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Belligerent Sexual Tension
aka: When A Jerk Loves A Tsundere

"Wonderful girl! Either I'm gonna kill her, or I'm beginning to like her!"
Han Solo, A New Hope, about Princess Leia after she lambasted their lack of strategy during a firefight.

There's a couple, usually a sweet but quickly angered female paired with a secretly-kind jerk, who are not able to admit their feelings. At the top of their lungs.

Despite the conflict, there is an attraction. This is obvious to everyone around except the couple. Confront them with the obvious, they'll deny deny deny. Sometimes they will progress to admitting their friendship but insist they are Just Friends. Eventually, they can admit their feelings to practically anyone except their loved one. It ends up where both characters dance around admitting their feelings as if the words "I love you" are some sort of death curse, much to the frustration of the audience and the other characters.

Older Than Steam, since this is used in Much Ado About Nothing, and has varying degrees of popularity at different times.

If there is a Love Epiphany with one of these characters, expect it to change almost nothing, at least in the short term.

Given how entertaining they are, expect this couple to be popular with the fandom.


Examples

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 

    Comic Books 

    Fan Works 

    Films — Animation 

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 
  • It's hinted that Rachel and Marco's playful rivalry in the early Animorphs books might be this, particularly on Marco's part. It begins to take on much darker and nastier undertones as the war wears on.
  • Jane Eyre is very subtle, but it's definitely present, especially in the tight, intelligent discussions between Jane and Mr. Rochester. Because it was the 1800s and written by a woman, odds are good that really obvious sexual tension would've been ever more frowned upon than the book having a female author in the first place. This example is more evident in the movie, especially the 2011 one.
  • Pretty much any Mills & Boone romance novel will feature a "feisty female" lead, while the leading male is always a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Harry Potter has Ron and Hermione.
  • The Lensman universe has Kim Kinnison, Lensman, and Clarissa MacDougall, Prime Base Hospital nurse. They annoy the hell out of each other as patient and caregiver, but in fact their psychological makeup has been carefully crafted to produce a good match - eventually. His rants in hospital (he wants rich food, but is still recovering from major surgery for multiple penetrating bullet wounds) later become a plot point when he has to surreptitiously let Clarissa know that she and the other captured Patrol nurses are in safe hands and shouldn't commit suicide to avoid sexual enslavement.
  • Zohra and Khardan in Rose of the Prophet. They have a forced marriage early in the first book. The bride is tied up and gagged to wed the falling-down-drunk groom, and the wedding night notably involves the bride stabbing her would-be husband. Will They or Won't They? is still a big plot point (they may be married, but consummation is not forthcoming), and basically will decide if their people survive or die.
  • The Chronicles Of Prydain has Eilonwy and Taran.
  • Simon R. Green's Blue Moon Rising has Prince Rupert (Jerk with a Heart of Gold) and Princess Julia (Type A Tsundere for most of the book, becomes type B towards the end though). They eventually get their act together at the end and by the time of the sequels are a real Battle Couple
  • Claire Bell's The Book of the Named gives us Ratha, a type B Tsundere, and Bonechewer, a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Due to an Enemy Mine situation, they do eventually end up together, only to fall out over the secret of the Named's sentience, and her people killing him when he raided their flocks.
  • In the Night World series, Ash and Mary-Lynette are like this in the majority of Daughters of Darkness. He's a self-admitted jerk who toys with hearts, she's deredere but kicks him in the shins. A lot.
  • Supposedly Howl and Sophie from the novel (but not the film) Howl's Moving Castle and its sequels, though this is probably due more to Word Of God than any actual outstanding examples within the books.
    • Howl and Sophie consistently and constantly have verbal sniping matches throughout the entire book, and that doesn't exactly change — though it's affectionate after their marriage. They even take the time to do so while rushing using life-endangering magic to the climax of the battle. And during their confessions of love.
    • They get engaged at the end of the first book. That's not exactly an extended Will They or Won't They?.
    • In the sequel, Castle in the Air, Abdullah asks Sophie to tell him about Howl, and the response Sophie gives him prompts him to say, "Strange that you should speak so proudly such a list of vices, most loving of ladies." Sophie's retort: "What do you mean, vices? I'm just describing Howl." The belligerence is just how they roll.
  • Brienne and Jaime from A Song of Ice and Fire might count, though their relationship is mostly platonic with only a little sexual tension.
  • Pride and Prejudice actually contains considerably less of this trope between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy than some of its adaptations and fandom would have you believe; Lizzie genuinely hates Darcy at the beginning, and by the time they get together they aren't bickering anymore. If you want a Jane Austen couple who really display this trope, check out Mr. Knightley and Emma.
  • Erasmus and Ala from Anathem.
  • In On the Edge, Rose and Declan bicker constantly, mainly because Declan insists on Rose marrying him and she is determined to maintain her independence. Despite herself, Rose finds herself wondering what such a marriage would be like...
