With Friends Like These...: Difference between revisions

[[File:friend_batman_3712friend batman 3712.jpg|link=Batman|rightframe]]

{{quote|''"I love Dora. Sure, I might fantasize about smothering her in her sleep sometimes, but that doesn't mean we aren're nott friends!"''|'''Faye''', ''[[Questionable Content (Webcomic)|Questionable Content]]'', [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=708 strip 708]}}

'''With friends like these''', who needs enemies?

Two people are supposedly friends, except they seem to hate each other. Like, a lot. They're always [[Vitriolic Best Buds|bickering, insulting each other]] or outright whupping each other, which leaves the audience wondering, [[No Accounting for Taste|"How the]] ''[[No Accounting for Taste|hell]]'' [[No Accounting for Taste|are these people friends?"]] This is often because one or both are [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es, though sometimes it seems that they reserve all their hostility for one other. Once in a while they'll have a heartwarming moment which will make the audience go "[[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]." Then it's back to business as usual. The other option is that one will eventually go for [[The Uriah Gambit]].

Note that the conflict does not create serious problems when dealing with worse enemies -- thatenemies—that is [[Divided We Fall]] (which is often enough also polite).

Not to be confused with [[Don't Shoot the Message]]. For the romantic version, see [[The Masochism Tango]] and [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]. Contrast [[Friendly Enemy]]. Compare [[Vitriolic Best Buds]], who may act this way toward each other but are actually friends who have each other's best interests at heart. May be due to coming from a [[Friendless Background]].

* ''[[Goldfish Warning]]'': Chitose &and Wapiko, also Chitose &and Aoi. They all have this oil-&-water chemistry. Sometimes Chitose puts in effort to be as friendly with Wapiko as Wapiko is with her, but most of the time she is filled with contempt for her, turns down her ideas, & leaves her behind.

* Nyamo and Yukari from ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'' ''define'' this trope. Tomo and Yomi are a very good example too.

* Watanuki and Doumeki from ''[[Xxx HO Li C (Anime)×××HOLiC|Xxx HO Li C]]''. They save each other's lives quite often, though. It used to be even ''worse''. As of now they just snark at each other; according to Doumeki, Watanuki tried to ''drop kick him'' when they first met.

* In the ''[[Galaxy Angel (Animeanime)|Galaxy Angel]]'' the anime, Forte and Ranpha are constantly bickering with each other. In later seasons, [[The Ojou]] Mint starts to join in thanks to [[Flanderization]] of her [[Tricksters]] personality.

* [[Ranma One Half½|Ranma Saotome]] has this kind of relationship with virtually every other character (except possibly Kasumi, but [[Beware the Nice Ones|even she has her moments]]). Almost all of them greet him with either [[Prepare to Die|death threats]], taunts, or [[The Glomp|glomps]] which incite the wrath of [[Clingy Jealous Girl|any nearby fianeesfiancees]]. Despite this they stand up for him when he's weakened, accompany him on treacherous journeys (though they often supply the treachery part), and willingly stand with him against impossible odds.

* Gudelhian and Heinel from ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula (Anime)|Future GPX Cyber Formula]]''. They often get into fistfights, but they work together in order to persuepursue their dreams.

* In ''[[Saint Beast]]'', initially Pandora and Cassandra get along but their rivalry for Zeus' attention turns friendliness into more of necessary pretencepretense.

* John Constantine and Chas Chandler in ''[[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|Hellblazer]]''. (Arguably, this trope describes nearly all of Constantine's relationships, be they friends, relatives or lovers, but Chas, being {{spoiler|nearly the only person close to John who's still alive}}, is the prime example.)

* ''[[Sub -Mariner]]'' - Namor and [[Doctor Doom]] have had this going for ''decades''. Both are leaders of small, isolated nations, and both are considered ruthless by the outside world, so they relate to each other quite well. However, Doom's a true villain and Namor's just determined to protect his people, so they often wind up on the opposite side of conflicts.<br /><br />Namor is also strained friends with [[The Fantastic Four]], in spite of fighting against them countless times. No matter how many times they seem to clash, the Four still come to him if he can help them, and vice-versa. Granted, it's not clear just how much of his willingness to help the group comes from thinking Sue is hot.

* The page image shows [[Batman|Dick Grayson]] and [[Green Arrow|Roy Harper]] at the lowest point in their friendship. And afterwards Dick abandoned Roy in prison. This isn't the first time these "friends" came to blows either. When they were both onmembers of the Outsiders an argument concerning how the team was run devolved into petty insults. When Roy [[Berserk Button|badmouthed Batman]] Dick responded by badmouthing Green Arrow and brought up Roy's [[Never Live It Down|heroin addiction]]. Then they started beating the crap out of each other.

