Friendly Enemy/Literature

Examples of Friendly Enemies in Literature include:

Servant Saber ("King" Arthur) and Servant Lancer (Diarmuid ua Duibhne) from Fate/Zero. Both are knights hailing from Britain and masters of combat, and each regard the other with great respect and consider their duels as honorable fights between two knights.
- Rider as well, although his concept of "friend" baffles even the other Servants. Eh, at least he's not like Caster, Gilgamesh, Kotomine, or Kiritsugu.
Aziraphale and Crowley (an angel and a demon, respectively) in Good Omens. This mostly developed in their backstory, centuries before the timeframe of the novel, and by the time we meet them, they are pretty much best friends (despite still technically working for heaven and hell, respectively).
As we learn in Krondor: The Betrayal, this is common enough among the moredhel (dark elves).

Gorath: A friend can betray you, but with an old enemy, you always know where you stand.

Discworld has two examples of this in Vimes' relationship with the Assassins' Guild and the traditional interactions of wizards. In the former case, the Assassins frequently try to kill Vimes and he invariably foils their plans. When he becomes so prominent in the governance of the city that his name is taken off of their open list of targets, he expresses some disappointment, and some members of the Guild are shown admiring Vimes' cleverness. However, Vimes is not exactly a big fan of the Assassins' Guild. He considers the big price on his head as a mark of status, because "it showed he was annoying people who ought to be annoyed."
- Vimes does seem to be on friendly terms with Mr Boggis, the head of the Thieves Guild. Boggis even serves in the citizens' militia the City Watch organizes. Although licensed thievery is not an area that Vimes, as Commander of the Watch, is charged with stopping, the friendly and willing interaction of a policeman and thief still probably fit.
  - The Thieves Guild appear to spend much of their time combating unlicensed thefts (pretty damn viciously - instead of a stylish weathervane like that nice Assassins' Guild over there, they have the body of an unlicensed thief turning slowly in the breeze), so, in that sense, Boggis is as much a crime-fighter as Vimes.
- The wizards of Discworld are traditionally friendly enemies to one another, constantly trying to kill their rivals, and Pratchett characterizes their outlook in Sourcery somewhat similarly to the Watchmen quote on the Antagonist in Mourning page.
  - Until they appoint a head wizard whom nobody wants to try to kill. Because they can't. That failing has led to this trope in a more relaxed state, as the entire faculty becomes more permanent and almost friendly despite retaining elements of the old relationship. Now you get Ridcully promoting people at random when he thinks people aren't showing wizards enough respect, rather than wizards promoting themselves through a cunningly placed dagger.
  - In Unseen Academicals, the relationship between Ridcully and the former Dean becomes this. Ridcully at first considers him a traitor for leaving the university, but by the end, they are more like friendly rivals.
    - It helps that at the end of the book, Dean's university has a nasty and embarrassing accident with chickens due to improper and careless use of magic, so Ridcully and crew can swoop in like Big Damn Heroes and show Dean up. Nothing better for the ol' ego.
  - It's been said several times throughout the series that the more contempt a wizard (or witch) has for another, the more Dangerously Polite he will become. Granny Weatherwax and Mrs Earwig are described as being like duchesses.
- Another example is the relationship between the old Count Magpyr and the villagers of Escrow in Carpe Jugulum. When the new Count was faced with the angry mob and tried to point at the old Count as an example of a Complete Monster, all that happened was the villagers and the old Count having a jolly trip down memory lane about how this family's grandmother had such a striking figure in a nightie and how the family's ancestor was a damn good shot for killing him (the old Count) with a stake at twenty paces, seventy-five years ago, with a lot of the villagers beaming with family pride as they respectfully referred to the old Count as "yer honour" and other similar titles.
  - Essentially, he knows that if he doesn't make it too hard to kill him temporarily, nobody will bother trying to make it more permanent. And it works pretty damn well.
- The Ridcully brothers, Mustrum the Archchancellor of Unseen University and Hughnon the High Priest of Blind Io, insult each other in public because wizards and priests are supposed to dislike each other, but the two actually get on quite well.
Anton Zilwicki and Victor Cachat from Honor Harrington are technically enemies, as their respective governments are still lobbing salvos at each other. But it's really hard to find a time when the guys didn't work together. They're just like two buddy cops, really. And they pop CMOAs just like, well...popcorn.