  • Annice and Pjerin in Tanya Huff's Sing the Four Quarters.
  • Nathaniel and Kitty are this on the occasions when they meet going through The Bartimaeus Trilogy. They even fit the "jerk with a heart of gold" and "sweet but easily angered female" stereotypes. Well, then again maybe "sweet" isn't really the word for the girl, but the rest is true. Also helped along by the fact that they are on opposing sides of a politcal war.
  • CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: In The Horse and His Boy, Aravis and Cor spend most of the book vehemently disagreeing and voicing their annoyance with each other; eventually, though, they quarrel and make up so often that they get married "so as to go on doing it more conveniently."
  • In The Guardians, Irena and Alejandro argue with each other constantly. It's lampshaded by the other characters.
    Alejandro: "We're just friends."
    Jake: "If you say so."
  • Percy Jackson and the Olympians has the titular character and Annabeth, who bicker as much as they show affection for each other.
    • It gets worse when Luke gives up his body to Kronos in the fourth book. Percy is convinced that Luke cannot be redeemed, but Annabeth, who shares a long history with Luke, believes there's still hope. This disagreement causes a huge amount of bad feeling between them. It all works out in the end, though.
  • Miss Alexia Tarrabotti and Lord Conall Maccon in Soulless
  • Mac and Barrons in the Fever Series.
  • Ian Kabra and Amy Cahill in The 39 Clues series. He "fakes" feelings for her and then leaves her and her brother for dead, she kicks him in the shin, he and his sister are always helping their mother Isabel try to kill them, etc., etc. Yet there's still tension there.
  • Zoe and Jason from "Addicted" 10,000%
  • The Spy Five, a short series of virtually unknown books available through Scholastic's book fair order forms, gives us Usula and Julian. They run in the same circles as Ron and Hermione. She's bossy and intelligent, while he's "cool" and loves sports. Both have a Hair-Trigger Temper, triggered by the other.
  • Mort and Ysabell. Largely because Ysabell knows she's supposed to marry Mort and resents this, and Mort is perennially clueless. As the book that introduces their daughter puts it "Between Mort and Ysabell there was an instant dislike, and everyone knows what that means in the long term".
    • Lords and Ladies implies that Archchancellor Ridcully and Granny Weatherwax had this sort of relationship when they were younger. When they meet again decades later, it immediately starts up again. Ridcully regrets that nothing ever actually happened between them, while Granny takes a more pragmatic "it was for the best" approach (although it's revealed that she kept the love letters he sent all these years).
  • Lampshaded in John C. Wright's Chronicles Of Chaos: Amelia notes she once thought Vanity's squabbling with Colin was a sign of love, since that's the way it always happens in books. Vanity actually loves Quentin, and is very attentive and kind around him.
  • David Eddings is almost as fond of this trope as Rumiko Takahashi. Half the couples in the Belgariad alone fall under it, most notably Garion / Ce'Nedra, Relg / Taiba, and Beldin/Vella in the Malloreon.
  • From The Kingdomsof Evil, Freetrick and Bloodbyrn, sorry! I mean, Bloodbyrn and Freetrick.
  • L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables gives us Anne and Gilbert, though the belligerence is much more on Anne's part than Gilbert's. It started with Gilbert making an ill-timed comment about her red hair, and getting his slate smashed over the top of his head. From there it spawned a legendary academic rivalry and Avonlea's most infamous love affair.
    • In Rilla of Ingleside Jerry Meredith and Nan Blythe's relationship is said to be worked out mainly through their own form of sweethearting, which involves a lot of arguing.
  • Sisterhood series by Fern Michaels: Maggie Spritzer and Ted Robinson have this going on between them for a long time. They eventually got engaged to be married. However, Deja Vu has Maggie calling it off, because she ends up realizing that she's been unfair to both Ted and Abner Tookus.
  • Mercy Thompson and Adam Hauptman don't stop even after they get married. Mercy states that she actually enjoys fighting with Adam.
  • In PG Wodehouse's Jill the Reckless, Jill remembers how Wally Mason would put a worm down her back or bound out from behind a tree. Adult, he confesses to a mad love for her.
  • Demetrus and Andra in The Day of Reckoning argue loudly about his lack of ethics and her hypocrisy, but they stick together despite dangerous situations. A visiting Jedi, listening to them, concludes that they genuinely care for each other. Later it turns out that they get married.
    • Those same Jedi, in The Shattered Peace, witness two people from rival worlds meeting for the first time, bickering fiercely, making up and working well together, and then parting acrimoniously. When one finds that he's inadvertently endangered the other he immediately tries to help her. In this case Obi-Wan was oblivious to this trope in action, but Qui-Gon saw it.
      "Words do not always echo feelings. You saw two enemies. I saw two young beings fighting an attraction they knew was inappropriate."
  • Sasha and Daichi in Greek Ninja. They hate each other's guts, yet Eleonora points out that they are a match made in heaven. So she's onto them...
  • Benny and Jason in the Doctor Who New Adventures novel Death and Diplomacy. Eventually Jason's Non-Human Sidekick gives them an infuriated psych evaluation on the grounds that "If I hear one more sexually-charged and mutually misunderstood argument I'm going to shoot the pair of you!"
  • The Kingdom and the Crown during the second book has the main character Simeon develop this with the main antangonists' daughter, Miriam. They resolve it by the end and get married in the third book.

