Friendly Enemy: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Dominion Tank Police]]'' and the sequel series ''New Dominion Tank Police'' feature the Puma Twins, a lovable, troublemaking pair of catgirls who have several run-ins with the title squad. Even though they are criminals, their relationship with the Tank Police is more one of friendly mischief than anything.

** In the first series, they are sidekicks to another example of this trope: the cyborg thief Buaku, an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] who befriends Tank Police officer Leona.

* The Fukuyama siblings from ''[[Girls Bravo]]''. Though, they tend to get a little "too friendly" at times.

* ''[[Death Note]]'s'' Light and L. There is room for debate on how genuine the relationship was, but this is not the place for it.

** It would probably be easier to list the enemies that ''aren't'' friendly, given how rare Complete Monsters are in this series. And if they aren't friendly at the start, they usually become friendly after a fight or two.

* While he may be locked in a seven-sided battle royale to the death against them, Alexander the Great from ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' has absolutely no problem with inviting King Arthur and Gilgamesh to go get some drinks with him.

 

== Comic Books ==

* There is a friendship between sidekick Arsenal (Roy Harper) and criminal Killer Croc (Waylon) in [[Red Hood and the Outlaws]], after the former hit [[Rock Bottom]] and tried to commit [[Death Seeker|suicide]] while fighting Killer Croc. Luckily Killer Croc wisened up to the scheme and [[What the Hell, Hero?|called]] him out on it. In issue #4 Roy even mentions Waylon sponsoring him in the Alcoholic Anonymous program.

* The Shade and [[Starman (comics)|Jack Knight]] started out like this; Shade made a full [[Heel Face Turn]] later.

 

== Film ==

* Frank Abagnale Jr. ([[Leonardo DiCaprio]]) and Carl Hanratty ([[Tom Hanks]]) in ''[[Catch Me If You Can]]''. This is based on real life. While Hanratty was a compilation of the men that chased Abignale throughout his criminal career, he did remain friends with several of them after he went straight.

* Vincent Hanna ([[Al Pacino]]) and Neil McCauley ([[Robert De Niro]]) in ''[[Heat]]''. The two men are both dedicated to their professions (one is a cop, the other a criminal), but they understand each other very deeply.

* In ''[[The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus]]'', Parnassus has this relationship with [[Louis Cypher|Mr. Nick]].

* In [[American Gangster]], although drug baron Frank Lucas and cop Richie Roberts don't even meet until the final 20 minutes of the film, Lucas almost immediately displays a grudging respect for Roberts when the latter turns down his offer of a bribe. The closing montage shows the amicable relationship evolving as the two work together to bring down NYPD's corrupt officers.

 

== Literature ==

** 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.

*** 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.

**** It helps that at the end of the book, {{spoiler|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.

*** 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.

* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm|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."

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** And in season seven, a new vampire says delightedly, "I was afraid to talk to you in high school, and now we're, like, mortal enemies. Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we became nemeses?" – And a bit later: "I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds. I'm just new to this whole mortal enemy stuff."

* [[Ally McBeal]] had Renee Raddick, a district attorney who often spoke against the clients of Cage and Fish, the law firm that the titular character worked for. She roomed with Ally, was her rock when Ally needed one, and was close friends with the attorneys at Cage and Fish, even singing for John at his birthday. [[Truth in Television]] among lawyers, see Real Life below.

 

== Music ==

* The song "Snoopy's Christmas" depicts Snoopy and his archnemesis the [[Red Baron]] sharing a holiday toast after a fierce dogfight. (Moved by the distant sound of Christmas bells, the Baron could not bring himself to deliver the final shot, even though he had gained the upper hand. The song is set during World War 1 and is based on the [[Real Life]] "Christmas Truce" of 1914—indeed, just like in [[Real Life]], it is Germany who extends the olive branch first.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

** For example, [[Matt Hardy]]'s feud on ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] [[Smack Down]]'' with Gregory Helms in 2006.

* Hardy has also played this trope in a different way, through the first half of his feud with Montel Vontavious Porter in 2007-2008. After a [[Badass Boast]] by MVP ended up getting the two a tag team championship title match, which they won, their entire tag team reign consisted of sports mini-games and trying to one-up each other in matches. It was very much like this trope, until Hardy's appendix issues gave WWE the need to write him out for an emergency appendectomy. [[Real Life Writes the Plot|This translated into]][[John Morrison]][[Those Two Bad Guys|and]][[The Miz]][[Real Life Writes the Plot|beating Matt and a disloyal MVP for the tag titles, MVP invoking a rematch clause immediately allowing them to beat Matt again, and, afterwards, MVP finally fully turning on Matt by beating him up (all this targeting a knee injury Matt was selling) and claiming that he will always be]][[Catch Phrase|better than him]].

