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"It has been a duel between you and me, Mr. Holmes...If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you."

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Other Works

  • The Deaf Man in the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain.
  • Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huckleberry Finn has the King and the Duke, a pair of con men who travel with Huck and Jim (a runaway slave travelling with Huck) for part of the story. Huck interferes with their scheme to swindle the Wilks family, and the con men later sell Jim back into slavery.
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Tom Sawyer has Injun Joe, a murderer whom Tom outed in court.
  • Alex Rider has SCORPIA, a Nebulous Evil Organisation responsible for the deaths of Alex father and uncle, and whose plans are repeatedly foiled by him.
    • In the early part of the series, Alex had Yassen Gregorovich, his uncle's killer.
  • All the Wrong Questions: Lemony Snicket has Hangfire, who manipulates Ellington, tries to throw Lemony out of a window, kidnaps Snicket's friends Jake, Cleo, and Moxie, arranges the murder of Dashiell Qwerty and frames Snicket's chaperone Theodora for the murder. Snicket eventually kills Hangfire by feeding him to the Bombinating Beast.
  • Theseus Spencer to Oberon Navarro in Alterien.
  • Visser Three to the Animorphs.
  • In the early Arsène Lupin novels, the titular gentleman-thief develops this relationship with Sherlock Holmes, of all people (or at least his copyright-friendly expy, "Herlock Sholmes"), coming into conflict with him at least three times. The two are equally brilliant deductive geniuses who develop something of a Worthy Adversary view of each other, each admitting, despite their outward bravado towards each other, that they consider the other to be one of their more formidable and difficult adversaries. They also share some other traits, including a fair amount of contempt for the inefficiency of the police, and a willingness to back away from their feud with each other when needed to help a friend (or a client, or just an innocent bystander).
  • Captain Ciaran Devlyn to Caspian Knoll in Astral Dawn.
  • In the Babar The Hunter and later Rataxes (the warlord of Rhinoland) are the Arch Enemies of Honorable Elephant King Babar.
  • Baltimore: Henry Baltimore and the Red King, who murdered the former's entire family and tried to destroy his life in retribution for slashing his face in World War I. He ended up making him worse, since Baltimore is now supernaturally tireless and will not rest until he is destroyed.
  • The Belgariad: The Prophecy and Dark Prophecy are cosmic archenemies. On the human level we have Belgarah, Disciple of Aldur, and Ctuchik, Disciple of Torak, who have loathed one another for eons.
    • In The Malloreon, Garion, the Child of Light, has Zandramas, the Child of Dark and the kidnapper of his son.
  • Ben-Hur: Judah Ben-Hur has his former friend Messala, who is responsible for his enslavement.
  • Elijah to Queen Jezebel in The Bible.
  • Carl Peterson was the Arch Enemy of Bulldog Drummond, until he was killed in the fourth novel. Afterwards, Carl's mistress, Irma took over his role.
  • The Caine Mutiny: Philip Francis Queeg has Steve Maryk, who led the titular mutiny against him.
  • The Camp Half-Blood Series:
    • Percy Jackson had Luke Castellan, a henchman of Kronos, in the first series. Percy viewed as a Big Brother Mentor until Luke revealed his treachery at the end of the first book.
    • Zeus has his Archnemesis Dad Kronos.
    • Apollo has Python, a monster who Apollo slew for antagonizing his mother Leto, and who Apollo had nightmares about for hundreds of years. After Python is resurrected and Apollo is stripped of the godhood, Python becomes the Final Boss Apollo faces before regaining his godhood.
    • Meg McCaffrey has her abusive stepfather Nero.
  • Captain Underpants:
    • Captain Underpants, George Beard, Harold Hutchins have Tippy Tinkletrousers (formerly known as Pippy P. Poopypants). He seeks revenge on them for causing his plans in the fourth book (back when he was still known as Poopypants) to fail, leading to his imprisonment.
    • George and Harold also have their schoolmate Melvin Sneedly, a Teacher's Pet who broke his promise hot to snitch on the in the second book. During the climax of the sixth book, Melvin, who has become a giant monster, outright tries to eat them.
  • Catch-22:
    • John Yossarian has Colonel Cathcart, his superior officer who keeping increasing the number of missions Yossarian must fly to return home.
    • Yossarian also has Aarfy, his navigator whose incompetence and apathy frustrates Yossarian's. Yossarian's animosity towards Aarfy escalates when he learns that Aarfy raped and murdered a woman named Michaela, and gets away with it.
  • The Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield has Mr. Antolini, his former teacher who Holden looked up to until he (Holden) suspected him (Antolini) of coming on to him by patting Holden's head while he was sleeping.
  • The Chaos Cycle: Velizar is the archfoe of the Dreamwalker. Since prehistoric times the two have reincarnated to feud with each other, with the Dreamwalker's present incarnation Miya being his latest target.

  • In the Chivalry series by Christian Cameron, Sir William Gold and the Bourc Camus are archenemies. The source of their enmity goes back to when the two were routiers in war-torn France, with Camus even then displaying a penchant for sadism and taking a perverse pleasure in antagonizing William. William turns his life around thanks in large part a number of good influences who enter his life, while the Bourc Camus ends up in the employ of the utterly ruthless and power-hungry Archbishop Robert of Geneva, who uses Camus to do his dirty work and gives the knight license to to indulge in his darkest impulses. As Robert is frequently in conflict with William's patrons, William and Camus end up clashing again and again, their hatred growing more intense with each encounter. Camus represents what William could have become had he not had good role models, while William's attempts to actually uphold the ideals of knighthood and the Christian principles enrages Camus, who dismisses these as self-righteous lies and delusions and sees the world as void of any meaning or morality. Camus grows ever more unhinged, vile, and obsessed with William as the books progress, until a significant chunk of the fifth book Hawkwood's Sword revolves around the two single-mindedly hunting each other across the breadth of Europe.
