Worthy Opponent: Difference between revisions

* [[Hook]] feels this way about Peter Pan. A large part of the conflict of the movie is Hook's depression at the fact that he feels that Peter no longer lives up to it, and has to wait for him to remember who he really is.

* By the end of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]] The Curse Of The Black Pearl'', Commodore Norrington seems to have developed a grudging admiration for Captain Sparrow and Will Turner, [[Mercy Lead|going so far as to give them a head start when Jack yet again escapes his hanging and they give chase.]]

* In ''Red Dog'', this is mentioned as a possible reason as to why Red Dog and Red Cat became friends.

* In the [[Sherlock Holmes]] movies with [[Robert Downey, Jr.]], this is [[The Chessmaster|Moriarty's]] fascination with Sherlock.

* In the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series, Thomas Theisman would qualify, taking into account that Honor ''fears'' and respects him at the same time. Lester Tourville, too, arguably.

** Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki.

* In [[David Gemmell]]'s ''Ravenheart''. One of the Villain's men, Huntsekker, kills one of his own men for breaking a promise made to one of the enemy

* Irene Adler to [[Sherlock Holmes]].

* Sergey Golovko or the Soviet Union as a whole in [[Tom Clancy]] novels.

** Yet never anyone from China or the Middle East. [[Unfortunate Implications]] abound.

* Rudyard Kipling's ''The Ballad of East and West'' is a prolonged exploration of this trope, culminating in the purportedly villainous character being so impressed with his enemy that he sends his own son to serve as the hero's bodyguard.

** "Fuzzy-Wuzzy" praises (in '''great''' detail) the Sudanese tribal warriors as "the on'y thing that doesn't give a damn/For a Regiment o' British Infantree!"

** "General Joubert" is Kipling's eulogy for a Boer general who, "subtle, strong, and stubborn," did his best to defeat the British.

* In Scott's ''The Talisman'', Sir Kenneth and the Saracen.

* ''[[Ranger's Apprentice]]'' has quite a few of these, most notably, Erak the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], {{spoiler|who later becomes a close ally of the protagonists}}, and Selethen, {{spoiler|who ends up the [[Graceful Loser]].}}

* The Canim from the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' series consider one of these better to have than a friend.

* [[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]] and Gentleman Johnny Marcone seem to invoke this trope even though they seem to end up working together more often than not. Both mistrust yet respect the other's accomplishments. Marcone seems to always keep his word and, in ''Small Favor'', refused to be rescued before the twelve year old Archive. {{spoiler|Also, when Harry found out about the comatose girl, he told Marcone that he could keep the Shroud of Turin for three days as long as he mailed it back afterward.}}

** Harry also earned this status with the Erlking, Faerie Lord of goblins and master of [[The Wild Hunt]]. He initially pissed off the Erlking by trying to bind him in place to save the world (long story, involving ghosts, ghouls, necromancers, and a couple of very important books) and the Erlking intended to kill Harry for the offense, but then Harry {{spoiler|raised a freaking T-Rex zombie and rode it to war}}, which impressed the Erlking so much that he put off the impending wizard-killing until their next meeting. When they ''do'' meet again, the Erlking sarcastically refers to Harry as a "guest" and Harry [[Sacred Hospitality|latched onto that like a bulldog]], further impressing the Erlking with his quick mind and [[Politeness Judo]].

* Simok Aratap in Asimov's ''The Stars Like Dust''.

{{quote|'''Rizzett:''' You know, if the Tyranni were all like him, damned if I wouldn't join their fleet.}}

* The marlin that nearly kills Santiago in ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'' is strongly portrayed this way.

* Martel is portrayed this way in [[The Elenium]], despite his betrayal of the Pandion Knights. Before the final duel, he espresses a similar sentiment about Kurik. {{spoiler|When Martel is killed, Sparhawk and Sephrenia both mourn over him, and Martel calls them "the only two people that I ever loved"}}

 

 

* ''[[Sherlock]]'': the whole reason [[Manipulative Bastard|Moriarty]] fucks with Sherlock's life. Sherlock doesn't seem to mind it so much...until [[Dogged Nice Guy|John]]'s life is threatened.

* Eyal Lavin(Mossad) is by turns an ally and a [[Worthy Opponent]] of Annie Walker(CIA) in [[Covert Affairs]].

