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{{trope}}
[[File:rsz_rivals_seinfeld_and_newman_7795rsz rivals seinfeld and newman 7795.jpg|link=Seinfeld (TV)|frame|"Hello...''Newman."'']]
 
{{quote|''"You boys made me have to apologize to Mrs. McClusky, my ''worst'' enemy."''
|'''Lynette''', ''[[Desperate Housewives]]''}}
 
The Sitcom Arch Nemesis is a very different creature from the dramatic or action-show [[Arch Enemy]]. He usually isn't dangerous or evil, for the most part he's just very annoying—sometimes he's actually a very nice guy. However benign or friendly he is, he just rubs a character from the show (usually the lead) entirely the wrong way, and the two will never miss an opportunity to have at each other. Often the character and his nemesis are kindred spirits and don't even realize it; these rivals are much more likely to have an [[Enemy Mine]] plot than dramatic rivals.
{{quote|''"You boys made me have to apologize to Mrs. McClusky, my ''worst'' enemy."''|'''Lynette''', ''[[Desperate Housewives]]''}}
 
This character is almost never one of the main cast. Exceptions to that rule include Mimi, Drew's nemesis from ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'', who is pretty much the second main character of the series; and Marcy from ''[[Married... with Children]]'', who started out as just an ultra-nice neighbour but wound up as Al's cackling nemesis. An all-purpose jerk along the lines of Frank Burns from ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'' doesn't count, since he's hated by everyone equally.
The Sitcom Arch Nemesis is a very different creature from the dramatic or action-show [[Arch Enemy]]. He usually isn't dangerous or evil, for the most part he's just very annoying -- sometimes he's actually a very nice guy. However benign or friendly he is, he just rubs a character from the show (usually the lead) entirely the wrong way, and the two will never miss an opportunity to have at each other. Often the character and his nemesis are kindred spirits and don't even realize it; these rivals are much more likely to have an [[Enemy Mine]] plot than dramatic rivals.
 
This character is almost never one of the main cast. Exceptions to that rule include Mimi, Drew's nemesis from ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'', who is pretty much the second main character of the series; and Marcy from ''[[Married With Children]]'', who started out as just an ultra-nice neighbour but wound up as Al's cackling nemesis. An all-purpose jerk along the lines of Frank Burns from ''[[M*A*S*H (TV)|M*A*S*H]]'' doesn't count, since he's hated by everyone equally.
 
{{examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
* In the various versions of the anime/manga ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World (Anime)|El-Hazard]]'', Jinnai always has thisa near-psychotic hatred of Makoto, school [[The Ace|ace]] and a [[Nice Guy]] to boot, who easily makes friends with anyone, including his ownJinnai's sister Nanami. It also doesn't help that Makoto is too nice to notice that he's been beating him in almost every aspect ''without even trying''.
* Subverted in ''[[A Little Snow Fairy Sugar (Anime)|A Little Snow Fairy Sugar]]'': Greta considers Saga to be her rival in all things, but Saga, who is uninterested in rivalry, pretends to be completely oblivious to Greta's challenges and boasts.
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]''
** France and England, so much that there's a "French-English Quarrel Preserve" and England gets involved in The War of the Austrian Succession just to fight France. It's said that antagonizing each other is the only thing that keeps the two old timers going, and of course, it's [[Truth in Television]].
** Greece and Turkey too, and in fact Turkey is the ''only'' thing that makes the usually laid-back Greece get riled up at all. Also, Hungary and Romania.
* Cowboy Andy from ''[[Cowboy Bebop (Anime)|Cowboy Bebop]]'', who is a rival bounty hunter in it for the glory. Spike hates him, and spends more time fighting off Andy than he does actually trying to catch the episode's bounty. Faye and Jet realize that this is because the two men are too similar: Both are impulsive, petty, tend to jump to conclusions and have a penchant for causing wanton collateral damage.
* ''[[Zatch Bell (Manga)|Gash Bell]]'''s enemies numbered among them a demon who could brainwash other humans, a giant mindless destruction machine... and a weird-mouthed human who delighted in tormenting him. Somehow, that last one was a challenge he never overcame.
* [[Yotsuba&! (Manga)|Yotsuba&!]] has Yanda, whom she instantly hates with a hatey five-year-old hate but other characters merely find annoying. It doesn't help that Yanda takes a [[Adult Child|childish glee]] in figuratively yanking her pigtails.
* Piyoko from ''[[Di Gi Charat (Anime)|Di Gi Charat]]'' and the Digi Devil from ''Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat'' really ''try'' to be legitimate [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s, but being inept villains in humor series whose schemes rarely rise above the level of [[Poke the Poodle]] dooms them to be this instead.
* Watanuki from ''[[Xxx HO Li C (Anime)×××HOLiC|Xxx HO Li C]]'' hates Doumeki for no adequately explained reason, and just refers to him as annoying him since the moment they met. Unfortunately for Watanuki, Doumeki is also a living spirit repellent, while Watanuki's very blood attracts spirit, so he's often forced into [[Teeth -Clenched Teamwork]] with Doumeki. Further complicating matters, several people in universe seem to [[Shipper Onon Deck|ship him with Doumeki]], including his own boss ''and the girl he likes'', and there's ''some'' indication that [[Ho Yay|Doumeki isn't adverse to the idea]].
* In ''[[Kekkaishi (Manga)|Kekkaishi]]'', Shigemori and Tokiko spent their mornings attacking each other with gardens hoses; it's part of their feud about the 'legitimate heir' of the Kekkaishi founder. Both are rather upset that their grandchildren don't share their grudge.
* ''[[Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (Anime)|Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai]]''
** A rare mutual form can be found in Yozora Mikazuki, a [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|brunette]] [[Jerkass]] extraordinaire, and Sena Kashiwazaki, a [[Ms. Fanservice|ridiculously hot]] [[Rich Bitch]]. Yozora loves heaping verbal, emotional or sometimes physical (by way of a flyswatter) abuse upon Sena until the latter [[Cry Cute|storms off crying]]; Sena in return loves showing off how rich, beautiful and hot (not to mention huge-breasted) she is compared to Yozora. But at the end of the day, both are [[Not So Different]], being friendless girls who tend to agree on anything they, ironically, are [[Comically Missing the Point]] on.
** To a lesser extent, Kobato Hasegawa, a 13-year-old [[Elegant Gothic Lolita]], and Maria Takayama, a [[Nuns Are Mikos|10-year-old nun]], who engage in outright childish fights over the attention of the former's older brother, Kodaka.
* The Evil Organization Florsheim from ''[[Astro Fighter Sunred]]'' are the sitcom arch nemesises of Sunred, who finds them all incredibly annoying for constantly picking fights with him. Florsheim, on their side, are [[Contractual Genre Blindness|Contractually Genre Blind]] and know that as an Evil Organization they must fight the superhero in order to [[Take Over the World]]... But they're ''really'' bad [[Harmless Villain|at the whole 'being villains' part]].
 
