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Amiable enemies
The discussion in the comments to my recent White Collar post got me thinking about this (again), so I decided to make a separate post on it.
There's a trope I absolutely love, that I only recently became aware of -- actually, it was watching White Collar and considering the characters' relationships that made me aware of it. I have known for a long time that I really like the general trope of "enemies working together and becoming friends", but it took me awhile to realize that there is a specific subtrope of it that I simply adore, and variations on it tend to pop up in my original fiction all the time: enemies/opponents who really like each other, although they don't ever plan to switch sides.
(Also, surprisingly, TV Tropes doesn't seem to have a page for this -- at least I can't find one! Their "vitriolic best buds" trope is about the closest I can find, but it really isn't this one.)
Basically, this isn't "redeemable bad guy", or "characters who hate each other at first and then become friends", or "characters who fight all the time but really care about each other deep down". This is, specifically, two people who are technically on opposite sides, but like each other from the beginning (for no reason either of them can fathom, usually), despite remaining devoted to their respective causes. They don't ever plan on joining the other one's side -- either they can't, because the conflict is inherent in what they are (angels and demons, say), or they believe that they're on the right side and the other person is clearly wrong (but still a friend, for all of that). Usually, they're in a position where switching sides would be, if not impossible, then difficult and dangerous and require a total rethinking of their life philosophy. But what makes this trope work for me, I think, is the "friends across the gulf between them" aspect of it. They're not really trying to change each other. They just like each other.
(White Collar actually doesn't hit this trope most of the time, at least not directly, because Peter and Neal are a little too much on the same side for it to work. It's close to it, but it isn't it, because Neal changing and becoming more a part of Peter's world is a big part of the series, and that's exactly what this trope isn't for me. Pre-series, it hits it, however, especially in the various fanfics that have Neal and Peter drifting in and out of each other's lives before Peter catches him. And at the very end of season three, it hits it again -- which was the moment that made me go "Oh!" and realize that this trope is actually a Thing That I Like.)
One of the most archetypical examples I can think of is Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens. They're a demon and an angel; they can never be on the same side, and they don't want to be. But they seem to have gotten along from the very beginning, despite knowing they probably shouldn't, and their amiably friendly, "we're probably terrible people to be meeting like this, but we don't care" sort of no-strings-attached relationship is exactly what I'm thinking of.
There is an inherent tension in this kind of relationship, because usually the characters belong to groups, agencies or causes that are directly opposed to each other, so at any time they might be ordered to do something that threatens the other one (or might choose to do it themselves, depending on what happens). And it can evolve into something else, but usually it stops being this if it does (though I might still really like it for whatever it's become, of course).
I can't, off the top of my head, think of any (canonically) romantic examples that fit the trope -- probably because romance is usually all about overcoming the obstacles so that the couple can be together, and the whole point to this trope is that the characters don't particularly want to overcome the obstacles between them. The only way you could write a romance this way is if the couple had an on-again, off-again relationship that could be terminated at any time -- which is basically how these friendships function -- and most people don't write romance that way. (Though frankly I'd love it if there were more canon romances that worked like that ...)
Examples that fit the trope 100%:
Crowley and Aziraphale, mentioned above. :D
From Highlander: Duncan MacLeod and Joe Dawson. (Highlander + Watcher = a conflict that is never going to be resolved, and Dawson is dedicated to the cause, but they really like and care about each other anyway.)
There are several superhero/supervillain examples, but it really depends on who's writing them, since they tend to waffle between uneasy friendship and actual hate depending on the writer and story arc (not in a character-progression sort of way, but as more of a randomly changing thing). Magneto and Professor X, as mentioned by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soteriophobe and trobadora in the comments to the last entry, are probably the superhero/supervillain set that hit this trope most perfectly, at least of the ones I can think of. Superman and Lex Luthor occasionally do; so do Batman and some of his recurring villains.
From the early Doonesbury strips (circa early 1970s): BD and Phred. BD is the strip's token conservative, who intentionally enlists in the Army to go to Vietnam; then he gets there, immediately gets lost in the jungle, and meets an equally lost Viet Cong terrorist. They take an instant and inexplicable liking to each other and remain friends even after being found by their respective sides, despite the fact that neither one of them has the slightest intention of altering their political philosophy in any way. (One of BD's lines when Phred starts talking about his mother that gets quoted around our house a lot: "I didn't know commies had mothers!")