  • The Chronicles of Narnia:
    • Aslan has Jadis, an evil sorceress who arrived in Narnia at the time Aslan created it. 900 years after Narnia's creation. Jadis would take over Narnia, ruling it as an Evil Overlord for 100 years, and kill Aslan, only for Aslan to come Back from the Dead and kill Jadis.
    • Jadis is also this to the four Pevensie children, as she views them as a threat to her reign. Jadis is especially one to Edmund, who she manipulates Edmund into betraying his siblings, imprisons, and seeks to have killed as a traitor, leading to Aslan to allow himself to be sacrificed in Edmund's place. Edmund destroys Jadis' wand during the climax of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
    • Caspian has his Evil Uncle Miraz.
    • Rilian has the Lady of the Green Kirtle, who killed his mother and brainwashed him.
  • The Chronicles of Prydain: Taran has Arawn Death-Lord. Taran comes into conflict with Arawn's servants in the first two books of the series, and in the fifth book, Taran is leading an army against Arawn. Taran is ultimately the person who kills Arawn.
  • The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Thomas Covenant has Lord Foul the Despiser, who is the primary villain for Thomas to oppose throughout the series, and who once enslaved the spirit of his daughter Elena.
  • Ciaphas Cain has Emeli, a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh, Cain's most persistent and powerful enemy. She first appears as a mortal sorceress who tries to seduce Cain on Slawkenberg and gets killed for her trouble. She later returns as a Daemon who regularly haunts Cain's dreams and is the Big Bad of two novels, each time plotting to convert a planet to worshipping her dark god or even remaking it as a Daemon World.
  • Conan the Barbarian:
    • Conan has Thoth-Amon and King Yezdigerd. While he doesn't meet either of them in person during any of the original Howard's stories, he does fight their minions. In the pastiches, Conan develops feuds with both villains that span over many years.
      • Conan's feud with Thoth-Amon began during the events of The God in the Bowl, when the young Conan slays a monster Thoth-Amon intended to use to assassinate a rival priest. Their feud lasts over the course of forty years, After becoming King of Aquilonia, Conan spends several pastiche stories systematically wiping out Thoth-Amon's allies, culimating in Shadows in the Skull, where Conan and Thoth-Amon battle on the fringes of the known world.
      • During Conan's time as an outlaw leader, he was a constant thorn in the side of King Yezdigerd, whose ambitions to expand the Turanian empire were constantly hindered by Conan. However, Conan and Yezdigerd didn't meet in person until pastiche novel The Return of Conan, by which time Conan had already become the King of Aquilonia.
    • There are several other villains who Conan has personal enmities with.
      • Yildiz, Conan's former emploter and the ruler of Turan before the ascension of his (Yildiz's) son Yezdigerd. After Conan's kozaks cause trouble on Turan's borders, Yildiz sends Shah Amurath to stop him, resulting on Conan's band being slaughtered. Conan himself survives, kills Amurath, becomes a pirate, and remains a problem for Yildiz until Yildiz's death.
      • Constantius the Falcon, who has Conan crucified. Conan returns the favor several months later.
      • Olgerd Vladislav, a bandit chief who Conan usurped leadership from. Olgerd later becomes one of the leaders of a cult of assassins, and tries to have Conan killed when they cross paths again. Conan slays Olgerd in combat.
      • King Numedides, his former boss who betrayed him. Conan later leads a rebellion against him, kills him with his bare hands, and takes his place as the King of Aquilonia.
      • Thulandra Thuu, the Dragon-in-Chief to Numedides, the master of a woman who seduced and poisoned Conan, an Evil Sorcerer whose powers cause the deaths of many of Conan's men, and the final obstacle Conan faces before confronting the Non-Action Big Bad Numedides.
      • Strabonus, the King of Koth. In "Shadows in the Dark", Conan foiled Stabonus' attempt the capture the King of Khoraja. In Conan the Renegade, Conan participated in a rebellion against Strabonus, but got betrayed when the Rebel Leader Prince Ivor made peace with Strabonus, a betrayal which led to the death of Conan's friend Hundolph. In "The Scarlet Citadel", Strabonus captures Conan with the aid of the Evil Sorcerer Tsotha-lanti and Conan's treacherous ally King Amalrus, and installs Prince Arello as a Puppet King to replace Conan. However, Conan escapes, kills Strabonus' puppet Arpello, and kills Strabonus himself.
      • Xaltotun, an Evil Sorcerer who helped the Nemedians depose him as the King of Aquilonia and install a tyrannical Puppet King in Conan's stead, which leads to Conan going on a journey to Stygia to obtain the heart of Ahriman (which is necessary to defeat Xaltotun) and back to Aquilonia to reclaim his throne. When Conan returns to retake Aquilonia, he issues a death threat specifically against Xaltotun without bothering to mention any of his co-conspirators (which include two kings and a baron who is their Dragon-in-Chief), as Xaltotun is the true powerhouse amongst the conspirators.