 
== Comic Books ==
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** Humorously, Blackguard was a recurring enemy of Booster's in his early solo career, but neither seems to remember each other.
* [[Donald Duck]] and his neighbor Jones (essentially a larger version of Donald).
* [[Deadpool]] and [[Squirrel Girl]] had this kind of relationship when the former hung around the [[Great Lakes Avengers]].
 
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In ''[[Ultimate Sleepwalker|Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'', Kenny Anderson has an unexplained hatred of [[John Kricfalusi]]. He's never said exactly why he hates John K, and his friends decide they're probably better off not knowing.
 
== Film ==
* In ''[[The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou]]'', Steve perceives that he has a professional rivalry with Hennessy, but it's pretty obvious that in reality the former is simply bitter that the latter is a more successful oceanographer, the former husband of Steve's ex-wife and kind of a jerk.
* In ''[[Office Space]]'', Michael Bolton feels this way about Michael Bolton.
 
 
== Literature ==
* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Snuff|Snuff]]'', [[Magnificent Bastard|Lord Vetinari]] appears to have reached this level of 'enmity' with the crossword editor of The Times, whose mastery of obscure linguistics and terrible wordplay is advanced enough to give even him pause.
* In the first chapter of ''[[Lunar Park]]'', Bret (in a semi-fictionalized account of the author's real life) takes several personal shots at [[Keanu Reeves]].
 
