History Main / SitComArchNemesis

* Koroko, from ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', has a very one-sided hatred of Kongo, despite Kongo being nothing but friendly and helpful, if somewhat egotistical. She even expressed annoyance, rather that gratitude, when Kongo uses her [[BlowYouAway aero hand]] to knock an armored truck into a helicopter pursuing her and her "sissy" Mikoto, It's not really clear why, though.

* Bob Arnold in ''VideoGame/PhantasmagoriaAPuzzleOfFlesh'' acts like this to protagonist Curtis Craig (rival employee, seemingly[[note]][[WordOfSaintPaul Bob's actor]] has suggested that Bob's jerkassery towards Curtis is partly because he's attracted to Curtis and tries to cover it up[[/note]] really dislikes each other, does pranks, is fighting over a promotion...). Only problem is, ''Phantasmagoria'' is a ''horror'' story... [[spoiler:so Bob gets killed. Horribly, and in a way that puts suspicion on Curtis]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Mr. Turner had his one-sided rivalry with his next-door neighbor, Mr. Dinkleberg. Or, as Mr. Turner usually called him, "''Dinklebeeerg...''". Mind you, in one episode the two of them fought each other with milk-powered GiantMecha and Dinkleberg didn't seem to have a problem with the idea. It's implied this resentment is both because Dinkleberg used to date Mrs. Turner, and because Dinkleberg doesn't have any kids and can afford a lot more nice things. This is eventually played with in the 7th season episode "Operation Dinkleberg", where Dinkleberg reveals himself to be completely evil after all and the leader of [[FunWithAcronyms M.E.A.N. (Ministry of Evil and Abusive Neighbors)]], only to ''later'' reveal to Timmy that it was all an act (that cost him $30,000!) [[NiceGuy because he knew how much it meant to Mr. Turner]] to have an arch-nemesis.

** Kirishima and Tetsutetsu started out this way - with Tetsutetsu's entire existence as a character being a joke about how his ability and personality were essentially the same as Kirishima's, which prevented either of them from standing out at all next to the other - but eventually became friends after Kirishima won their arm-wrestling contest.

** Tien manages to becomes this for both Vegeta ''and'' Cell. He constantly tweaks their noses with insults while shrugging off their responses, loving every minute of it. The two could kill him at any time but doing so would means Tien wins since they took the easy way out and they're not willing to give him that.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': Donald Duck and his neighbor Jones (essentially a larger DogFace [[HairTriggerTemper version of Donald]] with no relatives other than a rarely-seen mother) are often at each other's throats for petty reasons. Of course, since this is a comic, their rival schemes tend to result in a lot of AmusingInjuries.

* In ''Series/DadsArmy'', Captain Mainwaring (the pompous, upper-middle-class bank manager whose power and authority as Home Guard platoon leader has gone straight to his head) has Chief ARP Warden Hodges (the pompous, lower class greengrocer whose power and authority as Chief ARP Warden has gone straight to his head).

* Given the way {{supervillain}}y is treated in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', The Monarch and Doctor Venture fall under this trope. The Monarch's aggression was initially [[UnknownRival hardly noticed]] by Venture himself, seems almost completely arbitrary (aside from the fact that Venture made fun of The Monarch's poetry in college, and stole his truck when they were kids which the Monarch didn't even remember), and Doctor Girlfriend has [[LampshadeHanging even acknowledged within the show]] that the two [[NotSoDifferentRemark share enough similarities]] to be good friends were it not for the supposed hatred that exists between them. However, the Monarch has genuine, murderous hatred toward Rusty for reasons yet to be revealed.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Series/{{Seinfeld}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sitcom_arch_nemesis.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Hello... ''Newman''."]]

* The ComicBook/FantasticFour has the Yancy Street gang, a band of jerks who love to play pranks on the Thing and make his life miserable.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': J. Jonah Jameson, a local newspaper mogul who is utterly convinced that the web slinger is a menace and uses the press to constantly attack him and accuse him of everything from EngineeredHeroics, reckless endangerment, to outright theft and even murder, or otherwise putting the worst possible spin on almost everything Spider-Man does. For his part, Spider-Man retaliates by constantly insulting J.J. to his face and occasionaly leaving him webbed up in compromising situations, while taking solace in the fact that he's secretly photojournalist Peter Parker and an unaware Jameson is actually ''paying'' Spider-Man for his own pictures.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MaulingSnarks'', Jack Slash and Accord can't stand each other for reasons unexplained, but due to a good dose of AdaptationalHeroism their antagonism takes form of ridiculous shenanigans rather than anything murderous. For example, in one of their outings, Slaughterhouse Nine send on army of genetically engineered ducks into Accord's territory to mess things up and annoy him. In return, Accord tames those ducks and makes them into a cleanup crew.