      • Yah Chieng, an Evil Sorcerer who kidnaps Conan's wife Zenobia, prompting Conan to journey to Khitai to rescue her.
      • Xotli, an Eldritch Abomination whose followers kidnap several of Conan's subjects, including his friend Count Trocero, so Xotli can feed on their souls. This results is Conan abdicating the Aquilonian throne and travelliing across the Western Ocean to stop the supernatural threat.
    • Caranthes, a priest of Ibis, has Thoth-Amon, a votary of Set. The conflict of The God in the Bowl was a result of an attempt by Thoth-Amon's to assassinate Caranthes going Off the Rails, an in that same story, Promero refers to Thoth-Amon as "Carantes' deadly foe." In the pastiche novel Conan and the Grim Grey God, the two individuals face each other in a Wizard Duel.
    • Mitra, the predominant deity worshiped by the Hyborians and Greater-Scope Paragon of the setting, has Set, the predominant God of Evil and Greater-Scope Villain of the setting. In the backstory of Conan the Buccaneer, the cults of Mitra and Set fought in the western realm, with Mitra's followers coming out on top, while Set's followers became exiles. In Conan the Rebel, Set himself refers to Mitra as the "Mightiest of [his] rivals." Set is the patron deity to many of the Evil Sorcerers (including Thoth-Amon) who were opposed by Conan, who has been referred to by Lilit in the short story Shadows of the Skull as "the greatest champion of Mitra on earth."
    • Ibis has Set. According to Promero in The God in the Bowl, "The god Ibis has fought Set since the dawn of the earth."
    • In the Back Story of "The Phoenix on the Sword", Set was this to Epemitreus. Which is part of why he helps Conan against Thoth-Amon, one of Set's votaries.
    • Yag-Kosha has Yara, his Deceptive Disciple who enslaved and tortured him.
    • Yasmela has Natohk, who sought to enslave her people and force her to become his queen.
    • Taramis has her Evil Twin Salome, who had her imprisoned, took over her kingdom by impersonating her, and oppressed her people for several months.
    • Devi Yasmina has King Yezdigerd and the Master of Yimsha, who both of whom are responsible for her brother's death, and both of whom sought to enslave her.
    • Pelias has Tsotha-lanti, who had his acolytes slaughtered and subjected him to a Fate Worse than Death for several years.
  • Cthulhu Mythos: Randolph Carter has Nyarlathorep, who seeks to send Carter to Azathoth, only for Carter to manage to outsmart him.
  • The Count of Monte Cristo: Edmond Dantès has Fernand Mondego, Danglars, and Gérard de Villefort, who were responsible for Dantès' wrongful imprisonment.
  • Franny Roote in Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe novels: although Hill dispatches Roote to jail in the series' second novel, An Advancement of Learning, he resurrects him as Pascoe's obsession in Arms and the Women, Dialogues of the Dead, and Death's Jest-Book, then finally elevates him to true Arch Enemy status in A Cure for All Diseases.
  • In Daniel Faust, Daniel and Harmony Black, although they don't particularly hate each other, so much as they're just on opposite ends of the law. Daniel is often noted to be Harmony's "White whale". Played for laughs in Detonation Boulevard where Daniel invokes The Only One Allowed to Defeat You when they're fighting Nyx and they have a brief argument over whether they're technically nemeses.
  • The Dark: Psychic investigator Jacob Kulek and occultist Boris Pryzslak, whose murderous experiments have allowed him to continue his mischief from beyond the grave.
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley has his Big Brother Bully Rodrick.
  • In both The Divine Comedy and Real Life, Pope Boniface VIII was Dante Alighieri's most hated enemy, as he was directly responsible for Dante's exile from Florence. In the poem, it is outright stated he'll end up in Hell (specifically, the bolgia for simoniacs), and every time he's brought up in any conversation, none of the souls have anything nice to say about him.
  • Dracula meets his match after 400 years in the person of Abraham Van Helsing.
  • Dragonlance:
    • Paladine, the highest of the Gods of Good, has his sister Takhisis, the highest of the Gods of Evil. Paladine eventually sacrifices his godhood so Takhisis can be stripped of hers.
    • Tanis Half-Elven has Lord Soth, who tried to take the soul of his love interest Laurena, and killed Tanis in a Bad Future.
    • Laurana has Kitiara uth Mata, her villainous rival for Tanis' love. She even tried to give Laurana's soul to Lord Soth.
  • Cold Days, in The Dresden Files, reveals two factions have this kind of relationship: the Fae Winter Court against Nemesis, a Hate Plague/alien invasion. An epic-scale war that has continued for centuries.
    • Also there is the ongoing battle between the Knights of the Cross and the Order of the Blackened Denarius.
    • The leader of the Denarians, Nicodemus Acheleone, is a solid contender for Harry Dresden's arch enemy.
    • A very short distance behind Nicodemus is the mysterious wizard known only as "Cowl," who seems to be behind more than one of Harry's problems in various books.
  • Dune: Paul Atreides has Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, who conspired against his family, leading to the death of his father Leto.
  • Morjin to Valashu in the Ea Cycle.
  • The Elenium: Sparhawk and his one-time friend Martel, who also act as one another's Evil Counterparts.
  • Frankenstein: Victor Frankenstein has the Creature, his own creation, who seeks vengeance on Victor for abandoning him. The Creature causes the deaths of several people close to Victor. After Victor reneges on his promise to make the Creature a bride, the Creature kills his fiancé Elizabeth.