    Live-Action TV 
  • In Smallville, Lois & Clark.
  • Cheers: Practically the television Trope Codifier; most television shows since have mimicked the hostile romance between Sam and Diane.
    Diane: And you, Sam Malone—are the most arrogant, self-centered, SON OF
    Diane: Make me.
    Sam: Make you...? My God, I'm, I'm gonna, I'M GONNA BOUNCE YOU OFF EVERY WALL IN THIS OFFICE!!
    Diane: (smirk) Try it and you'll be walking FUNNY tomorrow. Or should I say funnier!
    Sam: You know...you know I always wanted to pop you one. Maybe this is my lucky day, huh?
    Diane: (low voice) You disgust me.... I hate you.
    Diane: More!
    Sam: Bet me. (followed by The Big Damn Kiss)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: Xena and Ares. So VERY much.
  • The Mighty Boosh. Sweet, handsome Vince Noir and awkward Loner Howard Moon are made for each other. Everyone in the Boosh universe, naturally, can see it except them.
  • Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl seem poised to play Will They or Won't They? for the remainder of the series.
    • As of season three, they are Happily Married... except without the actual marriage part.
  • Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, the Official Couple on Star Trek: Voyager (sometimes it appeared they were the only couple on Voyager). Even after they got married. In one episode, a pair of aliens even described this in precise detail while observing the two.
  • A subplot of one Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode involves Chief O'Brien being forced to work with a female Cardassian engineer. The two spend the entire episode bickering and sniping at each other. He interprets her apparent hostility as typical Cardassian disdain for humans. She interprets his apparent hostility as O'Brien coming onto her, since apparently Belligerent Sexual Tension forms the basis of Cardassian courtship. (The Garak/Bashir slashers proceeded to have a lot of fun with the implications of Garak arguing with Bashir over literature for three years.)
  • Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran of Stargate SG-1. With Vala the Jerk with a Heart of Gold able to annoy Daniel (in a way no one else quite could) into losing his cool. Also none of the other cast really expect them to get together, but Mitchell did sometimes tease Daniel about it.
    • They actually took the Belligerent part of this trope quite literally in Vala's first episode with a spectacular fight sequence unlike anything ever seen in the show. Lampshaded right off the bat by Vala with; "You know, we could just have sex instead."
  • Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla of Sanctuary. Sure, they have different opinions about bringing vampires back. And yes they did have a few arguments about this (Nikola once said "Magnus has shot me more times than I can count"). But still, he is the only one who gets on her nerves that much and gets away with it. Not to mention that lately she seems to realize that she cares about him. And that grabbing his arms and pulling him closer to her during a little quarrel they had is completely acceptable...
    • Taken to another level and possibly made canon with their Now or Never Kiss in the season 4 finale
  • Bela Talbot had it with both Winchester boys in Supernatural. She shot Sam and he still had dirty dreams about her. The trope was almost invoked word for word when Bella offered Dean "angry sex".
    • Dean's relationship with Cassie in the first season episode 'Route 666' seemed to fall under this.
    • Whenever Meg and Castiel show up in the same episode, this is their default behavior toward each other. This includes insults, occasional physical violence, and wall-slamming kisses.
  • John Crichton and Aeryn Sun in Farscape's first Season. Both seem to be jerks and Type A tsunderes in varying degrees.
  • Mal and Inara (deredere) on Firefly, with the added wrenches of Inara being a Companion and Mal being terrible about long-term commitments.
    • Further complicated by Inara telling Mal she supported Unification, which was essentially the event which destroyed Mal's faith in God and humanity. Also, she's a Buddhist and he's a misotheist.
    • Kaylee and Simon occasionally fit this. Funnily, neither are particularly Tsundere or Jerkish on their own, but come off with shades of it when they try to make a stab at starting a relationship.
    • Wash and Zoe's relationship started like this, before progressing into the mostly-amiable marriage shown on screen.
    • There is, curiously, quite a bit of sexual tension between River and Jayne, and hoo boy is it belligerent, what with the chest slashings and ball-grabbing.
    • Word Of God has said that some tension is suggested between Simon and Jayne.
  • House and Dr. Cuddy.
    • House and Cameron.
    • 13 and Foreman.
    • House and Wilson.
  • Downton Abbey has Matthew and Mary. So, so much, particularly in Series 1.
    Mary: I've been studying the story of Andromeda; do you know it?
    Matthew: (suspiciously) Why?
    Mary: Her father was King Cepheus, whose country was being ravaged by storms. And, in the end, he decided the only way to appease the gods was to sacrifice his eldest daughter to a hideous sea monster. So they chained her, naked, to a rock—
    Violet: (nervously laughs) Really! Mary! We'll all need our smelling salts in a minute!
    Matthew: But the sea monster didn't get her, did he?
    Mary: No. Just when it seemed he was the only solution to her father's problems, she was rescued.
    Matthew: By Perseus.