 
== Live -Action TV ==
* In ''[[Seinfeld (TV)|Seinfeld]]'', Jerry had Newman.
** Jerry also had Kenny Bania although that was one sided as Jerry was Bania's idol.
** Likewise, George had Lloyd Braun, while Elaine had Sue Ellen, "The Bra-less Wonder".
** Kramer had FDR... Franklin Delano Romanowski.
** Unusually for a sitcom, a recurring character had an arch enemy. Jack Klompus was this to Jerry's father Morty.
* As the description says, [[The Drew Carey Show|Mimi]] and [[Married... Withwith Children|Marcy]] are main characters who are these. In fact, because they are main characters, they are more frequent sources of the [[Enemy Mine]].
* In ''[[Frasier]]'', Frasier had Cam Winston. The two were virtually ''identical'' to each other, in that they were pompous, snooty, articulate egomaniacs. When they finally called a truce because they thought their parents were dating, their "treaty" included them agreeing to share grooming and personal care advice on features the other one had noticed.
* In ''[[News Radio]]'', Jimmy James had Johnny Johnson.
* In ''[[DadsDad's Army (TV)|Dads Army]]'', Captain Mainwaring (the pompous, upper-middle-class bank manager whose power and authority as Home Guard platoon leader has gone straight to his head) has Chief ARP Warden Hodges (the pompous, lower class greengrocer whose power and authority as Chief ARP Warden has gone straight to his head).
* In ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'', the [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Anti-Hero|Alex Russo]] has [[Alpha Bitch|Gigi]].
* In ''[[Cheers]]'', Sam's nemesis was the rival bar "Gary's Old Town Tavern".
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* ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' had his sadistic grudge against that blue Reliant Regal car.
** His diary features a similar relationship with the Man in Room #3 down the hall, told entirely through the notes that he leaves outside the door and Bean sticks in the book. They decide to bury the hatchet (literally!) on New Years Eve.
* ''[[Black AdderBlackadder]]'' had an interesting one; it could be argued that Edmund Blackadder ''himself'' was the Sitcom Arch Nemesis for most of the series. Captain Darling in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' is this trope played straight and the same could apply for Melchett in ''Blackadder II''.
** That's what happens when a show has a [[Villain Protagonist]], Goes Forth arguably excepted.
* In ''[[Scrubs]]'', J.D. has the Janitor and, briefly, hotshot intern Keith.
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* Mrs. McClusky on ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' started out as this for Lynette, but ended up as a subversion as the two eventually came to understand each other as the series went on and formed something of a friendship.
** There's also Susan vs. Edie.
* In ''[[That 70s Show (TV)|That '70s Show]]'', Red Foreman's arch-nemesis is Bob and Midge Pinciotti. Something of a subversion, as, for as much as Bob annoys Red and Midge annoys Kitty, the two are probably the couple's closest friends.
** Also, Mitch and his father are enemies of Eric and Red. This was a subversion of the "actually very nice" example, because, as they started losing battles, they revealed their problematic relationship. In later appearances, Mitch was reduced to a joke.
** Fez has [[Camp Gay|Fenton]].
** Eric's [[Really Gets Around|trampy sister Laurie]] served as the Arch Nemesis to no less than ''three'' characters in Jackie, Hyde and Eric himself.
* The 'perfect mother' Barb Valentine in ''[[The Mommies]]''.
* The UK version of ''[[The Office]]'' had Tim vs. Gareth. The US version has Michael against Toby and Dwight against Jim; in the former case, Toby looked upon Michael's "rivalry" with a measure of disbelief, and in the latter case, Jim uses it as an excuse to constantly pull pranks on Dwight. A somewhat more straightforward rivalry in the US version was Dwight vs. Andy, first when Andy attempted to usurp Dwight's position as Michael's favorite and later when both got involved in a love triangle with Angela. They have since become fairly good friends.
* In ''[[Grounded for Life]]'', Finnegan had O'Keefe as a nemesis. Their children were dating. Also, Finnegan's bar had "McGinty's".
* In the latter seasons of ''[[3rd Rock Fromfrom the Sun]]'', Dick had Vincent Strudwick. Tommy dated Strudwick's daughter Alissa, making them [[Star-Crossed Lovers]].
* Jake "the Klingon" Klinger, rival plumber to Ben and sci-fi fanatic, in ''[[Two2point4 Point Four Children (TV)children|Two Point Four Children]]'' (although he retained his ''[[Star Trek]]'' based nickname, the show he had allegiance to changed in every appearance).
* In ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' Ted has a big beef against the rival architecture collective "Sven."
** Also in season one, he has a one-sided rivalry with Robin's two main love interests - Sandy Rivers and Derek.
* On ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' Buddy Sorell made every attempt to insult producer/ bald brother-in-law of the star Mel Coolley.
** It's also [[Lampshaded]] that their enmity is totally idiotic. Buddy's explanation for why he keeps making fun of Mel is "I do it 'cause I like to rib him! And..I sort of...hate him."
* Stan Sitwell to the [[Arrested Development (TV series)|Bluth Family]] in general, and George Sr. in specific. Subverted by the fact that he is a genuinely nice man who is largely oblivious to the extent of the Bluths' disdain for him, and that George dislikes him because he is in the same business and just as successful (without the need to resort to illegal practices), and his philanthropy makes the Bluths look bad. {{spoiler|George and Lucille even went so far as to adopt a daughter they didn't want (Lindsey) who Sitwell was trying to adopt, purely to spite him}}.