- The defining factor here is that even though they are technically spies for two warring factions, what they're actually up to is a separate shadow war against a third, mutual enemy.
- Also, it's an Author Collaboration where one is a naval historian with libertarian leanings and the other is a former mining union organizer with socialist leanings. They're Author Avatars who Fight Crime.
- In any case, as of the end of Mission of Honor, Manticore and Haven are now on the same side.
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lu Kang of Wu and Yang Hu of Wei have this relationship. Locked in a cold war where each is too sure of the other's abilities to make the first move, they treat each other respectfully. For instance, when each army called a hunt, the borders were strictly seen to. After the hunt, Yang Hu had all the animals inspected. Any animals shot by arrows of the opposing side were sent over to Wu. Later, they would exchange gifts of wine and even medicine, despite the risk of being poisoned.
- Their relationship can even be considered an Aesop on tolerating these relationships. Yang Hu is well trusted by the Sima family despite his familiarity to Lu Kang. Lu Kang, by contrast, is removed once news of the relationship reaches the Wu court. This is good news to Yang Hu, who only refrained from invading because he respected Lu Kang's ability as a general.
Haplo and Alfred have this relationship in The Death Gate Cycle, specifically starting in book 3, when they are actually forced to work together by the extreme environs and the attempt of a corrupt ruler to kill them.
- Haplo's status as a frenemy is further developed in Serpent Mage, when, instead of causing chaos, he tries to help the lesser races cooperate with each other so that they can avoid being frozen to their island homes.
  - Which was also meant to demonstrate Halpo's incipient Heel Face Turn, since the entire reason he was traveling to the various worlds in the first place was to create as much chaos as possible, so that his master could eventually sweep in and conquer the lesser races.
Artemis Fowl, Holly Short, and the other fairies, especially in book two (before, they were worthy opponents at best; later, they were Strange Bedfellows and pretty much friends).
In the X Wing Series, both the New Republic and the Empire have task forces working to hunt down Warlord Zsinj; at some point, the leader of the Imperial task force sends a message to the New Republic one, wanting to meet with someone with authority. They send Face Loran; he and the Imperial admiral banter with each other and decide to share information on Zsinj, although this would count as treason if word got out.
- They do more than that. Eventually, the admiral lends a rare Interdictor cruiser (which has the valuable ability to prevent jumps to hyperspace) to the Republic task force for the book's final battle, with himself as captain.
In the Don Camillo series, set in the decades after WWII, Don Camillo, the priest in a small Italian town on the river Po, has an interesting relationship with the Communist mayor, Peppone. While both are, in theory, completely in conflict with each other, and do work against each other fairly constantly, they consider each other worthy opponents. Peppone especially (because his Communist beliefs urge him into rather more extreme actions) has a tendency to make grand plots against Camillo, then do everything in his power to make things right again. Oh, and when the chips really are down - or someone from outside tries something against one of them - it becomes clear that they will do anything for each other.
Sparhawk and Martel in David Eddings' The Elenium. In their final battle, they make comments on each others style and equipment, and agree that their trainer would berate them for how sloppy they have gotten. When Martel loses, Sparhawk waits for him to pass on before leaving. Also, Sparhawk and Cyrgon in the Tamuli.
- Sparhawk and Martel also have overtones of Not So Different, as they were originally best friends and were trained by the same people, until Martel made his Face Heel Turn. Throughout the series, Martel has made it somewhat clear that he still likes Sparhawk and his former teachers, in spite of his willingness to kill them if necessary to accomplish his ends. A number of things he says are clearly wistful (in a "I wish things could have been different" sort of way), and he clearly likes and respects Sparhawk and company far more than he does his own allies.
  - Hence the second-last sentence Martel ever speaks in his life: "I get to die in the presence of the only two people I ever really loved."
Silk and Yarblek in The Belgariad. They're intelligence agents for countries which are about to go to war, and are implied to have directly gone up against each other in the past, but their default interaction is a snarky sort of friendship. After Torak's death and the cessation of hostilities they drop the pretense and go into partnership. And proceed to build the largest business empire in the world and become obscenely rich.