Some of the cop shows that have recurring criminal-informant characters who become friends with the cops are basically this, like Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch.
Some less clear-cut examples (maybe they're not actually enemies, just philosophically opposed; maybe they manage to resolve their differences to a point where it no longer hits this button anymore for me; etc):
White Collar. Obviously. *g* (Peter and Neal kinda hit this trope off and on throughout the series; Peter and Mozzie do sometimes, too. Actually, most of the FBI character/con-artist character relationships fit this trope occasionally. The fact that Peter is trying to change Neal to be more like him is what makes their relationship -- though I love it -- not exactly fit the trope in my eyes, however.)
From the Dresden Files books: Harry and Thomas fit this trope to a "T" in the first couple of books in which Thomas appears, but somewhat less so later on. (Your mileage may vary on that. Actually, the more I think about them, the more I think they might actually be a lot better an example of this trope than I'd thought at first, since Thomas retains his White Court connections and can't officially admit to his involvement with Harry -- the "in public, we're enemies; in private, we're friends" aspect of this trope is a big part of it for me.) It seems to me that Dresden Files ought to have more examples than just Harry and Thomas, but I really can't think of any, because most of Harry's relationships with his enemies (even the sometime allies) have too much animosity to really be this. He respects Marcone, to an extent, but still dislikes him; I don't see them wanting to spend time together if they don't have to. And that's pretty much what this trope is to me: "Officially, we fight. Unofficially, we hang out, when we can get away with it." *g* Harry and Kinkaid might be a little bit closer to the trope, but not really there...
From the Ben January books: Ben and Shaw are sort of this. "Sort of", because they aren't actually enemies, they're just divided by class and race. But their social roles make it completely unacceptable in either of their societies for the two of them to be friends (and often puts them at odds, too), and yet their instant and mutual liking for each other anyway is pretty much the trope.
Another "sort of", from NCIS: Gibbs and Fornell. They're actually supposed to be on the same side, but in practice, their mutually opposed agencies lead to this sort of general dynamic.
Thoughts? Additions? Who else you can think of? :D I'm sure that I'm overlooking some really obvious ones, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head. I keep thinking that there must be quite a few from anime and manga, due to their large casts and generally sympathetic villains, but I can't think of any.
There's a trope I absolutely love, that I only recently became aware of -- actually, it was watching White Collar and considering the characters' relationships that made me aware of it. I have known for a long time that I really like the general trope of "enemies working together and becoming friends", but it took me awhile to realize that there is a specific subtrope of it that I simply adore, and variations on it tend to pop up in my original fiction all the time: enemies/opponents who really like each other, although they don't ever plan to switch sides.
(Also, surprisingly, TV Tropes doesn't seem to have a page for this -- at least I can't find one! Their "vitriolic best buds" trope is about the closest I can find, but it really isn't this one.)
Basically, this isn't "redeemable bad guy", or "characters who hate each other at first and then become friends", or "characters who fight all the time but really care about each other deep down". This is, specifically, two people who are technically on opposite sides, but like each other from the beginning (for no reason either of them can fathom, usually), despite remaining devoted to their respective causes. They don't ever plan on joining the other one's side -- either they can't, because the conflict is inherent in what they are (angels and demons, say), or they believe that they're on the right side and the other person is clearly wrong (but still a friend, for all of that). Usually, they're in a position where switching sides would be, if not impossible, then difficult and dangerous and require a total rethinking of their life philosophy. But what makes this trope work for me, I think, is the "friends across the gulf between them" aspect of it. They're not really trying to change each other. They just like each other.
(White Collar actually doesn't hit this trope most of the time, at least not directly, because Peter and Neal are a little too much on the same side for it to work. It's close to it, but it isn't it, because Neal changing and becoming more a part of Peter's world is a big part of the series, and that's exactly what this trope isn't for me. Pre-series, it hits it, however, especially in the various fanfics that have Neal and Peter drifting in and out of each other's lives before Peter catches him. And at the very end of season three, it hits it again -- which was the moment that made me go "Oh!" and realize that this trope is actually a Thing That I Like.)
