History Main / LetsYouAndHimFight

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' encourages players to do this. Failing that, MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. Failing ''that'', at least wait till they're distracted (possibly by something you set up) before ambushing them, rather than just attacking them at the first opportunity and giving them a chance to shoot back. Or just collect (or manufacture) evidence and throw them under the bus at the [[BlameGame debriefing]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' encourages players to do this. Failing that, MakeItLookLikeAnAccident. Failing ''that'', at least wait to ambush them while they're distracted.

->''"I knew I couldn’t kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But if I could get them to kill each other …"''

** "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E10Nightmares}} Nightmares]]" (Sid the Dummy), "What's My Line?" (Kendra), among others. Also, Spike and Faith are both characters who have gone through HeelFaceTurn character arcs. By "Dirty Girls," both of them are on the side of good. When they meet for the first time since they were both evil, they trade blows for a bit, because Faith thinks Spike is still evil, and Spike just gets pissed off enough to hit back.

** Another Faith example. In "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations}} Revelations]]", the big bad tricks Faith into fighting Angel. It was easy enough, after [[GreenEyedMonster Xander]] laid the ground work.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1936 SCP-1936]] is a down in LovecraftCountry that plays host to a massive civil war between eldritch deities, supported by a cult known as the Victory Society. It turns out the Society is engineering the conflict in order to distract these monstrosities, turning them against one another before they can turn their focus and their terrible power on the rest of humanity.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'' does this, with Gonard and a lobster that had escaped from the kitchen.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' short "What- No Spinach?", provoked by Wimpy. A waiter in Bluto's restaurant, Wimpy incites a DinerBrawl between Popeye and Bluto by spiking Popeye's roast duck with red pepper sauce, causing the sailor to march out in a huff. Bluto sees a customer leave without paying and attacks him, giving Wimpy free reign to plunder the food safe.
* Aku from ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has all the reasons in the world to call himself the master of deception.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Tweek vs. Craig", the boys make up stories to get Tweek and Craig to fight.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' episode dealing with the origin of [[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam Iceman]] managed to work in a fight between the two heroes prior to their official team-up, until Spidey managed to talk some sense into him.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has a fight between Amethyst and Pearl in "On the Run". Amethyst battles Pearl because Amethhyst feels really bad about where she came from and Pearl is being insensitive.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' This is the '''precise method''' that [[spoiler: Charon Industries and its shadow forces]] spend years manipulating/building up the bitterness/enmity between the two main armies/people of the planet Chorus to have them kill eachother [[spoiler: instead of just simply nuking them, making it alarmingly suspicious to offworlders, and thus leading to them eventually tragically killing eachother off during a long, bloody war,]] thus leaving its invaluable alien artifacts ripe for the taking [[spoiler: for the ones that incited the whole conflict and fueled their hatred toward the two factions over the years]] and would have succeeded entirely if the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Red & Blues]] hadn't [[spoiler: interfered/broken the otherwise-endless cycle of hatred/resentment between said two factions of the New Republic and the Federal Army of Chorus.]]

* WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug typically doesn't have this trope come up, as the heroes tend to know when new heroes come around. Ladybug generally recruits a new hero with a Miraculous and Cat knows what is going on. The first time it happened he was surprised but his first instance was not 'hit Rena Rouge in face'. The time that Alya dons the Ladybug instead of the Fox Miraculous while Marinette is away is a different story, where he does in fact try to hit her in the face and have a brief fight. This is at least partially because Cat's first instinct was 'someone replaced Ladybug' and not 'Ladybug got a sub', though the example remains atypical,

* WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug typically this trope doesn't come up, as the heroes tend to know when new heroes come around. Ladybug generally recruits a new hero with a Miraculous and Cat knows what is going on. The first time it happened he was surprised but his first instance was not 'hit Rena Rouge in face'. The time that Alya dons the Ladybug instead of the Fox Miraculous while Marinette is away is a different story, where he does in fact try to hit her in the face and have a brief fight. This is at least partially because Cat's first instinct was 'someone replaced Ladybug' and not 'Ladybug got a sub', though the example remains atypical,