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'''s [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orks]] [[Language Equals Thought|have no concept of "friend,"]] but they ''do'' have a word for "[[Worthy Opponent|favorite enemy]]." During the Second War for Armageddon, Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka found himself a proper nemesis in Commissar Yarrick, and when Ghazghkull captured him in a subsequent campaign he let Yarrick go (after the requisite amount of torture) so the planned Third War for Armageddon would be more entertaining. Ghazghkull considers Yarrick the one humie who knows how to fight, and has been known to kill any lackey who insults the commissar. After all, "good enemies iz 'ard ta find, an Orks need good enemies ta fight like they need meat ta eat an' grog ta drink." Note that this is entirely one-sided: Yarrick ''despises'' Ghazghkull and has vowed to pursue him to the ends of the galaxy to avenge the billions killed for his amusement.

 

== Theater ==

** And at the end, De Guiche even expresses envy for Cyrano's independence and tries to pass a warning to him of a coming assassination attempt. {{spoiler|It doesn't help.}}

* ''[[Fiddler on the Roof]]'': the constable and Tevye. Despite one being a Cossack and the other being a Jew, they both show respect to the other and treat each other well, having a friendly chat every once in a while. When the constable receives orders to perform a pogrom in the village, he is obviously uncomfortable with the idea, and even warns Tevye in advance out of respect for their friendship.

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[No More Heroes]]'', Travis can be like this with some of the assassins he fights, sometimes one sided. Death Metal offers advice before Travis finishes him, he honestly respected Holly Summers a great deal and Speed Buster was impressed with him. He also spared Shinobu after realizing how she isn't like the other assassins and this comes back with Shinobu saving his life and eventually becoming a crazed fangirl. Henry becomes pretty friendly with Travis in the sequel (even if Travis doesn't care), while there are a few more he ends up liking. He tries letting Ryoji live for his warrior spirit, lets the broken Captain Vladimir enjoy a happy death and freaks out over Alice Moonlight, who he only killed because she wanted him to. There's also Kimmy Howell, although he's more freaked out by her since she's a stalker fangirl of terrifying levels.

 

* Lancer from ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' is a pretty decent guy once you get to know him. He generally finds it distasteful to stab noncombatants to death and allows Shirou the chance to defend himself while trying to silence him, and considers 'once tried to kill you' (or even 'once killed you' in Shirou's case) to be a perfectly natural way to be acquainted with someone; no hard feelings attached. This is mostly in-story [[Values Dissonance]] because, in his time, enemies could also be drinking buddies the night before a battle, at which they would slaughter each other mercilessly. He's gets annoyed when Tohsaka explains that it doesn't work like that anymore.

** Assassin is also a good example of this trope, being perfectly polite and courteous to Saber even as he's trying to separate her head from her body, and complimenting her swordsmanship {{spoiler|when she kills him at the end of Unlimited Blade Works.}}

** Even after the conflict has entirely ceased, Shirou is surprised to learn that, despite how friendly he is with the other Servants, Lancer still views them all as enemies. And enemies are to be killed.

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Minister Malack, who is either [[Lawful Evil]] or [[Lawful Neutral]], feels this way about Durkon Thundershield, the cleric on the hero's team. He joins as Durkon's opposite on an evil team because he feels the dwarf "deserves that honor" at the very least, despite deceiving Malack healer. And he gets really upset when Nale orders a poison blast dropped on the area the whole order is in.

{{quote|'''Malack''': "We agreed Brother Thundershield was not to be harmed!"}}

 

== Web Original ==

** At this point, pretty much all of them are [[Friendly Enemies]]. {{spoiler|Especially now that it's been revealed that Blood Gulch was just a training ground for the Freelancers, and they weren't really at war.}}

* [[Recurring Boss|The Lord of]] [[Affably Evil|Angels and Demons]] is becoming this to the Fellowship of ''[[The Questport Chronicles]]''. It doesn't hurt that his plans are [[Villain Decay|getting steadily easier to foil]].

 

== Western Animation ==