One of the most archetypical examples I can think of is Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens. They're a demon and an angel; they can never be on the same side, and they don't want to be. But they seem to have gotten along from the very beginning, despite knowing they probably shouldn't, and their amiably friendly, "we're probably terrible people to be meeting like this, but we don't care" sort of no-strings-attached relationship is exactly what I'm thinking of.
There is an inherent tension in this kind of relationship, because usually the characters belong to groups, agencies or causes that are directly opposed to each other, so at any time they might be ordered to do something that threatens the other one (or might choose to do it themselves, depending on what happens). And it can evolve into something else, but usually it stops being this if it does (though I might still really like it for whatever it's become, of course).
I can't, off the top of my head, think of any (canonically) romantic examples that fit the trope -- probably because romance is usually all about overcoming the obstacles so that the couple can be together, and the whole point to this trope is that the characters don't particularly want to overcome the obstacles between them. The only way you could write a romance this way is if the couple had an on-again, off-again relationship that could be terminated at any time -- which is basically how these friendships function -- and most people don't write romance that way. (Though frankly I'd love it if there were more canon romances that worked like that ...)
Examples that fit the trope 100%:
Crowley and Aziraphale, mentioned above. :D
From Highlander: Duncan MacLeod and Joe Dawson. (Highlander + Watcher = a conflict that is never going to be resolved, and Dawson is dedicated to the cause, but they really like and care about each other anyway.)
There are several superhero/supervillain examples, but it really depends on who's writing them, since they tend to waffle between uneasy friendship and actual hate depending on the writer and story arc (not in a character-progression sort of way, but as more of a randomly changing thing). Magneto and Professor X, as mentioned by
soteriophobe and trobadora in the comments to the last entry, are probably the superhero/supervillain set that hit this trope most perfectly, at least of the ones I can think of. Superman and Lex Luthor occasionally do; so do Batman and some of his recurring villains.From the early Doonesbury strips (circa early 1970s): BD and Phred. BD is the strip's token conservative, who intentionally enlists in the Army to go to Vietnam; then he gets there, immediately gets lost in the jungle, and meets an equally lost Viet Cong terrorist. They take an instant and inexplicable liking to each other and remain friends even after being found by their respective sides, despite the fact that neither one of them has the slightest intention of altering their political philosophy in any way. (One of BD's lines when Phred starts talking about his mother that gets quoted around our house a lot: "I didn't know commies had mothers!")
Some of the cop shows that have recurring criminal-informant characters who become friends with the cops are basically this, like Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch.
Some less clear-cut examples (maybe they're not actually enemies, just philosophically opposed; maybe they manage to resolve their differences to a point where it no longer hits this button anymore for me; etc):
White Collar. Obviously. *g* (Peter and Neal kinda hit this trope off and on throughout the series; Peter and Mozzie do sometimes, too. Actually, most of the FBI character/con-artist character relationships fit this trope occasionally. The fact that Peter is trying to change Neal to be more like him is what makes their relationship -- though I love it -- not exactly fit the trope in my eyes, however.)
From the Dresden Files books: Harry and Thomas fit this trope to a "T" in the first couple of books in which Thomas appears, but somewhat less so later on. (Your mileage may vary on that. Actually, the more I think about them, the more I think they might actually be a lot better an example of this trope than I'd thought at first, since Thomas retains his White Court connections and can't officially admit to his involvement with Harry -- the "in public, we're enemies; in private, we're friends" aspect of this trope is a big part of it for me.) It seems to me that Dresden Files ought to have more examples than just Harry and Thomas, but I really can't think of any, because most of Harry's relationships with his enemies (even the sometime allies) have too much animosity to really be this. He respects Marcone, to an extent, but still dislikes him; I don't see them wanting to spend time together if they don't have to. And that's pretty much what this trope is to me: "Officially, we fight. Unofficially, we hang out, when we can get away with it." *g* Harry and Kinkaid might be a little bit closer to the trope, but not really there...
From the Ben January books: Ben and Shaw are sort of this. "Sort of", because they aren't actually enemies, they're just divided by class and race. But their social roles make it completely unacceptable in either of their societies for the two of them to be friends (and often puts them at odds, too), and yet their instant and mutual liking for each other anyway is pretty much the trope.
Another "sort of", from NCIS: Gibbs and Fornell. They're actually supposed to be on the same side, but in practice, their mutually opposed agencies lead to this sort of general dynamic.