  • Fu Manchu: Denis Nayland Smith has Fu Manchu, a Diabolical Mastermind who Smith frequently comes into conflict with, and the father of Smith's Love Interest Fah Lo Suee.
  • Gone with the Wind: Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler have India Wilkes, who sought to make them social outcasts.
  • Great Expectations: Abel Magwitch has Compeyson, who used him as a scapegoat.
  • The Great Gatsby: Jay Gatsby has Tom Buchanan, the husband of the woman Jay is obsessed with. Tom indirectly causes Jay's death by falsely telling George Wilson that Jay was the man having an affair with George's wife Myrtle, when it was really Tom himself.
  • Hannibal Lecter:
    • Hannibal Lecter is this to Will Graham, who is responsible for his capture. Lecter later retaliates by giving Graham's address to Francis Dolarhyde, another Serial Killer.
    • Hannibal Lecter also has Mason Verger, who sought revenge on Lecter for mutilating and crippling him.
    • Clarice Starling has Paul Krendler, who sought to ruin her career.
  • Harry Potter:
    • Lord Voldemort, as one of the most powerful and feared Dark Wizards of all time, has amassed a great many enemies, but stands out as a particularly personal foe to three people.
      • Voldemort designates Harry Potter as his enemy from birth, having heard a prophecy stating that a child, who he decided must be Harry, would soon be born with the power to defeat him, and that one of them must kill the other. In the hopes of fulfilling the prophecy, Voldemort attempted to kill Harry after having murdered his parents, only for the spell to backfire and destroy Voldemort's powers. Since then, Voldemort has grown only more determined to kill Harry, to the point of refusing to let any of his minions do the job for him. Harry, in turn, seeks to kill Voldemort not only to avenge his parents and all of the other innocent people Voldemort has murdered in his mad quest for power, but also to save the world from his evil.
      • Albus Dumbledore, as the story's Big Good, leads the opposition to Voldemort's villainy. During Dumbledore's time as a teacher at Hogwarts, Voldemort, then Tom Riddle, was one of of his students. Unlike most of the teachers at Hogwarts, Dumbledore distrusted Riddle. Voldemort had the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching cursed after Dumbledore denied it to him. After Voldemort openly became a terrorist, Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix to oppose him. Dumbedore became known as the only wizard who Voldemort feared.
      • It's revealed late in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that Severus Snape has considered Voldemort his enemy ever since the night Voldemort murdered Harry's mother Lily, who Snape had loved since they were children, and that he has been serving as Dumbledore's Double Agent ever since in the hope of avenging her.
    • Hermione Granger has Rita Skeeter, who libelled her on the Daily Prophet, and Bellatrix Lestrange, who tortured her at Malfoy Manor.
    • Neville Longbottom has Bellatrix Lestrange, who tortured his parents to the point of insanity.
    • Before the series began, Dumbledore had another arch-enemy in Gellert Grindelwald, his friend and (according to Word of God) lover, until Grindelwald caused the death of Dumbledore's sister Ariana.
    • Sirius Black has Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed his friends James and Lily to Voldemort and framed him for the crime. This, along with several other murders Pettigrew framed him for (including Pettigrew's own), lead to Sirius spending twelve years in Azkaban.
    • The Weasley family have the Malfoy family, a wizarding family whose belief in pure-blood supremacy clashes with the Weasleys' sympathies for Muggles and Muggle-borns, with Arthur Weasley in particular expressing a great desire to expose Lucius Malfoy as a dangerous criminal. This feud lead to Lucius Malfoy plotting to discredit Arthur Weasley by secretly giving Tom Riddle's diary to Arthur's daughter, Ginny, so that it would brainwash her into opening the Chamber of Secrets.
    • Slytherin students to Gryffindor students. Their historic dislike of each other goes well beyond the competitive nature of the House Cup and is said to date back to the founding of Hogwarts and the historical rivalry between house founders Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor (to put it in perspective, Gryffindor's relationship with other houses is a more of a Friendly Rivalry).
  • Holes: Stanley Yelnats IV has Warden Louise Walker, the abusive warden of Camp Green Lake, the juvenile detention camp which Stanley is sent to.
  • Honor Harrington has Pavel Young, who tried to rape her when she was a midshipwoman at the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy. Years later, Young disobeyed Harrington in a battle, resulting in his dishonorable discharge. A vengeful Young hires Denver Summervale to kill Harrington and her Love Interest Paul Tankersley. Summervale succeeds in killing Tankersley, but is killed by Harrington, who subsequently kills Young in a Duel to the Death.
  • The Hunger Games: Katniss Everdeen has President Coriolanus Snow, who systematically ruins her life after she forces the Gamemakers to declare both her and Peeta Mellark victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
  • Inheritance Cycle: Eragon spends the entire tetralogy opposing King Galbatorix, the Evil Overlord ruling the Broddring Empire. In Brisingr, Galbatorix kills Eragon's mentor Oromis while possessing Murtagh.
