History VitriolicBestBuds / ComicBooks

*** The Torch also has a similar relationship with Franchise/{{Spider-Man}}. Spidey and the Torch's team-ups usually consist of them trying to one-up each other, with the expected volley of insults and snark. But at the end of the day, Spider-Man is probably Johnny's closest superhero friend outside of the FF.

** In those continuities where ComicBook/LoisLane ''doesn't'' know [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent and Superman]] are the same person (for instance the Christopher Reeve films or ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'') she is usually this to Clark, enjoying a very friendly workplace rivalry with him and affectionately chastising him for his timidity. In the ''very'' early GoldenAge her dislike for Clark was genuine but their relationship quickly evolved into this trope. Later, more often in the post-crisis stories this went even further as her teasing [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend covered up a massive crush on Clark.]]

* Odd case between [[ComicBook/SheHulk Jennifer Walters]] and ComicBook/BettyRoss. Betty gets along with Jen just fine. But when Betty turns into Red She-Hulk, they start trading insults back and forth.

* ''{{Comicbook/Groo|TheWanderer}}'' is oblivious to how much his sister Grooella hates him and thinks every insult and raging verbal assault shows how much difficulty she has showing her affection. But, then, Groo is oblivious to practically everything.
* DependingOnTheWriter, ComicBook/TheJoker either imagines that he and Franchise/{{Batman}} have an extreme variation on the trope, or just pretends he does because it bugs Batman.
-->'''[[Film/TheDarkKnight Joker:]]''' Kill you? ''(laughs)'' I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off Mob dealers? No, no... You ''complete'' me!
** Considering [[StuffedIntoTheFridge what he did to Batman]], Joker is ''really'' lucky Bats has a [[ThouShaltNotKill no kill policy]].
** Then again, when facing a resurrected Joker, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry]] disabuses him of this notion quite thoroughly.
--->'''Terry:''' The ''real'' Batman [[TheStoic never talked to you much]], did he? That's probably why you were so fixated on him. [...] The real reason you kept coming back was you never got a laugh out of the old man. [...] Get a clue, clowny! He's got no sense of humor! He wouldn't know a good joke if it bit him in the cape! [[Awesome/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker ... Not that you ever had a good joke.]]