The Hollows series by Kim Harrison has the protagonist, Rachel Morgan, and Trent Kalamack cooperating. Despite Trent's crimes, Rachel saves his life on more than one occasion, and eventually, Trent undergoes some Villain Decay.
Atlan and Rhodan in Perry Rhodan. The first couple of times they meet, they try to kill each other, but both refrain from exploiting the obvious opportunities. After the second duel, they become friends and allies for the next 3,000 years.
The Russian and British Missions in The Death of the Vazir Mukhtar (and especially Griboyedov and Doctor McNeal), at least until the climax. Accurate, seeing as this is basically an early stage of the Great Game on the diplomatic front.
In A Darkling Plain, from the Mortal Engines Quadrilogy, the Kriegsmarshal of Marnau fondly recalls how, after a Green Storm sniper injured him, the Green Storm General, Naga, sent him a bulletproof vest as a get well soon present, inscribed with the words 'sorry we missed you'. He also states that he finds Naga more likable than some of his allies in the Traktionstadtsgesellschaft.
Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory were this during Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, whether they were competing with each other in Quidditch or the Triwizard Tournament. They gave each other tips and never went at each others' throats, despite the fact that the school was practically torn in two between the pro-Harry Griffindors and the pro-Cedric...well, everyone else. The same could be said about Fleur Delacour and Victor Krum in Goblet of Fire during the Triwizard Tournament. None of the four competitors showed any real dislike for any of the other three.
- Note that one could say "perfectly normal, this is what sportsmanship is about". And it was a sport competition, not a war. But then, you notice that Harry refused an easy victory over Cedric even as Cedric was now a romantic rival for Harry (Cedric probably didn't know that).
Jiaan and Patrius in the Farsala Trilogy. Though on opposing sides of a war, they become good friends and are beginning to make a habit of capturing, sitting down and talking with, and then releasing each other by the time the war comes to an end.
In the Codex Alera novels, this is essentially what the Canim term gadara means, coupled with Worthy Opponent. To the Canim, a gadara is more trustworthy than an ally, as while an ally can betray you, a gadara is still an enemy and thus one can expect violence from them. Generally, to be acknowledged as a gadara, the two who declare themselves as such exchange swords in front of witnesses. Prior to the events of Captain's Fury, no Canim had ever had an Aleran (human) gadara, until Tavi became one of these with both Nasaug and Varg.
Magic: The Gathering's Kamigawa novels have Toshiro Umezawa and Hidetsugu, two characters who formed a "truce" on their first meeting that they'd work together as far as they could while knowing that their ultimate mutually exclusive goals would probably demand one of them kill the other. They spend most of the trilogy sharing relatively friendly conversations and helping each other out and, when the time does come, they pause a moment to look sorrowfully at each other before promptly trying to murder one another.
Rikash Moonsword is this for Daine in the Wild Magic books.
- The Dogs (guardsmen and women, that world's version of police officers) in the Beka Cooper Series often have friendships and even relationships with criminals. The main character even shares a lodging-house with a bunch of them.
Spartacus acts like this towards Julius Caesar in Emperor: The Death of Kings. They first meet when Crixus and Brutus independently have the idea of looking over the other camp by climbing to the top of a big rock, and while the other three constantly look for an opportunity to off the others, Spartacus enjoys a pleasant chat.
In The Dresden Files Harry Dresden and Lara Raith generally respect each other for the other's skills at manipulation, deceit, and fighting prowess, and have worked together in the past, even though she really kinda wants to eat him.
- More like Lara wants Harry as her partner in crime, and if not, then her sex slave.
Vorkosigan Saga: Cordelia and Aral during the Escobar invasion. In this case they were not merely "friendly" but soon to be married.
In Michael Flynn's The January Dancer, the opposing sides of the civil war, in peace time, gather in pubs to drink together and sing songs of the exploits of the war, in perfectly indifference to which side was being glorified.
In the several sequels to The Three Musketeers, the four musketeers often find themselves on different sides of political intrigues. At one point, they actually all capture one another in battle. Still, they remain as close as brothers until they die, help each other escape even when ordered to arrest one another, and consider Athos' son "a son to us all."

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