* ''Fanfic/SomethingLostSomethingFound'': Lostbelt Morgan and Artoria (Alter) are this. Morgan hates Artoria [[HateAtFirstSight as soon as she sees her]] with almost no justification other than "She's an Artoria" and regularly loses her cool around her despite normally being TheStoic. Her grudge is almost entirely one-sided, as Artoria Alter refuses to even indulge Morgan's various hang-ups with her (like her blade sharing Morgan's name), simply telling her that she's being childish and leaving her to stew in her anger.
* ''Fanfic/TruePotential'': Jiraiya and Roshi have this dynamic, their hatred from each other being born not out of being ninjas of feuding villages (though there is bad blood from a NoodleIncident during the last war), but out of being dueling writers. Jiraiya's books sell better, but Roshi argues (not without reason) that this is only due to the porn. Not helping matters is the fact that Jiraiya's godson Naruto genuinely likes Roshi's books and dislikes Jiraiya's.

* ''Series/DesperateHousewives''
** Mrs. [=McClusky=] started out as this for Lynette, but ended up as a subversion as the two eventually came to understand each other as the series went on and formed something of a friendship.

%%** The rivalry between Debra and Marie.

%%** Sharon Needles and Phi Phi O'Hara

* Music/LeeAnnWomack's song, ''I'll Think of a Reason Later'' describes this toward a woman that the singer hasn't even met, but is apparently engaged to a man she likes. She concludes, "She may be an angel who spends all winter/Bringing the homeless blankets and dinner," but "I really hate her/I'll think of a reason later."
* Music/TheLonelyIsland have this as a running joke in their "Just 2 Guyz" series of music videos (which also includes "We Like Sportz", "We'll Kill U", and "We Need Love"). The two protagonists, [[ThoseTwoGuys Guy Number One and Guy Number Two]], ''despise'' their neighbour Steve (played by Andy Samberg), calling him a cunt in each video (except "We Need Love", where they instead accuse his girlfriend of being a slut)--despite him never being seen to do anything malicious to them.

* In the first season of ''Music/MitchBenn's Crimes Against Music'' Mitch's arch-nemesis was Richard Stilgoe, especially as Robin Ince mentioned Stilgoe whenever Mitch referred to himself as Creator/TheBBC's most popular satirical songwriter. They eventually battled it out in the final episode of the season, and became friends.
-->'''Mitch''': Looks like I'll need a new arch-nemesis for the next series.\\

** In fact, Mitch Benn's next arch-nemesis was Creator/StephenFry, King of Website/{{Twitter}}, which was a RunningGag in the 2009 series of ''Radio/TheNowShow''.

* In ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'', Andy had an EscalatingWar across time with none other than ''Grover Cleveland''.

* Ryan North of ''Webcomic/DinosaurComics'' is occasionally this to Randall Monroe of ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', explaining ''xkcd'''s scorning of North's field of expertise ("Because FUCK computational linguistics"). Like the previous examples, they're really friends.

* Rachel from ''[[http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City Dragon City]]'' and her neighbor Emily don't like each other, though they got a little better when their daughters became friends and a little better after Rachel became Emily's deputy mayor.

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' has Max Powers. Cole and Brent hate Powers with a passion, with Francis often joining in on the hate on. It gets to the point his name is the comics' TheKhan whenever something goes wrong for Cole.
** Later on Cole admits that he doesn't even really have a good reason for hating Max, he's just petty and begrudges Max the fact that he's an overall good guy ''and'' more successful than Cole[[note]]the only hint of anything less than exemplary character on Max's part, in fact, was an inability to see Skull the troll, and this is hinted to be more self-absorption than any legitimate sin on Max's part[[/note]]. This admission prompts Max to [[PutOnABus go on walkabout, as the Australians call it]], and he eventually comes back with the grating edges sanded off his personality, and the staff of the magazine grow to think of him as a good friend[[note]]and he can see Skull now, too[[/note]].

** And as of his review of ''Film/ASimpleWish'', WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has a rivalry in Mara Wilson (also fueled by his past bashing of her roles in ''Film/{{Matilda}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'').

* Tien in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' manages to becomes this for both Vegeta ''and'' Cell. He constantly tweaks their noses with insults while shrugging off their responses, loving every minute of it. The two could kill him at any time but doing so would means Tien wins since they took the easy way out and they're not willing to give him that.