    Mary: That's right. Perseus. Son of a god. Rather more fitting, wouldn't you say?
    Matthew: That depends. I'd have to know more about the princess and the sea monster in question.
  • Luke and Reid from As the World Turns. They are constantly snarking at each other but everyone knows they will end up together. They got together before the show ended, but only for a little while.
  • Kyle and Max in Living Single. At times, they took turns as to who was the Jerk and who was the Tsundere in various episodes.
  • Tenkaichi and Fujii (said right from the start to be his possible love interest) have this in The Conditions Of Great Detectives mostly because each of them hate how the other solves crimes - throughout Tenkaichi refers to Fujii as an amateur who doesn't understand how crime solving works, who is also completely unfeminine, and she believes he's an idiot because he does extremely counter-intuitive things but always gets it right. Fujii only accepts that she has feelings for Tenkaichi at the very end when she learns she won't see him again after the end of the show.
  • Alex Drake and Gene Hunt in Ashes to Ashes. This demonstrates it. Bearing in mind this is only one of three seasons and they didn't hook up until the very end.
  • On Northern Exposure, Dr. Joel Fleischmann and Maggie O'Connell's long-simmering UST was severly impeded by a) his tendency to deal with his severe Fish out of Water status with fits of jerk behavior, and b) her severe resistance to relationships after the deaths of several previous boyfriends (which she believed to be her curse).
  • Chad and Sonny on Sonny With A Chance. Sonny is definitely Type B, with her tsuntsun side only triggered by Chad and occasionally Tawny. Come to think of it...
    • As Chad was only introduced in the 2nd episode, Sonny and Tawni actually came first for this. As of the end of Season 1, it looks like some movement in the Chad/Sonny relationship is happening, a remarkably quick Relationship Upgrade for this type of couple (assuming they don't muck around for another season or 2 denying their obvious feelings for each other).
  • Emerson and Simone from Pushing Daisies might qualify. You can almost picture that woman holding a tight leash around Emerson's neck.
  • Moonlighting, anyone? As stated above, can lead to Shipping Bed Death.
  • Nathan and Kelly in Misfits are many fans' apparent One True Pairing. What with him being a snarky and immature Jerkass Woobie and she an aggressive, telepathic Tsundere chav, the ensuing clash of issues and attitude problems is an unexpected joy to behold.
  • Buffy and Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
    • Buffy and Angel started that way, too, though they got over it right quick. Xander and Cordelia stayed that way even when they were dating.
  • Lee Adama and Kara Thrace of Battlestar Galactica could easily blow the ship to pieces with the force of their BST (which remains belligerent even after they've had sex, and he deals with her sudden marriage to someone else).
  • Tony and Ziva in NCIS.
  • Robin Hood and all three of his Love Interets: Isabella, Marian and Kate (in that order).
  • Malcolm and Nicola in The Thick of It.
  • Damon and Elena on The Vampire Diaries have enough BST to burn a house down.
  • Puck and Quinn on Glee
    • Or Rachel and Quinn.
  • Wendy and Hodges on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The common theory is that at some point Wendy will have to either kiss Hodges or punch him. Possibly both.
    • The former, it turned out.
  • Rick Castle and Kate Beckett from Castle scream this trope at the top of their lungs every episode. Oddly enough, each has acknowledged their attraction, if only to themselves, but circumstances conspired to keep them from doing anything about it.
    • For the first season, anyways—it quickly switches to just plain Unresolved Sexual Tension soon after.
      • They still trade plenty of banter, innuendo and snark, though.
  • Temp worker Misawa Katsuko and vice-president Igarashi Akeo from Haken No Oscar fit this trope perfectly.
  • The Mentalist: Lisbon has yelled at Jane more times than there are episodes. Jane does some sort of Bunny-Ears Lawyer trick that is likely to get both of their asses fired about as often. Doesn't mean they wouldn't kill and die for each other.
  • Community: Britta says "Jeff and I don't have sexual tension. We just argue all the time."... And then they hook up.
  • Anyone who saw the crossover between Power Rangers Time Force and Power Rangers Wild Force knows that Eric and Taylor fit into this trope pretty well, most noticeable in their first few interactions.
  • In the jiang hu TV series Chinese Paladin III, both leads are Type A tsunderes. It's particularly bad for the hero, since at the beginning the heroine knows more kung fu than him...
  • Rory and Jess from Gilmore Girls started out as a mild form of this trope. They bickered over music, books and television before admitting that they really liked each other. And to a lesser extent, this was also how Rory and Logan initially got to know each other.
    • Paris and Doyle's relationship is a more straightforward example.
  • Lynda Day and Spike Thomson from Press Gang.
  • Another Steven Moffat example: River Song and the Doctor from Doctor Who, who clearly care for each other very deeply but also spend a considerable amount of time snarking at and bickering with each other Like An Old Married Couple, which they may very well be (it's hinted at in a few episodes). Interestingly, the male half of the couple in question appears to be the Tsundere in the relationship.