 

 

* [[Traveller]]: the Sword Worlders and the Aslan in Darrian service believe in this so much that they have a system of bars for them to visit each other when they are not busy killing each other.

** In one side-story, it was told how there was a clan dispute that was to be solved by an Aslan style (with claws) duel to first blood between two female Aslan. One of them was completely untrained but she held steady while her opponent circled around. Finally, her opponent nicked herself on the newbie's claw and said "I submit to the [[Determinator|stronger spirit]]."

{{quote|Humies is all weak scum that deserve ta get stomped. 'Cept for One-Eye Yarrick. He knows how ter fight. }}

{{quote|an’ we caught old one-eye when da speed freeks blew da humies’ big tanks ta bits. I let ‘im go ‘cause good enemies iz ‘ard to find, an Orks need enemies ta fight like they need meat ta eat an’ grog ta drink. }}

** Camus in the first game of the [[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Akaneia series]] is the trend setter.

** Eltshan and Ishtar of the first and second gen respectively in ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]]''.

** The Black Knight in ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' {{spoiler|and ''Radiant Dawn''}}. Although he murders {{spoiler|Greil}} in cold blood, it's only after he offers a powerful sword and insists that he use it. He fights Ike honorably as well, in fact, more honorably than Ike, {{spoiler|if Mist appears}}.

*** This is exacerbated in the sequel, ''Radiant Dawn,'' especially once you discover his true identity: {{spoiler|General Zelgius of the Begnion military}}. He fights his opponents on equal ground, grants them mercy if their deaths are unnecessary, and, in his final battle with Ike, emphasizes how he is mainly fighting Ike to test his own strength - hence why he won't accept having unfair advantages over his foes. This isn't quite the case when the Daein army ''controls'' him, as [[Crutch Character|he can easily wipe out their enemies without breaking a sweat, although it is not recommended.]]

* The Amarr and Minmatar roleplayers in ''[[EVE Online]]'' view each other this way. Out of character, they recognize that the only real difference between them is which fictional nation they chose to fight for.

** An excellent example is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTGiAo5CU30 this video], made by the Amarr alliance CVA in tribute to their enemies, the Minmatar alliance Ushra'Khan.

* ''[[The Suffering]]: Ties That Bind'' has a strange variation on this. Copperfield is the ghost of a slave catcher, and as Torque's ancestors were slaves, Copperfield continues to hunt Torque down. He seems rather pleased that Torque puts up such a struggle, especially when compared to everyone else who just died, and compliments him on his actions and fighting style. The feeling is ''not'' mutual.

* In the [[Backstory]] of ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'', the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Mandalorians]] considered Revan and Exile these.

** In the same vein as Erwin Rommel, the German WWII officer Hans von Luck (seen by Rommel as a sort of adoptive son) could count. He was all over the map in WWII, being first of the German Panzer forces to the sea, furthest into Moscow, in the Africa campaign (he even captured the founder of the SAS, who escaped during a lavatory break), on the defense during the battle of Pegasus Bridge, and eventually spent years in a Stalag before arriving back in West Germany. When he visited the site of Pegasus Bridge, the British commandoes, to a man, pretended he was polish to get him past the embittered old woman who had been liberated decades before. He also gave lectures to former Allies' military trainee officers, and generally was completely accepted. His opinion of the Allies in WWII was more of the same - he mentions that he and the Allied desert scouts had a ceasefire every night at 6pm, arranged prisoner exchange, and on one occasion, his car was attacked by a fighter - which refused to shoot until the Germans were out of the vehicle.

** Hasso von Manteuffel, a German panzer commander who later became a German politician and named the Bundeswehr, Germany's post-war armed forces. Eisenhower invited him into the White House and the Pentagon, and he worked as an advisor on many American war films. He was pretty [[Badass]] too - when he served under Rommel, he commanded for several days without food or rest, beating back Allied attacks, before he collapsed. When he was defending Berlin, Soviet troops broke into his command post. He shot one and killed another in a knife fight.

{{quote|'''[[wikipedia:James McCudden|James McCudden]]:''' As long as I live I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single-handed fought seven of us for ten minutes, and also put some bullets through all of our machines. His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent, and in my opinion he is the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight.

