close and says, "I've always wanted to fight you, Cort. Ever since I first laid eyes on you. It was just this itch I had to scratch." "Fighting," eh? Is That What They're Calling It Now?
  • My Super Ex-Girlfriend: The titular ex-girlfriend, despite being willing to use her superpowers to pretty much attempt to kill her ex-boyfriend, she's eager to take him back, until it turns out that he's trying to neutralise her powers.
    • Perhaps more fittingly, the archnemesis is her old high school best friend. They were on their first date when the origin story happened and he's obsessed about her to the extent of becoming a supervillain just to get her attention. It ends in one of the rare happy endings for Foe Yay, when he admits to loving her and they become a couple. He also switches sides, since he was only a supervillain to get attention from a superhero.
  • The Big Bad of Fright Night, played by Chris "Prince Humperdink" Sarandon, is one of the most homoerotically-charged vampires in cinema history. There's plenty of Ho Yay between the master vampire and his "special friend" (not to mention the pastel pink knitwear) and Foe Yay galore between Sarandon and the protagonist, Brewster. The most in-your-face scene, though, is between Sarandon and Brewster's best friend Evil Ed, when he's literally seducing Ed to the dark side:
    • "Hello, Edward. You don't have to be afraid of me. I know what it's like being different. Only they won't pick on you anymore... or beat you up. I'll see to that. All you have to do is take my hand."
  • Deliberately inferred in the original The Hitcher, to the point where it creeps out the cops to watch the lead characters interact in the interrogation room.
  • Like the comics, Thor and Loki.
    • During their climactic fight, Loki sticks his spear, Gungnir, into the floor and swings around on it towards Thor, and it looks just a little bit like a pole dance.
    • Also, there's a little Loki/Sif if you look at their scenes a certain way.
  • Rafael and Nigel in Rio.I'm talking about the scene in Nigel's song on Nigel Song-Riowatch at 1:30.
  • Indy and Spalko.Read about Spalko's personality on [2]
  • Seymour and Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. In its first Villain Song, 'Feed Me', Audrey II (who is named after the woman Seymour loves, by the way) seduces more than convinces Seymour to aid him. Audrey II sings to him "feed me all night long", puts one of its roots up Seymour's shirt, and forces Seymour into a chair before bringing him uncomfortably close to his face. Audrey later pulls Seymour's pants down, and lastly, it punches him in the scrotum. And also in his song Mean Green Mother From Outerspace, in a brief part Audrey says: "I got garden style, major moves, nasty thoughts, and I'm using them.". Though being a plant, well....[3].
  • X Men First Class: Erik with Shaw, and later with Charles.
  • All over the place in Captain de Boeldieu's scenes with Captain von Rauffenstein in Grand Illusion. Had that nurse not interrupted, they surely would have started making out during the hospital scene.
  • In The Sorcerers Apprentice, Horvath calls Dave 'sweetheart' in one scene. Whilst pinning him up against a wall and putting his cane against his mouth to silence him.
  • Bruno and Guy from Strangers On A Train. Despite the censorship of the day, Bruno has a clear Stalker with a Crush vibe towards Guy. And one gets the impression Guy doesn't want Bruno to leave him alone quite as much as he says:

(paraphrased) Guy: Get out of here and leave me alone!
Bruno: But Guy, I like you!
  • Chucky and Andy. May have started when Chucky tells his former voodoo teacher before killing him:

Chucky: Well, it's been fun, but I have to go. I have a date with a six-year-old boy.

  • Between Jamie and Judy from the movie In the Loop. Jamie to Judy: "I'm quite aroused by the idea of giving you a long... hard... disciplinary hearing."
    • Followed by a Crowning Moment of Awesome for Judy, when she actually manages to shut Jamie up by coolly remarking that she would quite enjoy the "big... fat... compensation payment" she would receive as a result.

Judy: I'd love you to give me one, Jamie...

Annie Wilkes: I'm your number one fan....

  • Jason and Chris in Friday the 13 Part 3, if you look at their first encounter a certain way.
  • George Taylor and Dr. Zaius in The Planetofthe Apes. Especially the scene where Zaius has a chain around his neck, while he's shirtless.
  • Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Reeks of it between Ricky and Girard. They even make out in the end.
  • Gilda: In this troper's opinion, Johnny Farrell and Ballin Mundson. They even have a toast to a partnership without women with Ballin Mundson's cane right between them.
  • Elle in Kill Bill towards the Bride. She hates the Bride, but also feels a deep sense of respect for her and is enraged when she is apparently killed in an ignominious and disgraceful manner by Budd.
    • There is also her relationship with Bill who was a former lover. They still obviously have a lot of attraction toward one another and don't even hide it while trying to kill one another.
  • Van Helsing: Dracula shows interest in making Anna his bride, and a lot of his dialogue and actions towards Van Helsing is almost flirtatious especially considering Van Helsing is the one who originally killed him.
    • Dracula's bride Aleera also seems very interested in Anna, calling her "my love" and making claims like "I know what lurks in your lusting heart."
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