** Donatello seems to stand in for Raphael in this role in the live-action film.
* Comicbook/EmmaFrost from ''Comicbook/XMen'' seems to be this with all of the X-Women, particularly Comicbook/JeanGrey, Comicbook/KittyPryde, and ComicBook/{{X23}}.
** Same with Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} when he's with Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} and Comicbook/{{Gambit}}.
* Batman and Franchise/{{Superman}} had somewhat evolved in this direction following the reinterpretation of ''Comicbook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', whose creator opined that the characters were too fundamentally different to ever be friends. Following the launch of ''Comicbook/SupermanBatman'', they've been portrayed as good friends, but they are far from the ''World's Finest'' they used to be.
** Of course, DependingOnTheWriter, the relationship can be either "close as brothers" to a lukewarm friendship, and all the various points in between.
* [[{{Spiderman}} Spidey]] arguably defines this trope with all the Anti Heroes he teams up with, especially with his no killing policy.
** Wolverine and Spider-Man are a special case of an enduring friendship, arguably due to their moral alignments but also due to their methods in dealing with people. They butt heads, and fight each other over being two different flavors of effective hero. Still Wolverine trusts Spider-Man as one of the few heroes he would never turn his back on; the others are Captain America and Charles Xavier.
** The Torch also has a similar relationship with Franchise/{{Spider-Man}}. Spidey and the Torch's team-ups usually consist of them trying to one-up each other, with the expected volley of insults and snark. But at the end of the day, Spider-Man is probably Johnny's closest superhero friend outside of the FF.
** But all this pales in comparison to Spider-Man's unsolicited and unwanted "friendship" with Comicbook/{{Deadpool}}. Deadpool just ''loooooooves'' pressing Spidey's buttons, but will never hesitate to help clean up the messes he starts in Peter's life, and seems genuinely fond of the wall-crawler, sometimes even going out of his way just to hang out with him. Spidey, while often forced to admit that Deadpool does have his moments, more often wishes he would just go away.
* [[Characters/XMenOtherTeams Santo (Rockslide)]] treats everyone like this, at least all the staff and students at the [[Comicbook/XMen Xavier Institute]]. Anole, Pixie, and Mercury return it with the most obvious friendship.
** Hellion as well. He's a smug, arrogant, self-entitled prick to ''everyone'', including his friends (though less so with Mercury and X-23, with whom he's much less of smartass).
* Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm of the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' spend most of their time either sniping and snarking at each other, planning increasingly elaborate practical jokes on each other, or lambasting each other with creatively brutal threats about what they'll do to the other (which are hardly ever followed through) after said practical jokes. They are, of course, practically inseparable.
** Also, Johnny Storm and [[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam Bobby Drake]]. Like [[IncrediblyLamePun fire and ice]], those two.
* Comicbook/{{Cable}} and SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} become this more and more throughout their series.
** Before that, Deadpool had this relationship with Bullseye. They took it to the extreme though, where they would try to kill each other and then laugh about it together. When it's all said and done, Bullseye has admitted that Deadpool is the only person he likes.
** Deadpool and ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}} have also had this type of "friendship"- perhaps said best by Taskmaster: "The things I do for the friends I can't stand..."
* Catman and Deadshot from ''ComicBook/SecretSix''.
* Victor and Frank from ''ComicBook/MiniMonsters''. As they're polar opposites, both spend their time insulting and bickering each other constantly. However, neither of them can be separated and they're best friends, although Victor [[FriendshipDenial denies this]].
* A certain [[UndefeatableLittleVillage village]] of VitriolicBestBuds in ''Comicbook/{{Asterix}}''. No Romans handy? No problem, they'll just find an excuse to brawl with each other....
** Asterix himself usually has a bad argument with Obelix at least OncePerEpisode. It never takes long for them to make up, though.
** Both of Fulliautomatix's main friends, Cacofonix and Unhygenix, seem to have this relationship with him. He relentlessly picks on Cacofonix, and he and Unhygenix both share hatred of his music (especially in ''The Falling Sky'', where they are even more horrible to him than usual and get blamed for Cacofonix's hut burning down as a result). However, he and Cacofonix share mutual contempt for Unhygenix's merchandise - he's a fishmonger who sells stale fish despite living next to the sea. Fulliautomatix bullies both of them a lot, but also seems to see himself in charge of looking after Cacofonix - they're usually shown hanging around together in crowd scenes, he shows concern as well as satisfaction when Cacofonix loses his voice in ''The Roman Agent'', he's genuinely torn apart when Cacofonix decides to leave the village in ''The Secret Weapon'', and in one album he lets the BoundAndGagged Cacofonix sit next to him at the banquet at the end (although he probably tied him up in the first place).
* As children, Sam and Max (of ''Comicbook/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' fame) seemed to be this way. Max used to mercilessly make fun of Sam, who was too shy to ever stand up for himself, but wouldn't stand for anyone else doing the same.
* ComicBook/TheDefenders, in most incarnations. They are in every way a "non-team" of "non-friends," and the standard Defenders' parting words are "Let's never do this again," but if one of them comes to the group for help, s/he'll get it.
* Shimy and Jadina from [[ComicBook/LesLegendaires Les Légendaires]]. Due to both the girls having opposite personalities and backstories, they constantly argue with each other, Shimy being easily irritated by Jadina's apparent silliness and shallowness while Jadina can't stand Shimy's DeadpanSnarker tendencies. Yet, they both display extreme shock when seeing each other seemingly dead, and occasionally attempt to comfort each other. When Jadina learned Danael was attempting to [[HeroicSacrifice have Shimy killed so Anathos couldn't get her body]], she was enraged and yelled that she wouldn't let that happen. In the same vein, Shimy had a violent HeroicBSOD when [[spoiler:finding what appeared to be Jadina's decayed body at the end of book 13]]
* [[ComicBook/{{Morbius}} Michael Morbius]] and [[ComicBook/WerewolfByNight Jack Russell]] have been friends for [[ComicBookTime a good few decades]] -- a friendship filled with sneering, physical fights and death threats. Still, when it comes to it they won't stop at anything to save each other, sharing a kinship in their respective curses that very few others would understand.
* Tony Chu and John Colby of ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' have this to an absurd degree.
* In those continuities where ComicBook/LoisLane ''doesn't'' know [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent and Superman]] are the same person (for instance the Christopher Reeve films or ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'') she is usually this to Clark, enjoying a very friendly workplace rivalry with him and affectionately chastising him for his timidity. In the ''very'' early GoldenAge her dislike for Clark was genuine but their relationship quickly evolved into this trope. Later, more often in the post-crisis stories this went even further as her teasing [[HeIsNotMyBoyfriend covered up a massive crush on Clark.]]
* The entire [=McKenzie=] farm's animals cast from italian comic ''Lupo Alberto''. Not only against the outsider Alberto, but also (and perhaps even more often) towards themselves. The BerserkButton can involve unbridled gossip, opportunity to become famous, uncontrolled fears, [[CloudCuckoolander Glycerine the duck]], complain on work (which is generally treat the gardens)... heck, the list is long.
* ''Comicbook/{{Superboy}}'': Turns out that the ComicBook/{{New 52}} versions of Rose Wilson and Caitlin Fairchild are this, to the point that Fairchild left something behind for Rose to find if anything happened to her.