    • Also, the Doctor and Amy a fair bit, despite the fact that she's been either engaged or married most of the time he's known her, and a child most of the time she's known him. And he's 900-something and a Time Lord, though (both?) of those problems also apply to River Song.
      • It gets better. River Song has Time Lord DNA, and is Amy and Rory's daughter. She's kidnapped as a newborn baby in Season Six, and raised as a Laser Guided Tyke Bomb aimed at the Doctor. Whom she kills, and then sacrifices all her remaining regenerations to save.
  • Alex and Ellen on Family Ties.
  • Played with on iCarly with the Sam and Freddie relationship. They do nothing but bicker, whilst Sam routinely abuses him, punches him, bullies him and does things like hit him with tennis racquets and throw him out of tree houses. They share their First Kiss in season two but it's not a result of Slap-Slap-Kiss. In season 4 Sam suddenly kisses him in the middle of a speech he was giving about how she needs to put her feelings out there. Because he thought she liked another guy.
    • The trope itself is unintentionally deconstructed during the 4 part story arc. The arc shows what happens when Sam and Freddie, two people who continually bicker, fight, argue and often act in ways that show they legitimately hate each other start dating. They fight, bicker, argue, piss each other off constantly, drag each other down into fighting harder than they did before due to spending more time with each other. They need Carly to fix their fights even more than usual, to the point Carly snaps and tells them they shouldn't be dating at all. It doesn't get better. The last episode shows them being unable to share an interest of the other without ruining it for the person whose interest it is. They have no shared interests outside of filming the webshow and their relationship fades away because they have no reason to see each other for anything but making out. They also realise their personalities are too different to work in a relationship for more than a few weeks. As Sam and Freddie are a pretty standard Belligerent Sexual Tension ship, the arc serves as a deconstruction of the trope as a whole.
  • Moist von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart in the Film of the Book Going Postal. In the book ... it's a bit more complicated.
  • Niles and CC in The Nanny.
  • Veronica and Logan from Veronica Mars and how.
  • Avon and Servalan of Blake's 7, and how. They spend most of the last two seasons either kissing or trying to kill each other; sometimes they don't even bother to separate the two.
  • Sam has this with both Ainsley and Mallory on The West Wing, and Josh and Donna have their share of it as well.
  • Niles tries to instigate this intentionally in Frasier after he and Daphne have an argument that leaves him trembling with arousal. Daphne, being Oblivious to Love as usual, doesn't get it and winds up acting even more sweet and polite than usual, thinking that Niles keeps insulting her because he's depressed. Fail.
    • The show also did a Deconstructive Parody of the Cheers example above when Frasier, arguing with a coworker, suddenly says, "Are you as turned on as I am?", which is met with a horrified "NO!"
  • Dr. Cox and Jordan of Scrubs. They were married and got divorced, but kept up this trope even after their relationship officially ended. They also kept sleeping together, had two kids, move back in together, and basically stayed married in every sense but the technical(though one episode has them find out that they were still married due to an error made by Ted, though they quickly divorced, but stayed together). And they love this trope so much that when Jordan insists they stop fighting for their son's benefit, the other characters treat it as if they have stopped having sex. Fighting is sex to these two.
  • Ted and Zoey in season 6 of How I Met Your Mother, combined with a mild form of Dating Catwoman. Abated briefly when they got together, only to mutate into a full-blown Destructive Romance.
  • Claire and Alex of McLeod's Daughters.
  • The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries: Frank Hardy & Nancy Drew. Dear GODS, Frank & Nancy. The first time the Hardys & Nancy Drew met, Nancy throws Frank to the floor. All episodes featuring the trio inevitably have Nancy & Frank getting seriously on each others' nerves — until they finally share a kiss at the end of "Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom".
    Nancy: ARGH!!! Frank Hardy is the most exasperating...annoying...frustrating...
    Bess: ...cute.
    Nancy: NO! (pause) Well, maybe a little...
  • Pete and Kelly the vet in early Warehouse 13 season 2:
    Myka: What is it with you two?
    Pete: Man, I hate her!
    Myka: Right...
  • Michael Westen and Fiona Glenanne of Burn Notice. Starts out as Working With The Ex, goes through full-blown Destructo Nookie, into Battle Couple, and ends Season 4 with Fi's non-fatal Heroic Sacrifice to keep Michael from becoming what he hates just to save her.
  • Jon and Ygritte in Game of Thrones. Aside from the fact that he's on the Night's Watch and sworn to defend the rest of Westeros from Wildlings like her, he's also sworn a vow of celibacy - something she doesn't hesitate to needle him on constantly. They're also both fully aware of Jon's unspoken attraction to her, and Ygritte keeps baiting him endlessly.
  • Captain Hook and Emma Swan have this by the bucketload on Once Upon A Time.
  • Friends: After their breakup in season 3, Ross and Rachel practically defined this.
  • House Of Anubis: Patricia and Eddie.