'''James McCudden:''' [[wikipedia:Arthur Rhys Davids|Rhys-Davids]] came in for a shower of congratulations, and no one deserved them better, but as the boy himself said to me, "Oh, if I could only have brought him down alive," and his remark was in agreement with my own thoughts }}

* In Budapest's historic Castle District, which had seen hard fighting in 1686 when a Christian army (re)conquered it after 150 years of Turkish rule, can be seen "The Monument of the last Turkish governor" erected by the victors, with the following epitaph:"Here fell the last Turkish governor, Pasha and commander of Buda, Abdurrahman Abdi Arnaut on 9 late-summer month of 1686, in his 70th year of age. He was a noble enemy and a hero, may he rest in peace." [http://www.multigotours.com/eng/travels/view/52\]

* One of the first things the [[Israelis With Infrared Missiles|Israel Defense Forces]] did after the [[Useful Notes/Arab-Israeli Conflict|conquest of Jerusalem in 1967]] was to build a memorial to the [[Warriors of Desert Winds|Jordanian Arab Legion]], who had defended East Jerusalem and the West Bank valiantly but suffered from a complete lack of air support (the IDF had taken out more or less the whole Royal Jordanian Air Force within 45 minutes of the opening of the war).

** Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's own opinion about the ANZACs can be read [[wikipedia:File:Attaturkswords5.jpg|here]].

* Many of the old guard in the United States military regarded the Soviet Union as having been a fine and worthwhile adversary - at least when the prospect of nukes wasn't involved. The two superpowers stood toe-to-doe for decades without managing to get into a [direct] shooting war with each other, and often copied each others' tactical doctrines and combat innovations. Especially among the United States Navy and double among the submarines, now largely without a job, it's not unknown for senior American officers to lament the fall of the Soviet Union - fighting terrorists just isn't the same, and mileage varies on the idea of China as a replacement adversary.

** [[wikipedia:Charles Butler McVay III|United States Navy Captain Charles McVay]] was court martialed after World War II in response to the sinking of his ship, the heavy cruiser USS ''Indianapolis'', during the final days of the War while delivering the nuclear material and other parts for the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Imperial Japanese Naval Commander Mochitsura Hashimo, the commanding officer of the submarine that sunk the ''Indianapolis'', testified on McVay's behalf at his court-martial, and years later, joined the surviving crew members of the ship in a campaign to exonerate him.

* During the [[Thirty Years' War]], the Protestant King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden apparently respected devout Catholic commander Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, enough that he sent his personal physician to tend to the man's wounds as he lay dying. Tilly, in turn, told the physician, "Your king is truly a noble knight."

** Hitler also praised the tenacity with which Greece held out, first against Italian invasion in late 1940 and early '41, and then against the German reinforcement.

* In the special features of one DVD version of ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'', [[Colonel Badass|Hal Moore]] says that he would like to meet the NVA commander.

* After the Zulu War, the British built a monument...to "the Zulu warriors who fell here for the old Zulu order."

* Billy Bishop, the top Canadian ace of WWI and arguably the top ace of the British Empire, was nicknamed "Hell's Handmaiden" by the Germans, and after the war, he was invited as a guest of honour to a gathering of German aces in Berlin.

* There's a reason the U.S. armed forces gives their helicopters names like "Apache", "Blackhawk", and "Iroquois".

* The English for the French and vice-versa, throughout history, to the point that they joined forces and ultimately stood united through two World Wars, after eight hundred years of intermittent but plentiful warfare.

* Survivors of the USS Johnston after the [[You Shall Not Pass|Samar Island Action]] in Leyte Gulf claim to have been [[Japanese Politeness|saluted]] by a retreating Japanese ship. Either the witness was delusional from hours in the water or the commander was an [[Good Old Ways|old school]] [[Officer and a Gentleman]] rather then a member of the new-fangled millitarist cult. In any case that was what was reported.

* Brazil sent an Expeditionary Force of soldiers to Europe in World War II. Arlindo Lúcio da Silva, Geraldo Baeta da Cruz and Geraldo Rodrigues de Souza, separated from their unit, were surrounded by a German force in Italy on 14 April 1945. [[Last Stand|Refusing to surrender, they fought to their deaths]], [[Dying Moment of Awesome|making a bayonet charge when their ammunition was gone]]. Burying them, the Germans placed a cross over their graves inscribed 'Drei brasilianische Helden' (Three Brazilian Heroes).

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Badass]]

[[Category:Redemption Tropes]]