* On ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', Rigby feels this way about his brother Don purely because Don has had more success than him and is taller (despite actually being younger than Rigby). This is one sided - Don loves Rigby and wants to spend time with him, and shows absolutely no signs of sibling rivalry with him. Rigby eventually comes to realize this and tones down his aggression.
** Both he and Mordecai had an actual one in Muscle Man early in the shows run, but overtime this too subsided and Muscle Man became more of a [[VitriolicBestBuds Vitriolic Best Bud]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has their iconic rivalry with Kyle and Cartman (though Cartman is also [[HateSink hated by ALL of the other kids too]]). Cartman is an insane, sadistic anti-Semitic ComedicSociopath, Kyle is an [[HeWhoFightsMonsters over-persistent]] moral-loving voice of logic (and a Jew). Their feud ranges anywhere between exchanging childish insults, attempting to humiliate the other (typically Cartman's style) or actually trying to kill each other on numerous occasions. Cartman is seen as very obsessive with their rivalry, and can go great lengths to ensure his rival's misery. Kyle himself has also been shown to get quite competitive on multiple occasions as well, just to get back at his frenemy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' will portray Optimus and Sentinal Prime in this light, though later episodes reveal why they act this way towards each other.
** There's also Bumblebee and Wasp, with Wasp being an arrogant JerkAss towards Bumblebee (and Bulkhead) to the point where it earns him the honor of being the primary suspect as a Decepticon spy, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero curtosy of Bumblebee]]. Their names and color scheme help drive home the [[ShoutOut very]] [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars familiar]] [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines dynamic]] that's portrayed between the two.

* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'': [=AntVenom=] and Schlatt have a rivalry over their different opinions on the music disc Stal.

The Sitcom Arch Nemesis is usually just a recurring character, because if they were part of the main cast then TheProtagonist would do nothing but fight with them. Indeed, often they are only spoken of in passing and [[TheGhost never seen in person]], further defining them entirely by how the main character views them.

The Sitcom Arch-Nemesis is a very different creature from the dramatic or action-show ArchEnemy. He usually isn't dangerous or evil (when he is, the contrast between his cruelty and his [[EvilIsPetty petty bickering]] has comedy value of its own); although it's possible that he's very annoying, it isn't always the case. He can even sometimes be portrayed as a straight-up NiceGuy. He just rubs a character from the show (usually the lead) entirely the wrong way, and the two will never miss an opportunity to have at each other with VolleyingInsults or small-minded pranks. Often, the character and his nemesis are kindred spirits and don't realize it; these rivals are much more likely to have an EnemyMine plot than dramatic rivals. Since generally there isn't much at stake in that rivalry, it will usually revolve around insignificant, everyday matters, filled with comedic moments.

This character is usually just a supporting character, because if a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis were part of the main cast, then TheProtagonist would do nothing but fight with them. Basically, they could be considered the protagonist's "favorite enemy".

Note that these aren't necessarily unique to sitcoms, and other stories – including more comedic action stories – can have a character who fills this role, sometimes even if there is a character who fulfils the role of an actual ArchEnemy. In the more lighthearted action shows, particularly in certain cartoons and kid shows, sometimes the actual ArchEnemy will act like a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis when the story or comedy demands it, alternating between, for instance, attempting to TakeOverTheWorld one day and [[EvilIsPetty trying to wreck the hero's birthday party the next]].

* In ''WebOriginal/VesterAndFriends'' , Mario has two. Link who thinks he's better than Mario and often gets beat up by the red plumber, and Luigi who calls the red plumber a "Fat Italian Plumber" while Mario calls Luigi a "Skinny Winny"

* Franchise/SpiderMan has J. Jonah Jameson, a local newspaper mogul who is utterly convinced that the web slinger is a menace and uses the press to constantly attack him and accuse him of everything from EngineeredHeroics, reckless endangerment, to outright theft and even murder, or otherwise putting the worst possible spin on almost everything Spider-Man does. For his part, Spider-Man retaliates by constantly insulting J.J. to his face and occasionaly leaving him webbed up in compromising situations, while taking solace in the fact that he's secretly photojournalist Peter Parker and an unaware Jameson is actually ''paying'' Spider-Man for his own pictures.

** Leslie also has a rivalry with local high school student Greg Pikitis. Leslie takes it much more seriously than he does and Greg admits to intentionally pushing Leslie's buttons because it's fun to rile her up. He only appears in a single episode (and a cameo in the final season), but Leslie makes clear she's been warring with him for years offscreen every Halloween.

* Franchise/SpiderMan and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Human Torch]] had this dynamic in earlier stories, before becoming VitriolicBestBuds.

* This is more or less the best way to describe the relationship between Encyclopedia Dramatica and Wiki/{{Uncyclopedia}}, and Website/TheOtherWiki too for that matter. (We're the wacky special guest if anything.) Although the former two tend not to bother feuding anymore since given that they're both parody wikis (albeit with ''entirely'' different themes) and all involved just look silly.