    Theater 

    Video Games 
  • Sherry and Jake in Resident Evil 6. Sherry is a sweet girl generally, but occasionally she throws a sarcastic remark back at Jake, who is arguably the snarkiest character in the series. They also had their fair share of short-lived moments, and risked their lives to save each other countless times.
  • Gears of War: Baird and Sam, the two snarkiest Gears in the whole series, and if you play Gears of War III, that is one hell of an accomplishment. Taken to the logical extreme when they're falling off a collapsing bridge:
    Baird: "I suppose you want me to say I always loved you. But I don't! I really, really don't!"
    • At the end, it's implied they end up together.
  • Croix and Prier of La Pucelle Tactics spend the last half of the game this way, with most of the rest of the party seeing it, and them denying it. They finally admit their feelings to each other at the climax of the game, and then promptly go back to denying it again in public.
  • Adell and Rozalin from Disgaea 2. Lampshaded when Etna spots the trope and assures them that they aren't fooling anyone.
  • Serra and Erk from Fire Emblem 7, so much.
    • To an extent, Hector and Lyn from the same game, as well as Dart and Farina. Also Lex and Ayra from the first half of the fourth game and Phee and Arthur from the second half, and Innes and L'Arachel from the eighth one... And doubly so with Ephraim and L'Arachel.
    • Given the nature of the games in question, all of those are optional pairings. If the player prefers, they can be paired with other people, or even no one at all.
      • The fifth game, however, did not have the option to pair units off as you will, and so as long as certain units survived, their endings would imply that they got together. Tanya and Othin appear to fit this trope quite nicely. The sixth game also doesn't have paired endings for anyone other than the main character despite the decidedly romantic nature of some of the A-level support conversations, and it, too, has a couple of pairings that bring this to mind (Clarine/Rutger and to a lesser extent Klein/Tate).
  • Pia and Vico, and potentially the Princess and Vico, in A Dance with Rogues.
  • Elika and the Prince in Prince Of Persia 2008 will spend more time snarking at each other than actually completing their quest, if the player lets them.
    • The Prince and Farah also have this in the Sands of Time trilogy.
  • Devil May Cry 3 introduced a Lady as a possible love interest for Dante. They didn't become an Official Couple, but that's how it's been in the first three games in the series. Each one introduced a possible love interest for the protagonist, yet no Official Couple was ever stated, and each fan has a different favourite.
    • It's pertinent to note that almost every fanfiction that has Dante and Lady as a couple has the later acting as a full-on Tsundere. Complete with her shooting Dante in the head whenever he angers her as a Running Gag.
  • Jessica and Kyle of Lunar The Silver Star fit this trope very well, with Jessica being a Hot Blooded, Cute Monster Girl dropout priestess and Kyle being a drunken, Loveable Rogue bandit running a sort of Monster Protection Racket.
  • From the Sonic the Hedgehog series, we have Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat, who practically define the term "Sexual Tension".
  • This happens frequently in Tales Series:
    • Loni and Nanaly in Tales Of Destiny 2. Oh. So. Much. Every time she gives him a bone-crusher makes you think "Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other"
    • In Tales Of The Abyss, Luke and Tear have a relationship like this. But then again, everyone treats Luke like dirt.
      • Luke and Tear only have this relationship for the first 1/3 of the game where Luke is a naive spoiled brat and Tear is a no nonsense soldier. After the Wham Episode, their relationship becomes much less belligerent as Luke begins to mature (after an overlarge heaping of Break the Haughty) and Tear starts showing her more gentle and caring side.
    • Another example can be found in Chester and Arche in Tales Of Phantasia. And it's taken to insane levels in the sequel, Narikiri Dungeon (specifically, the PSP remake).
  • This is the general consensus in the Touhou fandom as to Marisa and Alice's relationship, with Marisa being the kleptomaniacal, master spark-happy jerk and Alice being the haughty, dismissive tsundere.
  • Depending on how you play it, most Bioware RPGs have a pairing that runs this way.
    • Nathyrra and the player in Neverwinter Nights Hordes of the Underdark
    • Bishop and the (female) player in Neverwinter Nights 2, though it doesn't really go anywhere.
      • Mainly because Bishop's romance plot was Dummied Out.
    • Silk Fox and the player in Jade Empire, at least at the start
    • Both mainstream pairings in Knights of the Old Republic.
    • Shepard and Miranda's romance in Mass Effect 2 can play out this way, as seen here.
    • Shepard can also joke that Joker has this sort of relationship with EDI.
    • Shepard's interactions with Liara during Lair of the Shadow Broker, if the two were involved in the first game. This is mostly due to Liara's new Darker and Edgier attitude, which eventually cracks and is revealed to have been an act to help her cope with the murky business of being an information broker on Illium. Afterwards, their interaction veers into Like An Old Married Couple territory.