{{quote| '''The Dude''': With friends like these, huh, Gary?}}

{{quote| "With friends like you, who needs friends?" -'''Dirk (to Herman)'''}}

* ''[[Cry Wolf (Film)|Cry Wolf]]''. The group of friends in the film love scaring each other very often for several reasons and don't have complete trust in each other. Despite all that, they're still friends.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' - Hermione ''likes'' a little bickering, which is why she prefers Ron to Harry, who backs down just to get her to shut up. Harry doesn't have any middle gears; he either backs down or he treats it as a verbal duel to the death, often reducing Hermione to tears before he's finished ranting at her. Ron, however, will jab back but rarely goes past the limit like Harry does; the extreme difference between their upbringings may explain this. Harry never ''saw'' 'playful bickering', pre-Hogwarts - justHogwarts—just deadly-serious insults. It goes to the point where when Harry tells them to grow up and stop bickering they're offended and take it as a sign that there's something wrong with him.

** In the previous generation, Peter Pettigrew was that kid who let his friends -- namelyfriends—namely James and Sirius -- pickSirius—pick on him just so he could remain in their group, and Remus failed to intervene for the same reason. And it seems that for a long time before she finally broke it off, Snape and Lily had a relationship where she was always standing up for him to others and he was always letting her down.

* ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' - Holmes takes every opportunity to belittle Watson, sends him off on fact-gathering missions only to tell him he's brought nothing back of any use, tricks him into thinking he's dead for three years, and often uses him as an intellectual punching-bag. Watson, however, remains faithfully devoted. This dynamic is recreated by a number of later mystery authors, notably Agatha Christie's Poirot and his sidekick Hastings. But for all his snarking, Holmes does actually deeply care for himhim—see --"The seeAdventure ''Theof the Three Garridebs''". He trusts Watson is watching his back and trusts no-one else so implicitly. He also appreciates him for giving him an insight into how a normal person would interpret a situation.

* In ''[[Discworld]]'', the rather uptight Granny Weatherwax, and [[Dirty Old Woman]] Nanny Ogg are best of friends, despite constant bickering. In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]'', when Granny is making a list of why she disapproves of all the other witches in the area, it concludes "And she really [[Catch Phrase|couldn't be having at all]] with Nanny Ogg, who was her best friend".

* Unknowingly sharing a name with the Trope, is the short story ''"With Friends Like These''" by Alan Dean Foster. Several alien races come in search of humanity and Earth after the planet and its inhabitants had been locked away for for millenia for being unable to play nice with the rest of the universe. Now they were desperately needed to defeat agressive aliens known as Yops. {{spoiler|At first the aliens are disappointed because the humans are hospitable and friendly, but appear utterly defenseless and technologically backwards. Until they find out mankind has... [[A God Am I|evolved]]. It's pointed out near the end of the story that the problem exists of what to do with the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Humans]] (and the rest of their planet) once the Yops have been defeated. (At this point it's obvious that the question is no longer ''if'' the Yops will be defeated but only how quickly. One character even remarks that the poor Yops won't know what hit them.)}}

* In [[Star Trek: Titan]], the belligerant Fethetrit to the other races in the Pa'haquel's hunting alliance. Besides considering the slow torture of sapient beings a game (they can win trophies), Fethetrit love to theatrically bluster about their imperialist past in an insanely over-the-top manner: "we raped worlds until they begged for mercy, then raped them harder until they screamed for death!!" At this point, a Pa'haquel usually face-palms (well, the equivalent, anyway) and tells the Fethetrit in question to "sit down, you fool!"

** The dynamics go thusly: "House is a jerk, his team puts up with him because he's da boss, and Cuddy just doesn't seem to have a backbone." Then there's Wilson, the mousy-looking [[Nice Guy]] cancer doctor, to whom House is an unrepentant bully: stealing his food, interrupting his meetings with outrageous claims, pulling pranks on him. Then comes an episode where Wilson says, proudly, that House is his best friend. [[Beat|* beat* ]] LOL, WUT? (It is worth pointing out that unlike the other characters [[Nice Guy|Dr. Wilson]] gives as good as he gets, and it's heavily implied that they both enjoy their pranks a lot and it's the rest of the world that just doesn't get them.)