  • Jack Ryan: After becoming President, Jack Ryan develops something of a political arch-nemesis in Ed Kealty. Ryan originally replaces him as Vice-President when Kealty is forced to resign to avoid a scandal; however, when a terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress and puts Ryan in the White House, Kealty spends weeks trying to steal the Presidency from him by claiming that he never actually got around to resigning. The problem is eventually settled, but Kealty succeeds Ryan as President anyway a few years later (after Ryan's own VP dies in an assassination that leaves Kealty running essentially unopposed), and spends his first term in office undoing much of Ryan's reforms and governing incompetently. Ryan gets the last laugh when he defeats Kealty in the next presidential election. Throughout it all, Ryan develops an unreserved loathing for the man not for his liberal politics (he does disagree with that, but he respects and has worked with plenty of liberals) so much as his elitist worldview, Sleazy Politician behavior... and the fact that he's a serial rapist. Being a career politician from a family of such people as well as a common criminal who should have been jailed years ago, Kealty symbolizes everything Ryan hates about "official Washington," and its tendency to behave as an aristocracy above the law rather than the public servants they're supposed to be.
  • Two in James Bond:
    • At the end of Casino Royale, Bond declares a personal vendetta on the whole of SMERSH (the Soviet agency in charge of assassinations) as revenge for killing Vesper Lynd. Its leader General Grubozaboyschikov similarly comes to view Bond as a unique enough threat to personally order his assassination.
    • SMERSH fades into the background over time and is replaced as the main enemy by the criminal organization SPECTRE and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Bond's enmity against him is originally purely professional, but he comes to think of it more and more as a blood feud, first due to his frustrating inability to track him down, and then due to Blofeld murdering his wife Tracy almost immediately after their marriage. Unlike the head of SMERSH, Bond does at least get the satisfaction of killing Blofeld himself in the end.
  • James and the Giant Peach: James has his abusive aunts, Spiker and Spooge.
  • John Devil, from the eponymous novel by Paul Feval is the Arch Enemy of Inspector Gregory Temple, as well as being one of the earliest super-villains, anticipating the aforementioned Moriarty with about 30 years.
  • Soviet spymaster Karla to George Smiley in various John le Carré novels.
  • Shere Khan the tiger to Mowgli in The Jungle Book and its adaptations.
  • Keys to the Kingdom: Arthur Penhaligon, Rightful Heir to the House, has Lady Saturday (who is responsible for much of the series' conflict, including the creation of the Skinless Boy to blackmail Arthur) and Lord Sunday (the most powerful of the Trustees who have taken over the House).
  • Stephen King:
    • In The Dark Tower, Roland Deschain has Walter a.k.a. Randall Flagg, The Dragon to the Crimson King, as his most prominent enemy.
    • Carrie: Carrie While has her abusive mother Margaret and the Alpha Bitch Chris Hargensen, the latter of whom orchestrated the prank that finally set Carrie over the edge.
    • 'Salem's Lot: Ben Mears has Kurt Barlow, who is responsible for Ben's Love Interest Susan becoming a vampire, forcing Ben to stake her.
    • The Dead Zone: Johnny Smith has Greg Stillson, a Sleazy Politician who Johnny forsees in his psychic visons as causing a nuclear conflict, eventually driving Johnny to attempt to assassinate Stillson.
    • Cujo: Donna Trenton has Cujo, a rabid dog which menaces her and her son Tad, resulting in Donna being bitten in the stomach and leg, Tad dying of dehydration and heatstroke, and Donna killing Cujo.
    • Misery: Paul Sheldon has Annie Wilkes, a Loony Fan who imprisons him and cuts off his leg.
    • IT/Pennywise to the Losers' Club in IT, although IT considers The Turtle to be IT's true nemesis. IT kills George, the younger brother of the Losers's leader Bill. IT returns to antagonist the Losers 27 years after they defeated him as children.
      • Henry Bowers also serves as an intensely personal antagonist to the gang, particularly Mike and Ben.
    • Lisey’s Story: Lisey Landon has Jim Dooley, her late husband Scott's Loony Fan who stalks and tortures her for Scott's papers.
    • Doctor Sleep: Danny Torrance has Rose the Hat, a fellow psychic who seeks to capture his niece
  • The Nome King is the Arch Enemy of Dorothy Gale and Ozma of Oz in the Land of Oz series.
  • The Last Dogs: Max has Dolph, the vengeful leader of a pack of wolves who persistently pursue Max for injuring one of Dolph's pack members. Dolph is also responsible for the death of Raoul, a cat who Max befriended.
  • Left Behind: Rayford Steele and Tsion Ben-Judah have Nicolae Carpathia, who is The Antichrist and the leader of the Global Community.
    • Rayford Steele is a founding member of the Tribulation Force which opposes Carpathia, eventually becoming its leader. Rayford is the only founding member who survives to the Glorious Appearing, as all the others have perished by that point, including his daughter Chloe, who was executed by the Global Community.
    • Tsion Ben-Judah proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, converted many people to Christianity, and became the Voice of the Resistance for the Tribulation Force. Carpathia bombed the city of Petra to kill Tsion, only for God to protect him.
  • The balor Errtu is the self-proclaimed archenemy of Drizzt. Errtu claims that no one else hates Drizzt as much as he does. Errtu is glad that Drizzt is a Dark Elf, a being whose projected lifespan can be measured in centuries, since this means there's a good chance Drizzt will still be alive when Errtu is eventually allowed to leave the Abyss. Every time Errtu finds a way out of the Abyss he makes a beeline for Drizzt. During one of his stays in the Abyss, Errtu took great pleasure in torturing the soul of one of Drizzt's friends. While Drizzt has other foes like the assassin Artemis Entreri and the orc king Obould Many-Arrows who both eventually make peace with Drizzt, Errtu is far more evil than either of those two and is also the only one who could theoretically hound Drizzt for the rest of his life.