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242514/ Pokemon vs. Digimon: When World Collide]]'' opens with Devimon arriving in the Pokemon world, Ash and his friends arriving in the village where Devimon attacked shortly before the Digidestined follow, initially sending their Digimon through. With the locals already paranoid, Veemon's poor choice of words leads to Ash, Misty and Brock assuming that the new Digimon are Devimon's associates, which results in Ash's current team- Pikachu, Bayleef, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Noctowl and Phanpy- fighting Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Patamon, Gatomon and Wormmon before the Digidestined arrive and both parties take time to explain the situation.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' episode "Panther's Quest". In the 90s ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour'' series, Panther did it ''without'' a misunderstanding. It looked very much like he woke up one morning thinking hunting them would be fun. If completely unfamiliar with the character, you'd have thought he was a villain in the vein of [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Kraven the Hunter]], but it turns out that he's, well, ComicBook/BlackPanther, and he's testing the Four's strength to see if they were badass enough to help him out.

* One Chinese idiom comes from a fable that goes as follows: A clam opens itself in the sun, and a snipe attempts to eat it. The clam shuts itself upon the snipe's beak. The snipe tells the clam that if the clam doesn't open up to flee, it will dry itself out in the sun. The clam tells the snipe that if the snipe doesn't withdraw itself, it will die of hunger from having its beak clamped shut. Neither party is willing to give way in order to outlast the other, and both are eventually bagged by a fisherman.

* In Literature/{{Kane}} novel ''Bloodstone'' [[VillainProtagonist Kane]] manipulates two neighboring and already hostile nations of Selonari and Breimen into outright war, while the titular [[ArtifactOfDoom Bloodstone]] is gaining enough power to crush them both.

* Speaking of imperialists, this was a common strategy of colonial and imperial powers historically: make an "alliance" with one group of locals against another in exchange for their loyalty, then consolidate power over both of them once they've been weakened by the fighting. Getting [[TheQuisling local collaborators in your pocket]] is optional but encouraged.

* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' [[BadFuture Dark World Series]], Twilight's group ''does'' end up fighting with the rest of the mane six due to the others being BrainwashedAndCrazy until Discord's spell was broken. However, this is averted with Applejack and Twilight, who broke Discord's spell independently of one another and when they run into each other mistake the other as still being brainwashed. While Applejack does panic and kick her (leading to a comical moment of Twilight ending up under a Dirt Maid's skirt and being kicked back onto Applejack), they quickly put two and two together (such as Twilight calling her ''Applejack'' instead of Liarjack and Applejack having washed her CoolHat for the first time since the Day of Chaos) and realize the other isn't acting like Twilight Tragedy[=/=]Liarjack. They each quickly realize the others pulled a HeelFaceTurn and decide to trust each other and team up.