* Jimmy and Spinner on ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'' are supposed to be best friends, but in every single episode where they are featured, they play ghastly pranks on each other -- andother—and somehow forgive each other after a few episodes. The writers finally took this one to its dark extreme, leaving the friendship imperiled (and the audience hanging) ''far'' longer than usual after one prank left its victim in a wheelchair.

* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]'' has [[The Spock|Spock]] and [[The McCoy|McCoy]].

{{quote| '''Flavius:''' Are they enemies, Captain?<br />

* The two characters in ''[[Bottom]]''. Previously played almost identically by the same two actors who were also two of ''[[The Young Ones]]'' in ''[[Filthy Rich and& Catflap]]'' and the ''[[Comic Strip Presents]]'' episode "Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door''.

* Hyde to Eric in ''[[That '70s Show]]'' (one sided), and to Kelso, whose [[Jerkass]] tendencies are at least as strong as Hyde's own.

* The crew of ''Moya'' on ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', who in the first season alone alternately try to kill each other, sell each other out, steal from each other, beat each other up, and in one particularly painful and memorable case (because unlike many of the others, they were under no duress) they succeed in ''dismembering one of the crew so they can sell the limb they take''. [[Good Thing You Can Heal|He got better]], but still... Oh, and their hobby seems to be finding new [[Fantastic Racism|speciesist]] ways to insult each other.

{{quote| '''Jack''': You're going to miss me.<br />

'''Daniel''': The belittling comments, the rude remarks, the pointless arguments...<br />

** Also, Warrick's game was slots. Betting on a case was more akin to poker (the cards had been dealt, they just hadn't seen them), which Warrick explicitly avoids as he doesn't get the 'gambling thrill' from it.

* Lord Percy Percy from ''[[Black AdderBlackadder]]'' suffers absolute continued abuse from his 'friend' Edmund Blackadder and yet shows utter loyalty and devotion (so does his [[Bumbling Sidekick]] Baldrick of course, but then he is Blackadder's servant - Percy is a lord in his own right). Even more noteworthy in the second series when Percy and Blackadder actually have ''equal'' status and yet Percy wants nothing more than to be Blackadder's friend.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Den O|Kamen Rider Den-O]]'': The four Imagin, who spend every episode fighting.

* Commander Shran in ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]''. Although arrogant, militant and speciesist (his favourite nickname for Captain Archer is "pinkskin", and he loathes Vulcans and Tellarites) he has a strong sense of personal obligation and provides more practical help than humanity's Vulcan allies during the Xindi crisis.

* [[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]] and Arthur tend to be like this. They bicker and insult each other, but when it comes to it, they do care for each other. Though probably they wouldn't admit it.

* [[I CarlyiCarly]]: Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson. She tends to use him as her personal punching bag, often beating on him or attacking his self-esteem. Though they constantly go head-to-head, they have a few moments that shows they do care for each other as friends, like in the episodes iKiss, and iReunite With Missy.

** Speaking of whom, thanks to a bit of [[Fridge Logic]], Carly can be this to Freddie at times. Given that she has humiliated him on camera, enables Sam's abuse towards him (To the point where she thinks it's cute that she no longer hits him in the face), and played with his feelings for her on more than one occasion. As this [https://web.archive.org/web/20120412162524/http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7269054/1/iWould_Have_Pounded_Him_Silly fanfic] points out, Carly has treated guys who have actually wronged her in the past better than she does Freddie.

* On ''[[DiffrentDiff'rent Strokes]]'', Dudley and Arnold's other friends would turn on him for any reason at any time in a heartbeat. Throughout the series run. After watching the [[TV Movie]] based on the cast's backstage story, one wonders if this wasn't another source of script frustration for the late [[Gary Coleman]].

* Lucille Bluth and Lucille Austero from ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]''.

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'':

** James coming after Jeremy with a Machete after Jeremy crashed into him on purpose on the most dangerous road [[Catch Phrase|... in the world. ]]

* The cast of ''[[Jackass (TV)|Jackass]]'' are ''assholes'' to each other, pulling horrible and violent pranks on each other all the time. None of them really mind for too long, largely because they are a gang of sadomasochists.

** And the people you should fear the most are your "fellow party members" who will kill you faster than you can say "Commie Mutant Traitor" the moment your back is turned.

* The Legion and the Trow in ''[[Myth 2 (Video Game)|Myth 2]]''. There's even a mission named after the trope. On the evil side, the Watcher and the Deceiver, whose rivalry stretches back over a millenium, and who actually seem to prefer fighting each other than dealing with the good guys.