Thoughts? Additions? Who else you can think of? :D I'm sure that I'm overlooking some really obvious ones, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head. I keep thinking that there must be quite a few from anime and manga, due to their large casts and generally sympathetic villains, but I can't think of any.
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Off the top of my head, I think Garp vs Roger, Ace, Luffy, and Dragon in One Piece would be a good example.
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I can't, off the top of my head, think of any (canonically) romantic examples that fit the trope -- probably because romance is usually all about overcoming the obstacles so that the couple can be together, and the whole point to this trope is that the characters don't particularly want to overcome the obstacles between them.
It's been a while, the series wasn't renewed after 11 episodes and I think I only ever saw the PILOT (d'oh!) but in Lucy, Daughter of the Devil the Antichrist and the Messiah are dating.
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I knew there had to be some in One Piece, though! There are SO many characters, on different sides, that some of them were bound to have a relationship like this. (Discworld is another one where I keep thinking I ought to be able to come up with examples, but I'm inexplicably drawing a blank.)
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There must be so many more that I can't remember right now... And lots of fanon, of course.
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I keep thinking there are lots of examples I'm not thinking of; it's just that ... I can't seem to think of them!
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FriendlyEnemy
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DatingCatwoman
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoKartingWithBowser
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Various examples of things I adore, where the characters face a divide they shouldn't cross, and doing so will probably result in their respective groups getting involved/responding negatively: teacher/student relationships, characters from very different cultures, up to and including cultures that are at war; characters from extreme ends of the social class spectrum; characters who are a very different species from each other in unalterable ways (see: pretty much every tentaclefic I have ever loved, Homestuck fic wherein the love-vs-quadrants conflict is not resolved), relationships between people who have a fundamental mismatch on some generally-considered-vital topic, i.e. sex or living together...
Actually, I enjoy the kind where they're "enemies" in name only, too, e.g. Aziraphale and Crowley; I had just never linked it to the others before, because the tension's usually less when they start out liking each other right off the bat and only later do the "sides" apply pressure!
I have learned a thing today. :D
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(Anonymous) 2012-06-02 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)Neat post! :-D
--LastScorpion--
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Another is CS Friedman's 'Coldfire Trilogy'. The relationship between the good priest, Damian, and the evil vampire-like Gerald as they are forced to work together to halt an even greater evil, is wonderful. Especially as they go from natural enemies to learning to respect each other.
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For me, the non-romantic ones often work better, but that doesn't meant the romantic type can't satisfy as well -- like I said above, I think the big stumbling block to me enjoying this trope in a romance is that romance is usually focused on the characters overcoming obstacles to be together, and in this case, the obstacle is not usually one that I want to see removed (or in many cases, that can be removed at all). Fanfic is usually better for that than original stuff ...
I tend to notice the "enemies" type more than the subtler type, but yes, I totally agree with you that any sort of social barrier can hit this trope, from political differences to differences in age. :D
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I think I like them both equally. (Though the non-romantic ones can be harder to find.)
romance is usually focused on the characters overcoming obstacles to be together, and in this case, the obstacle is not usually one that I want to see removed (or in many cases, that can be removed
Oh, yeah; I mean, I like the ones where they get over it, but not NEARLY as much as the ones where they don't. Unless you're counting compromises that don't actually remove the issue as resolution? (First example that leaps to mind: any sexual/asexual pairing wherein the characters find a compromise, of whatever degree, for a gap that they cannot remove.)
This discussion is making me think 'wow, it's no wonder I fell into Homestuck fandom, because hello, innate caste system with bonus lifespan difference, plus interactions between widely disparate members of said system! Also, hello aliens and humans thrown together in forced cooperation to defeat an outside enemy! It's like half my social-barrier kinks in one convenient package. *grins*
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canonically romantic examples:
(Anonymous) 2012-06-09 05:39 am (UTC)(link)from Highlander: The Raven -- Amanda and Nick Wolfe.
(Raine Wynd has the best fic in this tiny tiny fandom).
semi-trope examples in Leverage:
Nate/Sophie used to be on opposite sides but aren't anymore,
Nate/Maggie didn't used to be but are now
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I had a boss who loves books but does not do fantasy under any circumstances. However, I loaned him this book and said just try it, it's barely fantasy at all. He did and loved it so much I had trouble prising it out of his hands!