* It also appears in ''Literature/TheLongGoodbye'' by Creator/RaymondChandler, said by Marlowe when two cops start bickering with each other when they're supposed to be interrogating him.
-->'''Sergeant Green:''' You make the notes, and leave your brains alone. If you're real good we'll let you sing Mother Machree at the police smoker.\\
'''Detective Dayton:''' The hell with you, Sarge, if I may say so with proper respect for your rank.\\
'''Marlowe:''' ''[to Green]'' Let's you and him fight. I'll catch him when he drops.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' has most of the initial encounters between the pilots of the five initial Gundams, who actually belong to ''the very same resistance movement''. [[JustifiedTrope There's actually a good reason for it]]: the movement's initial plan was to use the Gundams as an invasion force after executing a [[spoiler:ColonyDrop]], but as soon as they found out the pilots and their cells ditched the plan and launched a guerilla campaign... And, [[PoorCommunicationKills as they belong to]] ''[[PoorCommunicationKills different]]'' [[PoorCommunicationKills cells without contact with each other, they have no idea they all had the same idea and think the other Gundam pilots are there to continue the original plan and kill them for desertion upon encounter]].
** Amazingly {{subverted|Trope}} by Wufei: he's the WildCard and NotGoodWithPeople, but when he meets the other Gundams he doesn't fight them, he ''ends the fight of the other four'' by pointing out they're all on the same side and that [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero Heero has been tricked into killing the pacifist faction in the UESA military]]]].
* Being a deconstruction of the FightingSeries PlayedForLaughs, ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'' show us the kind of person who would use this trope: Megumi is TheBully / SchoolYardBullyAllGrownUp / TheRival for Miki, and her personal definition of ''a friend'' is: ''Someone whom Megumi can manipulate to beat Miki''. Just after Megumi hears Miki describing to his mother a powerful enemy at the Endou house, while being punished for constantly CarryingACake:
--> This is surprising! There's someone who can land Onimaru-san in this much trouble. He must definitely be an amazing fighter. [[FalseFriend First I should become friends with this person]], then teaming up would be the best course of action.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': During the Five Kage Meeting arc, BigBad [[spoiler:Tobi]] sets up such a fight between [[spoiler:Sasuke and Danzo]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' puts an interesting spin on this. In the Whiskey Peak arc, the crew had been proudly welcomed by the town, which was used by bounty hunters from Baroque Works to rob and/ or kill unsuspecting pirates while they slept. When the bounty hunters attack Zoro, he defeats them all. A chain of events are set up for the saga as he comes face to face with two agents of the aforementioned organization, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. But [[IdiotHero Luffy]], after learning Zoro attacked the other Baroque Works agents and unaware they weren't as nice as they seemed, becomes enraged and attacks Zoro, who calmly tries to explain before Luffy attacks him anyway. The two of them fight while the agents continue to complete their mission, but after Luffy and Zoro keep attacking them while they fight, Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine try to kill them themselves...

** Played straight when the Straw Hats reach Water 7. The [=CP9=], with Nico Robin's help, frame the Straw Hats for the attempted assassination of mayor and shipbuilding company president Iceberg, essentially pitting them against the entire city, particularly the dock 1 foremen. Things are cleared up when the [=CP9=] reveal themselves.
** Sanji and Zoro trading insults until things get physical has become a RunningGag (especially during the Davy Back Fight arc, where it almost causes them to lose a match until they get their act together and team up.)

* Part of the plot of ''WesternAnimation/MarvelRisingSecretWarriors'' involved [[ComicBook/SpiderGwen Ghost Spider]] [[ClearMyName being blamed for a crime she didn't commit]] and being confronted by [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]] and ComicBook/SquirrelGirl.

** In ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', Batman and Superman are manipulated [[spoiler: (and partly forced, due to Lex's kidnapping of Martha Kent)]] by Lex Luthor into conflict.

* The song, "The Ultimate Showdown" by Music/LemonDemon takes this trope UpToEleven.

* In [[http://circusknights.smackjeeves.com Circus Knights]], the school's protectors attack Domino because he's carrying an unconscious girl, and someone's been going around putting girls in comas. About twenty pages later, one of the protectors points out that the girl Domino is carrying [[http://circusknights.smackjeeves.com/comics/233060/page-59/ "Has shown signs of Narcolepsy."]]

** For "Franchise/{{Superman}} vs. [[Manga/DragonBall Son Goku]]", when Goku learns of Superman, he assumes Superman is an evil invading alien and launches a preemptive strike. Superman tries to reason with him, but Goku's BloodKnight tendencies make him keep attacking.

** For "[[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]] vs. [[WesternAnimation/ThunderCats Lion-O]]", when Lion-O sees He-Man riding Battle Cat, he assumes He-Man is treating the cat as a slave instead of a partner. As Lord of the [=ThunderCats=], Lion-O is outraged and attacks him.
** For "[[VideoGame/StarFox Fox McCloud]] vs [[Comicbook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]", Bucky mistakes Fox's friend Slippy Toad for a member of the evil Toad Empire and kills him. Enraged, Fox attacks Bucky to avenge him.