** Lucille also had Lucille 2, her very nice neighbor who wanted nothing more than for the Bluths to succeed. Once, Lucille 2 hired some construction workers to renovate her apartment while she was away, and Lucille wound up getting them to move the wall dividing their homes two feet in, and install a larger bathtub for her.
* In ''[[Chuck]]'', Season 1 had Harry Tang, arch-nemesis to Chuck and Morgan at the Buy-More. Season 2 had Emmit Milbarge fill the role (and how spectacularly he did).
* In ''[[Peep Show]]'', Mark has Jeff.
* On ''[[Full House]]'', once Michelle takes over the [[Little Miss Snarker]] title from Stephanie, Stephanie redirects her snide remarks towards [[Drop in-In Character|Kimmy]], who only occasionally fires insults back due to her relative lack of wit. In fact, of all of the main cast who ever makes fun of Kimmy, Stephanie does it the most often -- sometimesoften—sometimes multiple times in a single episode.
* In ''[[Reba]]'', Brock has not one, but two nemeses -- Eugenenemeses—Eugene (a rival dentist) and Lori Ann (Reba's friend). Both of them are eventually [[Put Onon a Bus]].
* Adrian [[Monk]] has Harold Krenshaw, who shares a therapist and many phobias and neuroses with him. The rivalry is mutual, usually over who is better friends with the therapist or who has made more progress.
* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'''s Sheldon Cooper actually has two of these, the first being [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome|Barry Kripke]], who he once got in an [[Escalating War]] with (it didn't end well), and the second being [[Wil Wheaton]]. The latter has had a showdown with Sheldon twice {{spoiler|and Wheaton triumphed both times. However, he used underhanded tactics both times. You might count the Indiana Jones showing as a third occasion, meaning Sheldon has one victory.}}
** Shelly is just great at getting arch nemeses. Do not forget Leslie Winkle. Afterall, who "made Sheldon Cooper cry like a little girl?".
* In addition to the ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]'' example below under public figures, Tim also hated the nearby but never seen Doctor Johnson, an 80 year old proctologist who won the Christmas lighting competition every year. Considering the lengths Tim goes to beat him, the doctors display [[Take Our Word for It|must have been]] quite a sight indeed.
** Alternatively, Tim's [[Tim Taylor Technology|exceptionally overdone and usually dangerous displays]] may actually have been ''illegal'' in the contest (leading to disqualification) and the good doctor was the best of the legal entrants. Given that one year, his display was bright enough to enable a plane landing, illegal is likely. (Then again, they won that year.)
* From ''[[Half And Half]]'' Big Deedee Thorn regularly competes with her husband's ex-wife Phyllis. She also has an evil sister.
* ''[[My Wife and Kids]]'' has Wanda being this to Michael. [[Volleying Insults|They always argue when talking to each other.]]
* ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' has [[Alpha Bitch|Libby]].
* In ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'', there is an extremely bitter rivalry between the parks department and the library department, as well as the entire city of Pawnee with Eagleton (though it's mostly one-sided).
* ''[[I CarlyiCarly]]'' has two pairs: Sam with Freddie, and Carly with Nevel.
* In ''[[ItsIt's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', the gang has a feud with the McPoyles, an exceedingly creepy family with a passion for milk, sleepwear and [[Bread Milk Eggs Squick|incest]]. Charlie and Smitty also qualify.
* In ''[[Coupling]]'', Patrick has Ivan, who is like the uber-Patrick, complete with snazzy car, corner office and blonde trophy wife.
* ''[[Modern Family]]'' plays with this trope in the episode where Cam is hosting a charity function for a music appreciation group. He keep referring to his rival (who hosted the event the year before) as his new nemesis. Mitchell tries to point out that it's just silly in real-life, but Cam takes great delight in the drama the relationship allows for.
* ''[[Community]]'' has Jeff's rivalry with Rich, the handsome doctor who is always better than him.
** There is also the rivalry between Prof. Duncan & Senor Chang {{spoiler|which they eventually settled through [[Mutually Assured Destruction]].}}
** There's also Jeff and Leonard's antagonism.
* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' Ray actually calls Peggy, the leader of his daughter's scout troop and mother of her best friend, his "arch enemy".
** The rivalry between Debra and Marie can be seen in this way.
** Marie thinks that Harriette Lichman is her archenemy for Frank's affection. Frank casually toys with her on that.
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** Robert and Raymond's sibling rivalry borders on this a time or two.
** Peter, Robert's brother in law started out as this. Ironically his sibling rivalry between himself and Amy has been known to mirror Raymond and Robert's. Not to mention he is currently dating Raymond's arch enemy Peggy.
* [[Playing with a Trope|Played with]] in ''[[Sherlock]]''. Sherlock's arch-enemy is revealed to be {{spoiler|his smug but concerned brother Mycroft, who just wants to [[Sibling Rivalry|end their silly feud]].}}
 