* Eric and Woody from ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', two lifelong friends who spend more time fighting each other than the bad guys. The fact that they have to meet every 24 hours to touch their quantum bands just adds to the vitriol.
* ''{{ComicBook/Transmetropolitan}}'': Spider has this type of relationship with pretty much everyone who can even stand him (the two exceptions being Vita Severn and Oscar Rossini), but his relationship with Mitchell Royce stands out even for him. Royce has held Spider at gunpoint to force him to work (Royce describes it as "going in with a gun and coming out with either a story or a corpse"), and Spider has at one point gotten Royce infected with an STD that made his testicles sing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star". However, Royce has put his career on the line for to run interference for Spider's sake more than once, and Spider is genuinely appreciative. When Spider has to "vanish", and has reason to believe he will never see Royce again, his last words are:

* While they're not exactly ''best'' buds, Domino and Psylocke have serious shades of this in ''ComicBook/XForce''.
-->'''Domino:''' "Hey, Princess? Shift a little ass, wouldja? We're s'posed to be prepping charges to blow this place. Y'creepy sanctimonious shut-in.\\
'''Psylocke:''' "Perish in a whirlwind of razors and lemon juice you unbearably perky irritation bomb.\\
'''Domino:''' "Good to see ya, Bets."\\
'''Psylocke:''' "You too, Dom."
* [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Batgirl and Spoiler]] are HeterosexualLifePartners, but when they team up there is almost always good-natured grumbling on Stephanie's part, while Cassandra often playfully teases Stephanie about her comparatively inferior combat ability.
* ComicBook/LexLuthor and TheJoker are a [[VillainousFriendship villainous example]] of this. No matter how often they fall out, no matter how often they come to blows, no matter how often they've tried to torture or kill one another they'll always end up working together again. Each has confessed to enjoying the other's company, and inasmuch as either is ''capable'' of having a friend, they view the other as someone who is fun to hang around with.
** Similarly, ComicBook/DoctorDoom and Namor the ComicBook/SubMariner are this. They're both pompous blowhard monarchs who can tolerate very few other people on the planet, and they fight half of the time in the comic series Supervillain Team-Up, but they respect each other as monarchs, and powerful individuals who make hard decisions whereas most people both of them deal with don't rule nations. The only person that comes close to their position is ComicBook/BlackPanther but he doesn't share their arrogance.

* Main page image shows BettyAndVeronica of ''ArchieComics'' fame. The two started out the series back in the [[TheForties 1940s]] as bitter rivals, but some time around the [[TheFifties 1950s]] were morphed into best friends / rivals in love. They still viciously fight each other over Archie, and occasionally play oneupsmanship, but for the most part (and DependingOnTheWriter) they're completely believable as close friends who just happen to share everything together, including character flaws ''and'' boyfriends.

* ComicBook/LexLuthor and TheJoker are a [[VillainousFriendship villainous example]] of this. No matter how often they fall out, no matter how often they come to blows, no matter how often they've tried to torture or kill one another they'll always end up working together again. Each has confessed to enjoying the other's company, and inasmuch as either is ''capable'' of having a friend, they view the other as someone who is fun to hang around with.

* DependingOnTheWriter, SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker either imagines that he and Franchise/{{Batman}} have an extreme variation on the trope, or just pretends he does because it bugs Batman.

** Reggie seems to have this relationship with ''everyone'' in the cast8cast8, which begs the question why they put up with him anyway.
** The aversion of this trope is one of the most noticeable deconstructions in ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''. Veronica and Betty absolutely ''hate'' each other, [[spoiler:though when Veronica's mom died Betty comforted her.]] Veronica has HiddenDepths behind her aggressive personality but is constantly at odds with Betty

* Comicbook/{{Cable}} and SelfDemonstratig/{{Deadpool}} become this more and more throughout their series.