** Earlier in the series, Sokka caused a rare heroic example of this trope. After the [[spoiler:Gaang was captured by a group of pirates to trade to Zuko for a waterbending scroll, Sokka pointed out that Aang is the Avatar, and the Firelord would pay a much higher bounty for Aang than they could get fro the scroll. The pirates started fighting Zuko forces, creating a distraction for the Gaang to escape both groups.]]

:: :...in response to Superman using his X-Ray vision to discover who he is. All of this builds up to the end of the episode, which reveals the real reason for Batman's attack when (after Batman takes the time to warn him that ComicBook/TheJoker is after him with a buttload more Kryptonite and departs) Superman finally gets a moment to himself in his apartment in his secret identity as Clark Kent, discovers a tracking device hidden on his cape, and looks out the window to see Batman, several blocks down, watching him through a pair of binoculars.
** The same episode has the villains' sidekicks, Mercy Graves and Harley Quinn, fighting in a FunnyBackgroundEvent during a meeting between Lex Luthor and ComicBook/TheJoker.

** Technically, this trope also occurs in the episode "Paradise Lost". In it, both Franchise/WonderWoman and Franchise/{{Superman}} have hallucinations in which they see each other as a monster and then proceed to attack each other. Superman discovers the ruse when he sees Wonder Woman's reflection in water. He tries to tell her, but she still sees him as a monster and continues to attack. One would think that she would [[WhyIsntItAttacking start to wonder why it wasn't fighting back]] but she was so enraged that the thought [[AvertedTrope never occurred to her.]] She finally snaps out of it when the monster answers her inquiry ("Where is Superman?!") by pointing to a [[TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf mirror,]] revealing him to be the monster she was holding in a choke-hold.

-->'''Henery:''' I don't care who wins. I'll fricassee the loser!

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' episode dealing with the origin of ComicBook/{{Iceman}} managed to work in a fight between the two heroes prior to their official team-up, until Spidey managed to talk some sense into him.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Deep Six", the Titans team up with Aqualad to stop a painfully-egotistical villain named Trident, who's using toxic chemicals to clone himself and take over the world. Because they all have the same thoughts and personality, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Beast Boy]] is able to get all the clones to fight each other by saying that only ''one'' of them can be true perfection, letting their collective egos turn them against each other.

* An unusual example in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' with a hero pulling this on two villains. The team are captured and held in stasis, guarded by the powerful Black Beetle, who mopped the floor with them in the first place. Who does Arsenal free first in order to keep Beetle occupied? '''Mongul''', a GalacticConqueror who can go toe-to-toe with Superman.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'', when they had daytime talkshow hosts Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell, and Jerry Springer in a match, Springer decided to go this angle by trying to pit Oprah and Rosie against each other while he stays safe. However, it comes back to bite him in the ass as the two ladies eventually realize he's playing them. They both decide to team up, grabbing one of his legs each, and then pulling until he splits down the middle.

** In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', Peter and Doctor Strange get into a fight over whether or not to [[SaveTheVillain save the villains from alternate dimensions]] when it is revealed to them that they are destined to die. The former wants to [[ScrewDestiny save them,]] but the [[UnscrupulousHero latter refuses,]] citing their sacrifice as necessary to the stability of the multiverse. [[spoiler:Though Strange, being the more powerful one, manages to keep Peter on the ropes when he pulls them both into [[HomefieldAdvantage the mirror dimension,]] Peter manages to outsmart him by [[AwesomenessByAnalysis noticing the geometric nature of the mirror dimension]], [[HoistByHisOwnPetard proceeds to entangle Strange in his webs]] using this fact, and steal Strange's Sling Ring and another magical artifact from him, trapping him there for the time being.]]