* [[Playing With a Trope|Played with]] in ''[[Sherlock (TV)|Sherlock]]''. Sherlock's arch-enemy is revealed to be {{spoiler|his smug but concerned brother Mycroft, who just wants to [[Sibling Rivalry|end their silly feud]].}}
* Town selectman Taylor Doose from ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' generally only exists to annoy the main characters, and generally the whole town of Stars Hollow with his obsessive need to control every aspect of the town. Luke in particular sees him as an arch nemesis.
* ''[[Sanford and Son]]'' has Fred Sanford and his sister in law Aunt Esther.
* On It's Your Move, the rivalry between Matthew and his neighbor/mother's boyfriend Norman was the premise of the series.
* ''[[Lizzie McguireMcGuire]]'' has Lizzie and school bully Kate Sanders.
* In ''[[I Dream (TV)|I Dream]]'', Natalie was this, mostly to Amy. Though when they're forced to work together they do end up getting along in the end. If only until the next episode.
* ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]''
** Jack Donaghy and Devon Banks.
*** More recently, Jack and teenager Kaylie Hooper.
** Jenna Maroney is no stranger to this trope. Her ''official'' arch-nemesis appears to be [[Jenny McCarthy]], but she's also apparently had a feud with Raven Symone.
{{quote| '''She knows what she did.''' }}
* Pawnee and Eagleton, Indiana, particularly as seen in Leslie Knope and Lindsay Carlisle Shay in the ''[[Parks and Recreation (TV)|Parks and Recreation]]'' episode "Eagleton".
* [[Married... Withwith Children|Al Bundy]] was constantly mocking neighbour Marcy D'Arcy for her [[A -Cup Angst|flat chest]] and boyish figure, routinely made [[Animal Motifs|jokes comparing her to a chicken]] and hated her [[Straw Feminist]] beliefs. Marcy in turn constantly mocked Al for his hair loss, [[Perpetual Poverty|miserable, low-end job]] and [[Speed Sex|inability to satisfy his wife]], despised his [[He-Man Woman Hater]] tendencies and [[Spanner in Thethe Works|ruined more than one of his]] [[Get Rich Quick Scheme|Get Rich Quick Schemes]]s.
* ''[[Coach]]'' has Hayden and Judy.
* ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' subverts the trope by originally having Kim Kelly be Lindsay's nemesis but they become best friends. It's played straight with Sam and Alan White.
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* Mr. Zamir from ''[[Will and Grace]]''.
* Mr. Heckles from ''[[Friends]]''.
* On ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'', Jack is constantly competing with Donald Trump over who is King of New York. Also regular is head photographer Elliot with Annie Leibowitz. Occasionally, the entire cast and ''Cosmo'' magazine.
 