    • Shepard's relationship with Ashley in the second and third game, if she was romanced in the first.
      • To a lesser extent, Shepard's relationship with Kaidan in the second and third, even if he was not romanced in the first.
    • Garrus and Tali in the third game have shades of this as well. They didn't get along well at all in the first game, and in the second, one of them threatened the other with a shotgun in order to shut them up. Third time around, they patch up their differences, and if neither of them are occupied with Shepard, they hook up.
    • Take Back Omega has a lot between Aria and Nyreen, left over from when they were an item. Aria and Renegade!Shepard likewise have this relationship, leading to Aria planting a "Shut Up" Kiss on them at the end. Aria's relationship with Paragon!Shepard is similar, though less belligerent and more annoyance at their "boy/girlscout" ways.
    • Citadel lets Shepard suggest that this is the reason for Miranda and Jack's bickering.
    • Nathaniel and Velanna's Subtext in Dragon Age: Origins — Awakening.
    • Dragon Age II features a companion system based on Friendship/Rivalry rather than Like/Dislike; you can have both genuinely romantic and Slap-Slap-Kiss relationships with your party members. They carry on the theme from the main rivalry with the character; e.g. getting Merrill to stand up for herself.
    • The Smuggler and Risha in Star Wars: The Old Republic, likely homage to Han and Leia in the source material.
  • Fan Fiction tends to portray Nick and Ellis of Left 4 Dead 2 as having this kind of relationship. That is, when Ellis hasn't been completely Wimpified or is being outright raped.
    • On in-universe example, Ellis is Smitten with Zoey the moment he lays eyes on her. When he gets a chance to see her again, she may be rather belligerent and insult him. This does nothing to tarnish her "Angel" image in Ellis's eyes.
    • The less popular Nick and Rochelle pairing is basically this, with a very distinct Han Solo/Princess Leia banter to it.
  • The Nameless One and Annah in Planescape: Torment,. The intensity of it is left to how Jerkish the player wishes to be, which in turn determines how provoked Annah will be to hold up her Tsundere end.
  • Brandon and Vera in Vera Blanc. But as they are both Deadpan Snarkers what can you expect.
  • The relationship between Squall and Rinoa in Final Fantasy VIII initially has some elements of Belligerent Sexual Tension thanks to the conflict between Squall's stoic cynicism and Rinoa's enthusiastic idealism. The trope only really applies up until they reach Galbadia Garden in disc 1, however, after which point Rinoa is more interested in finding out what Squall is thinking than in challenging him over it.
  • Fear Effect. Hana and Glas have something like this. They have a habit of pointing guns at each other and giving tough talk to each other. Glas is the one who gives her a hand and helps her up in various situations. Hana did give Glas a hand and help him up in the first game. Also, the one female of the Eight Immortals says to Glas about Hana being his friend, which he tries so very hard to deny. A Fear Effect Inferno trailer shows Glas putting a hand over Hana's hand. He awkwardly tells her that "I just want to say...be careful, you know?" A few seconds later, she smiles and puts her head against his back, surprising him. She responds "We've all got to be careful." Considering what happens later...well, see the Love Triangle entry.
  • In Solatorobo, Red and Elh play with this trope. Normally they are quite capable of working together, but if Red should do something incredibly stupid (and he will), Elh is not shy about calling him an idiot and giving him an Armor-Piercing Slap or a good Megaton Punch or two, or just glaring and leaving the room.
  • Lily and Taiga have this sort of relationship in Duel Savior Destiny, though it doesn't seem as though Taiga realizes he's attracted to her at all. Mia, the clingy little sister, is actually rather genre savvy about this and tries to get them to stop fighting so Lily treats him like a normal squad member rather than switch from tsun over to dere.
  • In Fallout New Vegas, a Male Courier and Cass have this type of relationship and often bicker Like An Old Married Couple. In fact, before companion romances were dropped, they were supposed to wake up in bed together, having gotten married whilst insanely drunk the previous night.

    Visual Novels 
  • Klavier Gavin seems to be coming on to Ema Skye in Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice during the very few times they actually talk to each other - though it mostly annoys her. She constantly - and not always behind his back - calls him a "Glimmerous Fop".
  • The "Unlimited Blade Works" route of Fate/stay night focuses one of these. Shirou is socially awkward and something of a Deadpan Snarker and Rin is a grade-A tsundere.
  • Battler and Beatrice in Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, as part of their ongoing Mind Game Ship. Battler's hostility is entirely justified, as Beatrice claims to have killed him and his entire family, and she'll do it as often as it takes to make him believe her.