* Comicbook/{{Cable}} and {{Deadpool}} become this more and more throughout their series.

** Deadpool and {{Taskmaster}} have also had this type of "friendship"- perhaps said best by Taskmaster: "The things I do for the friends I can't stand..."

* ComicBook/LexLuthor and TheJoker are a villainous example of this. No matter how often they fall out, no matter how often they come to blows, no matter how often they've tried to torture or kill one another they'll always end up working together again. Each has confessed to enjoying the other's company, and inasmuch as either is ''capable'' of having a friend, they view the other as someone who is fun to hang around with.

* [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Batgirl and Spoiler]] are HeterosexualLifePartners, but when they team up there is almost always good-natured grumbling on Stephanie's part, while Cassandra often playfully teases Stephanie about her comparatively inferior combat ability.

* In those continuities where ComicBook/LoisLane ''doesn't'' know [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent and Superman]] are the same person (for instance the Christopher Reeve films or ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'') she is usually this to Clark, enjoying a very friendly workplace rivalry with him and affectionately chastising him for his timidity. In the ''very'' early GoldenAge her dislike for Clark was genuine but their relationship quickly evolved into this trope.

* Comicbook/EmmaFrost from ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' seems to be this with all of the X-Women, particularly Comicbook/JeanGrey, Comicbook/KittyPryde, and ComicBook/{{X23}}.

* [[Characters/XMenOtherTeams Santo (Rockslide)]] treats everyone like this, at least all the staff and students at the [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Xavier Institute]]. Anole, Pixie, and Mercury return it with the most obvious friendship.

** Asterix himself usually has a bad argument with Oblelix at least OncePerEpisode. It never takes long for them to make up, though.

'''Psylocke:''' "You too, Dom."

--> Goodbye, old friend. You always did right by me.

* Catman and Deadshot from ''SecretSix''.

* ''Comicbook/{{Superboy}}'': Turns out that the {{New 52}} versions of Rose Wilson and Caitlin Fairchild are this, to the point that Fairchild left something behind for Rose to find if anything happened to her.

* Tony Chu and John Colby of {{Chew}} have this to an absurd degree.

* In those continuities where LoisLane ''doesn't'' know [[{{Superman}} Clark Kent and Superman]] are the same person (for instance the Christopher Reeve films or ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'') she is usually this to Clark, enjoying a very friendly workplace rivalry with him and affectionately chastising him for his timidity. In the ''very'' early GoldenAge her dislike for Clark was genuine but their relationship quickly evolved into this trope.

* Eric and Woody from ''ComicBook/QuantumAndWoody'', two lifelong friends who spend more time fighting each other than the bad guys. The fact that they have to meet every 24 hours to touch their quantum bands just adds to the vitriol.

** Reggie seems to have this relationship with ''everyone'' in the cast, which begs the question why they put up with him anyway.
** The aversion of this trope is one of the most noticeable deconstructions in ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''. Veronica and Betty absolutely ''hate'' each other, [[spoiler:though when Veronica's mom died Betty comforted her.]] Veronica has HiddenDepths behind her aggressive personality.

* [[ComicBook/{{Morbius}} Michael Morbius]] and [[ComicBook/WerewolfByNight Jack Russell]] have been friends for [[ComicBookTime a good few decades]] -- a friendship filled with sneering, psychic fights and death threats. Still, when it comes to it they won't stop at anything to save each other, sharing a kinship in their respective curses that very few others would understand.

* Comicbook/EmmaFrost from ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' seems to be this with all of the X-Women, particularly Comicbook/JeanGrey, Comicbook/KittyPryde, and ComicBook/X23.

* Emma Frost from ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' seems to be this with all of the X-Women, particularly Jean Grey, Kitty, and X-23.
** Same with {{Wolverine}} when he's with Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} and Comicbook/{{Gambit}}.

* Main page image shows BettyAndVeronica of ''ArchieComics'' fame. The two started out the series back in the '40s as bitter rivals, but some time around the 50s were morphed into best friends / rivals in love. They still viciously fight each other over Archie, and occasionally play oneupsmanship, but for the most part (and DependingOnTheWriter) they're completely believable as close friends who just happen to share everything together, including character flaws ''and'' boyfriends.