* On ''[[The Nanny]]'', Mr. Sheffield loathes [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] after the former turned down the opportunity of producing ''[[Cats]]'', ''[[Tommy]]'', and ''[[Hair (theatre)]]''.
* On ''[[News Radio]]'', Jimmy James often tries to one-up [[Bill Gates]].
{{quote|'''Bill:''' Hasn't this been done before? I mean, every year some billionaire goes up in a balloon.
'''Mr. James:''' Why do you think I'm doing this? The peer pressure among billionaires is tremendous. Bill Gates practically called me a Nancy-boy.}}
* On ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]'', Tim's hated rival Bob Vila made several guest appearances, often dismissing Tim's show as a ripoff of his own.
** Tim shows a surprising bit of maturity after a race when he reveals to his wife that he could have won but let Bob win as to do so would have been at extreme risk of destroying the car. Bob bought his car and would just get a new one, Tim built his over the course of a year and wasn't going to throw all that work away just to prove a point.
* On the short-lived sitcom ''[[Hope And Gloria]]'', talk show host Dennis Dupree (Alan Thicke) has a massive grudge against, um, actor Alan Thicke. This comes to a climax at a ''[[Growing Pains]]'' reunion on Dupree's show which ends in a Thicke on Thicke fistfight.
* On ''[[Caroline in The City]]'', it's Caroline's strip vs. the strip ''[[Cathy]]''.
* On ''[[Scrubs]]'', Dr. Cox and [[Hugh Jackman]].
* On ''Night Stand'', Dick Dietrich and Jerry Springer.
* Although not an individual person, Australia in general seems to serve in this role for Murray and the band in ''[[Flight of the Conchords]]''
* Karen Walker in ''[[Will and Grace]]'' has a competition with Candice Bergen.
** And likes to torment Marlo Thomas
* In the first season of ''[[Mitch Benn]]'s Crimes Against Music'' Mitch's arch-nemesis was Richard Stilgoe, especially as Robin Ince mentioned Stilgoe whenever Mitch referred to himself as [[The BBC]]'s most popular satirical songwriter. They eventually battled it out in the final episode of the season, and became friends.
{{quote|'''Mitch''': Looks like I'll need a new arch-nemesis for the next series.
'''Richard''': Is [[Bill Bailey]] ready for this? }}
** In fact, Mitch Benn's next arch-nemesis was [[Stephen Fry]], King of [[Twitter]], which was a [[Running Gag]] in the 2009 series of ''[[The Now Show]]''.
* In a rare case, [[Dan Quayle]], quasi-unintentionally, started a feud with [[Murphy Brown]], who served as a liberal [[Archie Comics|Archie Bunker]] and pretty much had a [[Ripped from the Headlines]] feud going on with most everyone in Washington.
* In ''[[Night Court]]'', Judge Stone had a low-key rivalry with Judge Wapner from ''[[The People's Court]]'', as well as a one-upmanship contest with another prank-obsessed judge.
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' often referred to Ricky's rivalry with fellow mambo singer Xavier Cougat.
* ''[[Married... with Children]]'': Along with his neighbor Marcy, Al Bundy also had a deep loathing for [[Michael Bolton]].
 
== Newspaper Comics ==
* Comic strip example: in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', Calvin had Susie Derkins. It has been suggested that the two might get to like each other if Calvin ever outgrew the belief that [[Girls Have Cooties]]. (Of course, he [[Not Allowed to Grow Up|never got past age six]] in the comics.) One storyline had Calvin create a [[Evil Twin|duplicate of himself with the morality switch set to "good"]], who got along very sweetly with Susie, much to the original Calvin's horror.
** It could be argued that Calvin's real nemesis was Rosalyn the baby-sitter, who was the only person Calvin actually seemed to fear.
** With Moe, things balanced out in a cosmic sort of way. Calvin ran intellectual circles around Moe, but Moe had the raw physical power to make that not really matter that much in the immediate short term.
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** It's probably safer to say Bucky is Fungo's Sitcom Arch Nemesis, rather than the other way around. Bucky seems to dislike Fungo (and ferrets in general) on the basis that they're too clever by half, and attempts to wage a campaign of harassment against Fungo; Fungo, on the other hand, doesn't really seem to care much about Bucky at all, outside of subverting Bucky's gambits by being too clever by half.
* ''[[Garfield]]'' and Nermal.
 
 
== Radio ==
* Phil Harris, of the radio sitcom ''[[The Phil Harris -Alice Faye Show]]'', had two of these on his show: his brother in law Willy and the grocery boy Julius, who is in love with his wife, Alice.
* Possibly the grandfather of them all, [[Jack Benny]] and [[Fred Allen]].
 
 
== Theatre ==
* A very dark version from ''[[Cabaret]]'' in the form of the promiscuous Fraulein Kost, who turns the play's extremely sympathetic Jewish character over to the Nazis, then rallies a bunch of background characters to Nazism in the [[Epic Song|truly spectacular]] [[Villain Song]] that closes act one. Her motive in doing this? ''To spite her landlady''.
 
 
== Video Games ==
* The relationship between Tycho from ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'' and ''[[Homestar Runner (Web Animation)|Homestar Runner]]'''s Strong Bad in ''[[Poker Night At the Inventory (Video Game)|Poker Night At the Inventory]]''.
* Raul Tejada and "Best Friend" Tabitha in ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout: New Vegas]]''. In the Black Mountain Radio channel, Tabitha is often threatening Raul with [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|execution]]. However, Raul merely needs to remind her that he has ''not'' outlived his usefulness and is the only one who could possibly repair her beloved robot Rhonda (as well as being a useful repairman in general), to her frustration. If the Courier does not complete their quest, the two are still at it for a long time.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Pv PPvP (Webcomicwebcomic)|Pv PPvP]]'' has Max Powers. Cole and Brent hate Powers with a passion, with Francis often joining in on the hate on. It gets to the point his name is the comics' [[The Khan]] whenever something goes wrong for Cole.
** Later on, Cole admits that he doesn't even really have a good reason for hating Max, he's just petty and begrudges Max the fact that he's an overall good guy ''and'' more successful than Cole.<ref>the only hint of anything less than exemplary character on Max's part, in fact, was an inability to see Skull the troll, and this is hinted to be more self-absorbtionabsorption than any legitimate sin on Max's part</ref>. This admission prompts Max to [[Put Onon a Bus|go on walkabout, as the Australians call it]], and he eventually [[The Bus Came Back|comes back]] with the grating edges sanded off his personality, and the staff of the magazine grow to think of him as a good friend<ref>. He can see Skull, too</ref>.
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance (Webcomic)|Sluggy Freelance]]'' Gwynn seems to feel she and Torg have this relationship at times. Torg actually thinks of her as a really good friend, if maybe a little too hot-headed.
* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' has Jean and Voluptua. Jean has always considered Volly to be a rival for Bob's affections and resented her for it. After years of ambiguity, her suspicions have now proven to be true.
* Chet from ''[[Tip of the Iceberg (Webcomic)|Tip of the Iceberg]]''
* ''[[Problem Sleuth (Webcomic)|Problem Sleuth]]'' and his next-door neighbour Ace Dick detest each other for unknown reasons, although at the start of the story he does accidentally blockade PS in his office with a bust of [[Ben Stiller]]. They continue writing insulting notes to each other and pissing on them until PS accidentally orders AD a load of whores, and AD decides it's time to bury the hatchet and [[Enemy Mine|start working together with PS to get out of the building]].
* Rachel from ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130719023505/http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City/ Dragon City]'' and her neighbor Emily don't like each other, though they got a little better when their daughters became friends and a little better after Rachel became Emily's deputy mayor.
** Rachel's daughter, Erin has a girl named Cynthia that she's always feuding with at school.
* Shows up in ''[[Anime Arcadia]]''.
* Commander Badass in ''[[Manly Guys Doing Manly Things]]'' has Canadian Guy.
* [[Questionable Content|Jeph Jaques]] and [[Sam and Fuzzy|Sam Logan]] act like each others' sitcom arch nemesis in guest comics and on their own comics' homepages, but are friends in real life.
* In ''[[Casey and Andy]]'', Andy had an [[Escalating War]] across time with none other than ''Grover Cleveland''.
** Although Grover Cleveland made regular one-panel appearances for years, before the final arc where he was a major character. And it turned out there were really good reasons for all of it.
* In an example that exists only in the character's head, Sensei Greg of ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' is convinced that [http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-04-08 Carrot Top is his arch-rival.]
 