  • Lord of the Flies: Ralph has Jack Merridew, who usurps his leadership over the other boys, and Jack's Psycho Supporter Roger, who kills Piggy.
  • Matilda: Maltilda Wormwood has Agata Trunchbull, the abusive headmistress of her school. Trunchbull is aso the abusive aunt of Miss Honey, Matilda's teacher. Trunchbull stole Miss Honey's inheritence, and is implied to have murdered her father. After learning of Honey's Dark And Troubled Past With Trunchbull, Matilda uses her powers to scare the superstitious Trunchbull into giving Honey her inheritence.
  • Moby-Dick: Captain Ahab has Moby Dick, a whale who took his leg.
  • Le Morte D Arthur: King Arthur has Mordred, his Antagonistic Offspring who usurps his throne. Arthur and Mordred ultimately kill each other.
  • Dime Novel hero Nick Carter's greatest foe was the fiendish Professor Jack Quartz, a hypnotist and vivisectionist.
  • In No Country for Old Men: Llewelyn Moss has Anton Chiguhr, who is after the cash Moss stole, and threatens to kill Moss' wife if he doesn't hand it over.
  • Oliver Twist: The title character has Monks and Fagin, who seek to turn Oliver into a criminal so that Oliver's inheritence will go to Monks.
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Randle McMurphy has Nurse Ratched, a Battleaxe Nurse working at the hospital he was sent to. McMurphy constantly undermined her authority, despite Ratched's attempts to break him with shock therapy. When Ratched causes the suicide of fellow patient Billy, McMurphy attacks her, resulting in his lobotomization.
  • Pride and Prejudice: Fitzwilliam Darcy has George Wickham, his Evil Former Friend who tried to elope with his sister, and later manipulated his Love Interest Elizabeth against him.
  • In Dan Abnett’s Ravenor trilogy, Zygmunt Molotch is the arch-nemesis of the titular Gideon Ravenor. The two men have been trying to kill each other for more than seventy years by the time the trilogy takes place, and their enmity is deeply personal, with Molotch having killed three of Ravenor’s best agents prior to the first book. When Ravenor learns that Molotch has cheated death once again in the third book, he defies orders to stand down and goes rogue in order to end Molotch once and for all.
  • Rebecca: The second Mrs. de Winter has Mrs. Danvers, who despises her for replacing the deceased Rebecca de Winter (who Mrs. Danvers was close to), as the mistress of the Manderly estate.
  • Redwall has had a few examples:
    • In the original book, Matthias has Cluny the Scourge, who attacks his home, Redwall Abbey.
    • Outcast of Redwall, Sunflash the Mace has Swartt Sixclaw. When Sunflash maims Swartt's trademark sixclawed paw while escaping enslavement, a feud is struck that will haunt them both for their lives. From the time they are teenagers until Swartt's death in late middle age, they are always hunting one another.
  • The Saga of Arrow-Odd: Ogmund Eythjofslayer and Odd are locked in a deadly feud that lasts for most of their lives and has been triggered by Odd's depredation of Bjarmaland, Odd's very first viking cruise and the same voyage that made him rich and famous in the first place. Despite being deadly enemies, they also have much in common — such as being nigh-immortals who dedicate their lives to the quest for glory by battle and conquest.
  • Chauvelin for the eponymous hero of The Scarlet Pimpernel, with generous traces of Inspector Javert.
  • Schooled in Magic: Nanette, originally introduced as the spy Lin, develops a grudge against Emily after Aurelius takes Emily as a sort of protege. After Mountaintop's fall, Aurelius is dead, and Nanette devotes herself to ruining Emily's life, allying with many of Emily's other enemies to attack her again and again. Her actions were partly responsible for kicking over the dominoes that led to the Zangarian Civil War.
  • A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Baudelaire Children have Count Olaf, who repeatedly schemes to steal their fortune.
  • The Shadowhunter Chronicles: Clary Fairchild has Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern, her villainous older brother who lusts for her.
  • In the Shannara franchise, Bremen the last of the original Druids, and Brona the Warlock Lord (who betrayed and destroyed the Druid Order) were this in the Backstory. This was eventually expanded on in First King of Shannara, where we see that Bremen in particular took this very personally. In The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara the Ilse Witch thinks that she and Walker are archenemies but in reality she's been duped, and he wants to save her. A straight example in Voyage is Elven Prince Ahren Elessedil and Mwellret Cree Bega. There's just something fundamentally twisted in the tortured relationship between this broken Elf and the sociopathic Smug Snake who turned him into The Woobie.
  • Sharpe: Hakeswill in seems to dedicate himself expressly to making Sharpe's life miserable — he has him flogged in pre-Canon (eventually dramatised in the prequel novels), he has Harper flogged after figuring out how close he and Sharpe are, he attempts to rape and eventually murders Sharpe's wife... Sharpe tries and fails to kill him in repeated inventive ways before he finally gets to give him the coup de grace at his execution.
    • Once Hakeswill had been written out of the novels, this role was arguably taken over by Major Ducos, a French spymaster who is constantly coming up with schemes to hamstring, if not outright stop, the British war effort, as well as to humiliate, discredit and kill Sharpe in the process.
