Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Difference between revisions

Sometimes in [[Real Life]], people on the same side don't get along. In fiction, this often occurs when there are multiple [[Villains]] [[Villain Team -Up|trying to work together]], a [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|mismatched team of heroes]], or a situation where [[Enemy Mine|former enemies have to team up]]. The problem with this sort of team is that they have trouble using [[The Power of Friendship]] or [[The Power of Love]] to win--likely because this is essentially the more cynical version of those [[Trope|tropes]]. It's still not at the far cynical end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], however, because it still assumes that people can (and should) at least work together.

Contrast [[Sour Supporter]], who is convinced that the team is doomed to failure, but works well with them anyway. If the series goes on long enough (and becomes less cynical), with enough [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]] moments, this might turn into [[The Power of Friendship]] or [[The Power of Love]]. Conversely, this trope is a good counterpoint to [[True Companions]]; it is a way of introducing some conflict and authenticity into works that would otherwise be too sugary.

[[Red Oni, Blue Oni]] and [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] are duos rather than teams, but they usually display this trope.

Often, this is how [[Fire -Forged Friends]] start out.

{{examples|Examples}}

* ''[[Mai-HiME]]'', when Natsuki agrees to work with Mai and Mikoto, although she does eventually become friends with both of them. Further in episode 16, Midori unites the HiME into the "HiME Rangers" against a common threat despite them still holding grudges against each other... although it's subverted given Midori's selfish reason for doing so, and subverted again, and brutally, with The Reveal at the end of that very episode.<br />This happens quite a bit between Mai and Natsuki [[Mai-HiME (Manga)|in the manga]], as well. Aside from the pair sharing a [[Living MacGuffin]] in Yuuichi, the student council (under Haruka's [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|watchful eyes]]) is attempting to keep them apart to prove that their side is more efficient in protecting the school from Orphans. Yuuichi once calls out Natsuki and Mai for always fighting, and demands that they start getting along better so that they can defeat Yukino and Haruka. Even when the two factions are merged together under Midori's leadership, Nao frequently verbally exchanges insults with Natsuki while making it clear that she's only in it for her agenda while Haruka contemplates taking control of the group.

* ''[[Bleach]]'': Ichigo and Uryuu's initial rivalry ends when a [[Giant Mook|Menos Grande]] appears. This leads to [[Teeth Clenched Teamwork]] against the mountain of hollows they're surrounded by and is the beginning of a [[Fire -Forged Friends]].

* In the second ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, one cat from each of the four Clans is chosen by their ancestors for a mission. Two end up coming along on the journey. Since they ''are'' from different Clans, some of them are quite a bit tense, even hostile at times, around each other, but after helping each other through numerous dangers, they become [[Fire -Forged Friends]].

* ''[[BlakesBlake's Seven (TV)|Blakes Seven]]'' has this due to some conflicting strong personalities among the crew.

* ''[[House (TV)|House]]''. Dr House's team falls into this category. The team is polite at best, and [[Dysfunction Junction]] at worst. The team does always set aside differences to help the patient, but they never stop sniping at each other. Still, even at their lowest low, they're productive. Then Season Five [[It Got Worse|grabs a shovel]]. So far, they're still cooperating, but after Season 5, Episode 13, it's pretty obvious that the team has almost no morals whatsoever, and no one seems to be trying to change that. Foreman has all but fallen from grace, Kutner lacks the gumption to back himself up, and everyone else has pretty much bent to House's will. At this point, they're the poster child for why every [[Five -Man Band]] needs [[The Chick]].<br />House, being House, seems to prefer that his team be at each other's throats. Hence his signing off on Foreman's thesis and not Cameron's, when Foreman basically cribbed off of Cameron. Among many other things.

* This happens frequently on ''[[Misfits]]'', most notably when the group of [[Fire -Forged Friends]] {{spoiler|kill their probation worker}} and have to go to extreme lengths to hide the evidence. There are a ''lot'' of clashing personalities (and generally appalling attitude problems <ref> yes Nathan, we're looking at you</ref>) in the group, plus there's no clear leader, so the bickering never stops and occasionally gets nasty. But they usually manage to stick together when they absolutely have to. That said, when the situation gets ''really'' desperate in the season one finale and it looks like a full-scale [[Misfit Mobilization Moment]] might be on the cards, the team buckles under the pressure and falls apart completely.<br /><br />In season two, the group shows they are also [[True Companions]], whenever one of them is in danger.

* Present in ''[[The Navy Lark]]'' whenever [[Pointy -Haired Boss|Commodore Povey]] and the Troutbridge Crew were forced to team up to defeat whatever lunacy the Admiralty foisted upon them. In Season one whenever Lt. Cmdr. Price and CPO Pertwee had to team up to outfox Povey's plans to drill them out of the Navy.

* ''[[Bionicle]]'' has this [[Trope]] in several instances, particularly in the Toa Nuva team. It's mostly just [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Tahu and Kopaka]], though, and they settle most of their differences by the Karda Nui story arc. In the Toa Metru's case, [[Badass Bookworm|Whenua and Nuju]] could barely stand one another and [[The Lancer|Onewa and Matau]] got on the nerves of everyone on the team. Both teams are [[True Companions]], however, and their reluctant teamwork can be ''very'' effective when the situation calls for it.

* The Survivors in ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'' have this kind of relationship, at least initially. They're complete strangers, but eventually emerge as [[Fire -Forged Friends]].

* In ''[[Scaler]],'' the first person the titular character meets is a [[Lizard Folk|Lizard Man]] named Leon. While he's no less hostile than any of the ''other'' wildlife Scaler's encountered so far, he and Scaler are united in their [[Enemy Mine|mutual hatred]] of the [[Big Bad]], Looger. They form an uneasy partnership to try and deal with him. {{spoiler|They eventually grow to get along, though they aren't willing to admit it at first--until they realize they're long-separated [[Luke, I Am Your Father|father and son.]]}}

* All twelve [[All Trolls Are Different|trolls]] in ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]''. They spend 90% of the Hivebent arc bickering, scheming against, and attempting to ''murder'' each other, but eventually knuckle down and work together to fight ([[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|and defeat!]]) the [[Final Boss|Black King]] in their session.

* The Light Warriors of ''[[Eight 8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|8-Bit Theater]]'' are each others' greatest enemies and can barely cooperate. However, unlike other examples it indeed makes it so that they tend to make little to no progress for much of their story, most of it being the actions of others or an individual member (in fact, teamwork tends to make things worse).

** Well, the problem is that they're a [[Five -Man Band]] with no fifth member. The closest thing they have to a fifth member is [[Only Sane Man|White]] [[The Chick|Mage]], who tries to get them to cooperate but only leads to more bickering. Couple that with the fact that the closest thing to a Hero amongst them is a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] who is only capable of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Crowning Moments of Awesome]] when his [[Crazy Awesome]] falls just right into place (which is rarely), and the other three are an amoral swindler, a homicidal philanderer, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|a roleplayer]]...well, yeah. It's surprising they're capable of doing ANYTHING throughout the series.

* The [[Five -Man Band]] from ''[[Code Lyoko (Animation)|Code Lyoko]]'' starts out like this, evolving into a [[True Companions]] as the series goes on. Though technically fueled by their [[Power of Friendship]] towards Aelita, in the beginning they don't really have much loyalty to each other, and it's kind of easy to get them to break up or lose at least one member.