 
== Web Original ==
* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]] and [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] play this to each other. The guys who play them actually get along in real life, but even the character's attempts to do a review together ends in them beating each other up... again.
** And as of his review of ''[[Film/A Simple Wish|A Simple Wish]]'', [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] has a rivalry in Mara Wilson (also fueled by his past bashing of her roles in ''[[Matilda (Filmfilm)|Matilda]]'' and ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'').
* In [http://sooniwillrule.blogspot.com/ Soon I Will Rule The World], [[Our Liches Are Different|the main character]] has an unusual one in that said archnemesis is one of his own minions, the Shapeshifter, who keeps playing annoying pranks on him. He would get rid of him if not for the fact that the Shapeshifter has [[Healing Factor|a nigh ungodly resilience to death]] and whenever AA tries to kick him out, it always turns into a case of [[The Cat Came Back]].
* This is more or less the best way to describe the relationship between Encyclopedia Dramatica and [[Uncyclopedia]], and [[Wikipedia|The Other Wiki]] too for that matter. (We're the wacky special guest if anything.) Although the former two tend not to bother feuding anymore since given that they're both parody wikis (albeit with ''entirely'' different themes) and all involved just look silly.
* [[TV Tropes (Wiki)|This very wiki]] sometimes appears to view [[Wikipedia|The Other Wiki]] this way, while believing that from the other side it's more like [[Unknown Rival]]. (All The Tropes, on the other hand, while perpetuating the joke, is actually part of a grand federation of MediaWiki wikis led by Wikipedia.)
* [[Inverted Trope]] in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', as despite the two sides literally being at war, they act in more of a friendly rivalry, and the only one to actually take the war seriously is [[Cloudcuckoolander|Sar]][[Blood Knight|ge]].
* On Twitter, [[Kevin Smith]] and [[Neil Gaiman]] treat each other this way. (In real life, they are friends and fans of each other's work.)
* Ryan North of ''[[Dinosaur Comics (Webcomic)|Dinosaur Comics]]'' is occasionally this to Randall Monroe of ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'', explaining ''xkcd'''s scorning of North's field of expertise ("Because FUCK computational linguistics"). Like the previous examples, they're really friends.
** Meanwhile, North and [[MS Paint Adventures (Webcomic)|Andrew Hussie]] played this to each other for a while, to the point of... [http://mspaintadventures.com/scratch.php?s=ryanquest well, this]. Again, actually friends.
* [[Memetic Mutation|Hitler Rants Parodies]] depicts Fegelein this way.
* [[True Capitalist|Ghost]] has Alex Jones and Howard Stern.
* In [[We Are Our Avatars (Roleplay)|We Are Our Avatars]], [[User:Le Chuck 4|The Grinning General]] has it in for [[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Eridan Ampora]] because as GG puts it, "HIPSTERRR!" Here is an example of an exchange between the both of them in Trollian.
{{quote|HOWARD STERN IS RUINING AMERICA!}}
{{quote| {{smallcaps|cyberneticSharklover began trolling caligulasAquarium}} <br />
CS: HIPSTERRR! <ref> This is supposed to be in the color of the rainbow</ref><br />
CA: {{color|purple| oh jegus its the rainbowwblood again}} <br />
CA: {{color|purple|listen wwe wwill have enough convversations in the future so please dont mind wwhen i do this}} <br />
CS: Do what??? <br />
CA: {{color|purple|this}} <br />
{{smallcaps| caligulasAquarium blocked cyberneticSharklover}} }}
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' has many examples :
** Homer has Ned Flanders, who was almost always jovial and kind in return.
*** Reverend Lovejoy also feels the same way about Flanders.
Line 201 ⟶ 213:
*** Principal Skinner is more conventionally a sitcom arch nemesis to Bart.
** Maggie has Gerald, the baby with one eyebrow.
* In ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents (Animation)|The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'', Mr. Turner had his one-sided rivalry with his next-door neighbor, Mr. Dinkleberg. Or, as Mr. Turner usually called him, "''[[Say My Name|Dinklebeeerg]]...''"
** Mind you, in one episode the two of them fought each other with milk-powered [[Giant Mecha]]. Dinkleberg didn't seem to have a problem with the idea.
* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' provides us an odd example, where the ''lead'' is the Sitcom Arch Nemesis to another main character. Mikey is utterly oblivious to Lily's seething hatred and jealousy towards him. This is what happens when you put the [[Cloudcuckoolander]] and the [[Alpha Bitch]] on the same set.
* Given the way supervillainy is treated in ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'', The Monarch and Doctor Venture fall under this trope. The Monarch's aggression is hardly noticed by Venture himself, seems almost completely arbitrary (aside from the fact that Venture made fun of The Monarch's poetry in college), and Doctor Girlfriend has [[Lampshade Hanging|even acknowledged within the show]] that the two share enough similarities to be good friends were it not for the supposed hatred that exists between them. However, the Monarch has genuine, murderous hatred toward Rusty for reasons yet to be revealed.
* ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'':
** Professor Farnsworth's rival "Wernstrom!"
** The ongoing and largely unexplained hatred of Zoidberg on Hermes' part. It was shown on subtle occasions that Zoidberg was something of an annoying leech to him, as well as his incompetent qualities that Hermes barely tolerates the rest of the team for. Add to that his sheer lack of backbone and he's the ideal stress ball for a traditional bullying employer.
Line 211 ⟶ 223:
** Zoidberg did have one with the medical robot in "War is the H-word".
** Leela and Zapp Brannigan.
* ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory (Animation)|Dexters Laboratory]]'' had Mandark, who is practically the same person as Dexter except more evil. They would have gotten along great if not for both of their egos demanding the other one be their assistant.
** This was elevated in a [[Retcon]] in a later episode, where it is revealed Mandark's entire ascension into scientific study was motivated by getting back at Dexter for laughing at him when they first met.
** And then 'Ego Trip' he becomes an actual villain, stealing Dexter's latest invention and using it [[Not So Harmless|to conquer the world and drain everyone's intelligence]] until they regress into extreme stupidity.
* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]''
** Stewie/Bertram, Chris/Monkey, and Peter/Ernie the Giant Chicken.
** The show seems to be slowly developing Quagmire and Brian into this manner, though it was more of a one sided hatred on Quagmire's part at its earliest points.
* ''[[King of the Hill (Animation)|King of the Hill]]'' Hank Hill had... Thatherton! A rival propane salesman who used less than morally scrupulous methods!
** He also had a pretty major rivalry with Kahn Souphanousinphone...[[Depending Onon the Writer|sometimes]].
* ''[[Darkwing Duck (Animationanimation)|Darkwing Duck]]'' hated [[Duck TalesDuckTales (Animation1987)|Gizmo Duck]], mainly due to Gizmo's skillset ([[Flying Brick]] vs [[Badass Normal]]) and popularity ([[The Ace]] vs [[Butt Monkey]]) being the complete opposite of Darkwing's.
* ''[[Chowder]]'' Mung Daal and "''Endive.''"
* ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears (Animation)|Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]'' has Gruffi and Grammi as this, due to the former's Jerkass attitude.
* ''[[Bob's Burgers (Animation)|Bob's Burgers]]'' is across the street from Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria, and the two managers have a mutual obsessive hatred as a result.
* ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]'' has their iconic rivalry with Kyle and Cartman. Cartman is an insane anti-Semitic [[Comedic Sociopath]], Kyle is an [[He Who Fights Monsters|over-persistant]] voice of logic (and a Jew). Their feud ranges anywhere between exchanging childish insults or actually trying to kill each other on numerous occasions.
* ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' has Chuck White, Stan's next-door neighbor.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'': Although Doofenshmirtz is an actual villain and he has a real [[Arch Nemesis]]/Best friend in Perry the platypus, he also has a Sitcom Arch Nemesis in Rodney, a fellow villain.
* Dee Dee, Marky, and Joey are this to Oggy from ''[[Oggy and Thethe Cockroaches]]''.
* In ''[[Chalk ZoneChalkZone]]'': Rudy Tabootie has [[Bigger Bad|Mr. Wilter]] and [[The Ace|Reggie Bullnerd]].
* [[Scaredy Squirrel (Animation)|Scaredy Squirrel]] has Nester (who is also the show [[Big Bad]]) and Paddy Padderson (who is also one of the shows [[The Dragon|Dragons]]).
* ''[[Sidekick (Animationanimation)|Sidekick]]'''s Eric Needles has Professor Pampelmoose and Master XOX.
* [[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]] and Bonnie Rockwaller.
** Ron Stoppable and Mr. Barkin
* ''[[Angela Anaconda (Animation)|Angela Anaconda]]'': "Oh no, it's [[Alpha Bitch|Ninny-Poo]]."
* Bessie Higgenbottom of ''[[The Mighty B!]]'' has three of these. The first being [[Alpha Bitch]] Portsia. The second being Portsia's [[Yes -Man|Yes Girl]] Gwen. The third being [[The Rival|Anton St. Germain]].
* ''[[My Gym Partner's a Monkey (Animation)|My Gym Partners a Monkey]]'' [[The Protagonist|Protagonist]] Adam Lyon has Principal Pixiefrog, Bull Sharkoski and Chad.
* Trudy Beekman from [[Archer]] who's [[The Ghost|never actually been seenl]] on the show, but Mallory almost constantly complains about her.
* ''[[Doug]]'' Funnie and Roger. Also humorously echoed in Doug's dog Porkchop and Roger's cat Stinky.
* ''[[Looney Tunes (Animation)|Looney Tunes]]'' has many examples. [[Bugs Bunny]] of course had [[Elmer Fudd]] then later [[Yosemite Sam]], [[Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner (Animation)|Wile E Coyote and The Road Runner]] had the Road Runner, Sylvester had Tweety and Speedy Gonzales, and [[Foghorn Leghorn]] had the Barnyard Dawg.
* ''[[Family Guy]]''
 