  • Professor James Moriarty, the "Napoleon of Crime" in the great detective's words, is Sherlock Holmes' Arch Enemy and Worthy Opponent. Almost by default, since he only really appears in a grand total of two stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though of course other Sherlock Holmes stories (be it literature or whatever other media) have since run with it and made him a regular (the most regular, by a large margin) foe of Holmes.
  • Skulduggery Pleasant:
  • In A Song of Ice and Fire, Cersei Lannister thinks that Tyrion is her worst enemy thanks to a prophecy stating that she would be strangled to death by the hands of her younger brother. She is utterly convinced in A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons that everything going wrong in her life is Tyrion's work.
    • More generally, House Stark considers House Lannister to be their archenemies and the conflict between the two is central to the story. The Lannisters see the Starks more as annoyances and to get them out of their way, have them killed or attempt to assassinate them (Joffrey has Eddard (Ned) Stark executed, the Lannisters orchestrate the deaths of Robb and Catelyn, while Cersei attempts to have Jon killed after he becomes Lord Commander). So, between the Lannisters killing Ned, holding Sansa and (supposedly) Arya Stark hostage, crippling Bran, and the Lannisters who mastermind the Red Wedding... Yeah, It's Personal. The Starks thought they were archenemies before but by this stage, several members of the Stark clan exist solely to destroy the Lannister House.
      • Specifically, Catelyn despises Cersei Lannister and blames her for what happened to her husband Ned and children; Arya seems to hate every single one of them but especially hates Joffrey as he killed her father Ned and her friend Mycah; Joffrey thinks he is The Rival to Robb Stark (from a purely dynastic point of view, he is right, but Robb completely outclasses him as a warrior and commander, partly because Joffrey is still just a kid); Robb himself despises the Lannisters for killing his father and probably sees Jaime as the Lannister he has to beat; and Jon despises the Lannisters who killed his father and brother Robb and/or caused harm to the rest of his family. On the flip side, the heads of these households — Tywin and Eddard — don't seem to think about the other that much at all, while Tyrion Lannister has a... complicated relationship... with all of them (both with the Stark family and his own, ranging from antagonistic to Odd Friendship). The youngest children, on both sides, are treated more like victims of the whole thing.
      • Historically the Boltons, another powerful Northern House, were the enemies of House Stark, even killing some of the Stark Kings. The hostilities seemed to ended have centuries ago, however the Boltons end up betraying the Starks and Lord Bolton murders King Robb Stark.
    • Gregor Clegane, the Mountain that Rides, is an Ax-Crazy sociopath with a penchant for Rape, Pillage, and Burn, and as such several characters (including his own brother) have sworn to kill him for whatever specific crime he happened to commit against them or their family on any given day.
    • Rhaegar Targaryen was highly regarded by most people and generally seen as The Wise Prince by everyone... Except by Robert Baratheon, who hated him with a such a passion that he not only killed Rhaegar personally in mortal combat, he swore to kill every single Targaryen he could get his hands on, including their children. Though, the practice of slaughtering the kin of rivals to the throne is not exactly uncommon in this setting (and the known surviving Targayen children actually are plotting to overthrow him and his House), it is strongly implied that Robert did this purely out of spite for the Targaryens' in general and Rhaegar in particular.
    • Stannis Baratheon seems to be this to the Lannisters with Robb Stark's death. He was already their main adversary, however he has continued to antagonize them longer then their other rivals.
    • Zhea had Lo Bu, who launched a geonicidal campaign against Zhea's people. When Lo Bu divided his forces, Zhea picked them off, and eventually Lo Bu himself was killed by Zhea's riders, after which Zhea had Lo Bu's skull turned into a drinking cup.
  • Song of the Lioness: Alanna of Trebond has Duke Roger of Conté, who inflicted the Sweating Sickness on friend Jonathan. Alanna seemingly kills Roger in a trial by combat, only for Roger to come back and seek revenge against Alanna, having used the Sorcerer's Sleep to fake his death. Alanna also has Alex of Tirragen, her Rival Turned Evil.
  • Soon I Will Be Invincible: After defeating Doctor Impossible and discovering her ties to him, Fatale considers this might make him her Arch Enemy, but is it worth it?
    I suppose I ought to vow to oppose him forever; make a nemesis issue of it. But it's a little beside the point. ... with CoreFire back, he's already got a nemesis. I'd have to be a co-nemesis. ... I'm not 100 percent sure what I'm supposed to angry about, if we come down to it.
  • The Spiderwick Chronicles: Jared Grace has Mulgarath, who seeks to abusive the knowledge of a field guide which Jared discovered, which was created by Jared's relative Arthur Spiderwick. Mulgarath eventually becomes resposnible for the kidnapping of Jared's mother Helen.
  • Spy School: Murray Hill serves as one to Ben after the first book, sometimes while working as a freelance spy, sometimes on behalf of the evil organization Spyder.
  • Lex Luthor (or the Guy who took the name-Like he cared about a copyright infringement suit) thought he was in Tales of an Mazing Girl. He was more of a minor threat.
    • The Duke of Wellington and Napoléon Bonaparte, whom some like to see as historical archenemies, even though they probably did not see themselves that way, show up in the series.
  • The Three Musketeers.
    • The Three Musketeers have Milady de Winter, the wife of Athos and spy of Cardinal Richelieu. Athos hanged her after discovering she was a convicted criminal, and towards the end of the novel, the musketeers execute her.
    • Queen Anne has Cardinal Richelieu who seeks to expose her affair with the Duke of Buckingham as revenge for her rejecting his advances.