* Even after ''[[Sonic Adventure 2 (Video Game)|Sonic Adventure 2]]'', Sonic considers Shadow a friend...which doesn't explain for all of their fighting in ''[[Sonic Battle]]'', ''[[Sonic Rivals (Video Game)|Sonic Rivals]]'', ''Sonic Rivals 2'', ''[[Sonic Heroes (Video Game)|Sonic Heroes]]'' (granted, Shadow had amnesia), and ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]''. However, one time Shadow does come through for Sonic is when he {{spoiler|saves him from Silver in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 (Videovideo Gamegame)||Sonic 2006]]'', and then proceeds to kick Silver's ass}} and knocks him out with one kick, getting a roar of approval from the people playing the game.

* This can cross over to real life with the ''[[Ju -On]]'' game for the Wii. Its multiplayer mode is comprised of player 1 playing the game as normal, and player 2 adding to the haunting the player is experiencing with timed button presses.

* To some extent, the entire cast of ''[[Something *Positive]]''.

* ''[[Hanna Is Not a BoysBoy's Name]]'' Possibly has Doc Worth and Conrad. In the February donation comic Doc says he thinks of the two of them as friends, though Conrad may not see it that way. Their constant yelling and shoving matches might have something to do with that, along with Doc's constant stream of belittling comments.

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', Lucy is quite critical of Rhoda. And anyone [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-01-08 else], for that matter. To a lesser degree, [http://egscomics.com/?date=2007-06-19 even Diane].

* the Light Warriors of ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' push this trope to the breaking point. Whenever they're not bickering, insulting, swindling, and trying to kill each other, they're...doing the same, only to other people. They have very rare bonding moments, usually in the form of [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]. The only exception is [[Token Good Teammate|Fighter]], but only because he's such a [[Horrible Judge of Character]] that he doesn't notice he's teammates worser (IE, True) natures.

* Almost the entire cast of the [[Mega Crossover]] [[Fanfic|fan]][[Web Comic|comic]] ''[[Roommates 2007 (Webcomic)|Roommates]]'' and its [[Spin-Off]] s ''[[Girls Next Door (Webcomic)|Girls Next Door]]'' and ''[[Down the Street (Webcomic)|Down the Street]]''.

** Cartman takes this further than most cases of this trope, as Cartman has [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist|almost no redeeming qualities]]. Also uncommon for the trope, the other characters will flat out tell Cartman that he is a [[Complete Monster|monster]].

** It's also partially justified considering that Stan and Kyle often act as lower scale [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es that endlessly bully and [[Manipulative Bastard|exploit]] anyone more normal acting than Cartman (Kenny and Butter's [[Butt Monkey]] status often stands as proof of this). It is also vaguely implied that [[He Who Fights Monsters|Cartman's own monsterous behavior was a result of being excessively picked on and embittered by Stan and Kyle's "fat ass" jokes]] (Clyde very narrowly dodged this bullet). Heck there are even some times that Cartman gets flak from them for absolutely no reason.

{{quote| '''Scott''': How do you know? <br />

'''Stan''': Because we're his friends.<br />

'''Scott''': So why are you telling me?<br />

* ''[[Josie and Thethe PussycatsPussy Cats]]'', and Alexandra.

* In later seasons of ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', Eddy and the other two Eds. This turns [[Up to Eleven]] and [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]] in [[The Movie]]: {{spoiler|Edd gets fed up of Eddy's bullshit, and after a fight, he tries to leave them behind.}} Thankfully, {{spoiler|Eddy's tearful apology brings him back, and the trope becomes subverted.}}

* Rattrap and Dinobot from ''Transformers: [[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]''.

* Bloo and Mac from ''[[FostersFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]''.

* Henry and June from ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!]]!''. They constantly argue, and if Henry's in trouble...don't expect June to help.

* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Azula]] tries to control her friends through fear. {{spoiler|And it backfires.}}

* Played with a few times with Baloo and Rebecca in ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale SpinTaleSpin]]''. Baloo is slovenly, [[Book Dumb|slow witted business wise]] and occasionally self centered, Rebecca is pompous, [[Control Freak|bossy]] and occasionally vindictive. They do ultimately care for each other however, Rebecca even labelling Baloo her best friend (and [[Ship Tease|occasional hints to things going further]]).

* Phil and Lil [[De Ville]]DeVille of ''[[Rugrats]]'' can be like this at times, mostly to Tommy.

* Said almost word-for-word in the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "The Return of Harmony" - but a rare case of it being [[Played for Drama]]. ItsIt's the [[Darkest Hour]] when the hero goes through a [[Heroic BSOD]] after the brainwashing of all of her friends.