 
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In ''[[Ultimate Sleepwalker (Fanfic)|Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'', Kenny Anderson has an unexplained hatred of [[John Kricfalusi]]. He's never said exactly why he hates John K, and his friends decide they're probably better off not knowing.
 
 
== Film ==
* In ''[[Office Space]]'', Michael Bolton feels this way about Michael Bolton.
 
 
== Literature ==
* In the first chapter of ''[[Lunar Park]]'', Bret (in a semi-fictionalized account of the author's real life) takes several personal shots at [[Keanu Reeves]].
 
== Live Action TV ==
* On ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'', Jack is constantly competing with Donald Trump over who is King of New York. Also regular is head photographer Elliot with Annie Leibowitz. Occasionally, the entire cast and ''Cosmo'' magazine.
* On ''[[The Nanny]]'', Mr. Sheffield loathes [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] after the former turned down the opportunity of producing ''[[Cats]]'', ''[[Tommy]]'', and ''[[Hair]]''.
* On ''[[News Radio]]'', Jimmy James often tries to one-up Bill Gates.
{{quote| '''Bill:''' Hasn't this been done before? I mean, every year some billionaire goes up in a balloon. <br />
'''Mr. James:''' Why do you think I'm doing this? The peer pressure among billionaires is tremendous. Bill Gates practically called me a Nancy-boy. }}
* On ''[[Home Improvement]]'', Tim's hated rival Bob Vila made several guest appearances, often dismissing Tim's show as a ripoff of his own.
** Tim shows a surprising bit of maturity after a race when he reveals to his wife that he could have won but let Bob win as to do so would have been at extreme risk of destroying the car. Bob bought his car and would just get a new one, Tim built his over the course of a year and wasn't going to throw all that work away just to prove a point.
* On the short-lived sitcom ''[[Hope And Gloria]]'', talk show host Dennis Dupree (Alan Thicke) has a massive grudge against, um, actor Alan Thicke. This comes to a climax at a ''[[Growing Pains]]'' reunion on Dupree's show which ends in a Thicke on Thicke fistfight.
* On ''[[Caroline in The City]]'', it's Caroline's strip vs. the strip ''[[Cathy]]''.
* On ''[[Scrubs]]'', Dr. Cox and [[Hugh Jackman]].
* On ''Night Stand'', Dick Dietrich and Jerry Springer.
* Although not an individual person, Australia in general seems to serve in this role for Murray and the band in ''[[Flight of the Conchords]]''
* Karen Walker in ''[[Will and Grace]]'' has a competition with Candice Bergen.
** And likes to torment Marlo Thomas
* In the first season of ''[[Mitch Benn]]'s Crimes Against Music'' Mitch's arch-nemesis was Richard Stilgoe, especially as Robin Ince mentioned Stilgoe whenever Mitch referred to himself as [[The BBC]]'s most popular satirical songwriter. They eventually battled it out in the final episode of the season, and became friends.
{{quote| '''Mitch''': Looks like I'll need a new arch-nemesis for the next series.<br />
'''Richard''': Is [[Bill Bailey]] ready for this? }}
** In fact, Mitch Benn's next arch-nemesis was [[Stephen Fry]], King of [[Twitter]], which was a [[Running Gag]] in the 2009 series of ''[[The Now Show]]''.
* In a rare case, [[Dan Quayle]], quasi-unintentionally, started a feud with [[Murphy Brown]], who served as a liberal [[Archie Comics|Archie Bunker]] and pretty much had a [[Ripped from the Headlines]] feud going on with most everyone in Washington.
* In ''[[Night Court]]'', Judge Stone had a low-key rivalry with Judge Wapner from ''[[The Peoples Court]]'', as well as a one-upmanship contest with another prank-obsessed judge.
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' often referred to Ricky's rivalry with fellow mambo singer Xavier Cougat.
* ''[[Married With Children]]'': Along with his neighbor Marcy, Al Bundy also had a deep loathing for [[Michael Bolton]].
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Casey and Andy (Webcomic)|Casey and Andy]]'', Andy had an [[Escalating War]] across time with none other than ''Grover Cleveland''.
** Although Grover Cleveland made regular one-panel appearances for years, before the final arc where he was a major character. And it turned out there were really good reasons for all of it.
* In an example that exists only in the character's head, Sensei Greg of ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' is convinced that [http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-04-08 Carrot Top is his arch-rival.]
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]''
** Lois' father, Carter Pewterschmidt is rivals with Ted Turner.
** And Peter is in bad relations with James Woods.
* ''[[Clone High]]'' had Principal Scudworth's perpetual rivalry with John Stamos. [[Say My Name|"STAMOOOOOOS!"]]
* Wilbur Cobb from ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'' apparently had an antagonistic relationship with [[Walter Lantz]] ("No-account son of a bus driver...") back in the good ol' days.
* On ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' Francine has a pathological hatred of George Clooney; she spent an entire year trying to get him to love her just so she could break his heart. When that didn't work, she ''chopped her own hand off'' so she could escape from some handcuffs to kill him.
 
 
== Web Original ==
* [[True Capitalist (Radio)|Ghost]] has Alex Jones and Howard Stern.
{{quote| HOWARD STERN IS RUINING AMERICA!}}
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Sitcom Arch Nemesis]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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