  • In Timeline-191 the United States of America and the Confederate States of America are one another's archenemies, fighting four wars against one another, and spending most of their time when they are not at war preparing for the next one.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird: Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson have Bob Ewell, who framed Tom for rape, laeading to his conviction and subsequent death, but not before Atticus, serving as Tom's attorney, humilated Bob in court. As a result, Bob swears vengeace on Atticus, and he attempts to do do by targeting his children.
  • This shows up a bit in Tolkien's Legendarium.
    • Manwe, King of the Vala, and Melkor Arda's God of Evil, later known as Morgoth Bauglir, are this. However Tulkas could also be considered this for Morgoth as he defeats them personally twice in combat, and him entering Arda caused Morgoth to flee, giving peace for a time. Morgoth could be considered this for many of the heroes of the First Age, such as Beren and Hurin.
    • Huan, the greatest wolfhound in Middle-Earth, and Carcharoth, the greatest wolf to have ever lived, who was created by Morgoth because of a prophecy that only such a wolf could kill Huan. They end up performing a Mutual Kill.
    • Glaurung, Father of Dragons, serves as this for Turin and his sister Nienor in "The Children of Húrin". Bear in mind that Morgoth had cursed their father Hurin and his family so could be considered the enemy of their family, his actions eventually wiping them out. However Glaurung is the one who causes the most trouble directly for them, even though Turin kills him his actions drive Turin and his sister to suicide.
    • Morgoth to all heroes in The Silmarillion. Manwe, Feanor, Fingolfin, Finrod, Beren, Luthien, Hurin and Tuor in particular.
    • The Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings has Sauron, as it was formed to destroy the One Ring, which would permanently deprive Sauron of his power.
      • Gandalf was one of the Maiar sent to oppose Sauron during the Third Age. He spent centuries assisting the Free Peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron, and manipulating events that would lead to Sauron's downfall.
      • Gandalf also has Saruman, his treacherous former ally. Gandalf would later destroy Saruman's staff, casting him out of the Istari.
      • Aragorn is the heir of Isildur, the man who deprived Sauron of the One Ring. Aragorn took advantage of him being the seemingly obvious threat to Sauron by leading an army to challenge him at the Black Gate, distracting Sauron long enough for the One Ring to be destroyed.
      • Frodo Baggons spends the majority of his journey to Mordor fighting a battle of wills with the One Ring, which contains a portion of Sauron's soul. Frodo Baggins seeks to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, which would permanently end any possibility of Sauron returning to power, while evading the efforts of Sauron's servants to reclaim the ring and return it to its master, as well as resisting the ring's own corrupting influence. Frodo finally succumbs to the ring's influence once they reach Mount Doom, and although events transpire leading to the One Ring's immediate destruction anyway, Frodo is left broken by his failure.
      • Frodo Baggins also has Gollum, who previously possessed the One Ring before losing it to Frodo's relative Bilbo. Gollum seeks to kill Frodo and reclaim the One Ring from him.
    • Smaug to Thorin Oakenshield and his company in The Hobbit.
  • In the Warrior Cats series, the most notable examples are Fireheart and Tigerclaw, and, coincidentally, their mentors, Bluefur and Thistleclaw.
  • Wars Of The Realm: the angel protagonist Validus has Niturni, a powerful angel who used to be his friend but became a demon. Also Apollyon to Elohim.
  • In The Wheel of Time the Forsaken Ishamael Later Moridin clearly views himself as this to Rand Al'Thor. Considering that he's The 'Verse's version of The Antichrist, from a metaphysical standpoint he's not wrong, either. However, another member of the Forsaken would contest the position- Demandred, who is said to have hated Rand's previous incarnation more than anyone has ever hated anything and has transferred that hate fully to Rand, making it plain that he sees himself as the only one allowed to defeat him though Moridin makes it plain he won't respect that if his plans call for it. Prior to his death, Sammael would have put himself up for the title too, though other Forsaken feel he falls well short of Demandred for sheer hatred- yeah, being the main character in a series where It Sucks to Be the Chosen One means you get lots of people who want this position. Other characters have them too, usually (but not always) their Evil Counterpart:
    • Mat has the Gholam.
      • Mat is also considered the counterpart to the Forsaken Balthalmel (since both are gamblers and womanizers), though the two don't really interact. There is also Padain Fain, due to their mutual connection with Shadar Logoth, and Fain once held Mats family captive. And it is ultimately Mat who takes Fain down. Though Fain considers Rand his archenemy (despite hating Mat and Perrin also, adn the Ishamael and the Dark One), and furthermore Fain kills Perrin's family.
    • Perrin has Slayer.
    • Egwene has Elaida.
    • Nynaeve has Moghedien.
  • The Witcher: Geralt of Rivia and his daughter figure Ciri have Emperor Emhyr var Emreis and Vilgefortz, who each seek to use Ciri for their own agendas. Emhyr seeeks to impregnate his daughter Ciri with a son who will rule the world, while Vilgefortz seeks to use Ciri's blood.
  • World Without End: Gwenda has Ralph, who raped her on more than one occasion.
  • Xeelee Sequence has this relationship between the Xeelee and the photino birds. The Xeelee have spent most of the history of the Universe creating black holes as habitats, production facilities and computers. This has put them on a collision course with the photino birds, who are dark matter entities and may or may not know that the Xeelee exist or that baryonic life is possible, but know that something is turning stars into black holes, which is an existential threat to them.


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