    Webcomics 
  • In Arthur King Of Time And Space, which ports the Arthurian legends to various genres, this is usually how Guinevere and Lancelot start out. In the genre where they're based on McCoy and Spock, they form a belligerent nascent threesome with Arthur/Kirk.
  • In Bittersweet Candy Bowl, Jerk with a Heart of Gold Paulo and Tsundere Type A Lucy are an example of this.
  • Womanizer Sven and deconstructed Hard Drinking Party Girl Faye of Questionable Content. Yes, even after they kind-of sort-of get together.
  • Karkat and Terezi of Homestuck. To the extent that it has been commented upon in canon:
    EB: anyway, i kind of got the impression that you and terezi were a thing.
    CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN A THING.
    EB: Like, i dunno.
    EB: Going on weird fight dates and beating the crap out of each other, and being in hate-love or love-hate.
    EB: Isn't that how it works?
  • Misfile:
    • Ash and Rumisiel seem to be dating despite her constant annoyance at him, but it's a fake relationship and she's really just angry at him for other reasons.
    • The relationship between Ash and Emily. It's been established many times that they have feelings for each other, and Emily has struggled with the idea of being in a lesbian relationship with a former guy, they have yet to make a real statement on the nature of their relationship after over 1700 comic strips.
  • Nasty variation occurs in Narbonic, where Helen is unable to admit her feelings for Dave because she values him too much as a test subject, and Dave is too shy and insecure.
  • In Sluggy Freelance, Riff and Gwynn dating was a bit like this, she being very Tsundere and he an insensitive jerk towards women he dates. It didn't last, though. The relationship wasn't focused on, and while it went on, it didn't seem to have any redeeming features, but afterwards it was shown clearly enough that there had been some actual positive emotions involved.
  • WTF Comics: Grouchy dragon warrior Straha and haughty elven summoner Maguna.
  • Tarvek and his cousin Violetta in Girl Genius. When she's first introduced, Violetta's rage at and contempt for Tarvek makes Moloch von Zinzer ask it they're married. Violetta makes a sick face ("Ewwww . . . ") but many in the fandom have already shipped the two. They deserve each other.
  • Black Mage and White Mage in 8-Bit Theater would have this. Only BM lacks the heart of gold. Probably a heart at all. Oh and White Mage finds him completely and utterly repulsive in every single way possible. And some that aren't.
  • Zexion and Namine spend much of Ansem Retort alternating between baiting and belittling each other in an unending battle of wits, and helping each other coordinate and execute incredibly unlikely plots. They claim to hate each other, but spend all their time around each other anyway. Namine was impressed when Zexion sold territory to Mexico for a sexy Spanish name, Zexion knew immediately who had swapped his cyanide pills with Mentos, he detoured from his booty call with Belle to brag to Namine, and Namine developed a psychic "Zexion-sense" alerting her that he was in trouble... not that she cared enough to do anything about it, mind you. It ultimately is resolved when Zexion announces that he will have sex with everything Namine loves, and Namine immediately replies that she loves herself, daring him to go through with it. He does.
  • Honey and Turpentine in Band Vs Band

    Web Original 
  • The Legion Of Extraordinary Dancers delivers a fun example, as always. In this case, the two characters (Ninjato and Katana express this through DANCE. However, Ninjato is captured and held at an enemy headquarter, and made to dance (it's more tasteful than it sounds—they used to be close friends, and Ninjato likes to dance). Katana sneaks in mid dance and they subsequently convey the epitome of Belligerent Sexual Tension through dance. The bad guys are so in awe of their performance that they don't even get up out of their seats until Katana spirits away Ninjato.
  • Simon and Jeremy from Shadow Of The Templar. They have sex often, but are extremely poor at admitting how important the other is to him, with Simon vigorously denying that Jeremy could even be his friend. Jeremy's love of treating Simon like an amusing playmate and infuriating him with his cool and unruffled demeanor doesn't help, though he does seem to be more conscious about his own feelings and makes the occasional barb about Simon's capacity for denial.
  • Although ship-sunk with an embarrassing date, the Nostalgia Chick/Nostalgia Critic ship caught new fire with her Transformers-Bratz-reviews arc and Kickassia and thereafter alternates between this at best and The Masochism Tango at worst.
  • In Echo Chamber's Unresolved Sexual Tension episode, Dana's "I hate you" directed at Tom marks a moment of belligerent tension (if any), but The Stinger leaves things a bit more unresolved.
  • Red vs. Blue: Tex and Church.
    Church: From now on, if anyone makes my girlfriend cranky and psychotic, it's gonna be me.
    Tex: Aww, that's sweet.
    Church: Shut up, bitch.
    Tex: Asshole.
  • Lizzie and Darcy, naturally, in the The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Especially after Darcy declared his love for her and she is absolutely flabbergasted.
  • Ultra Fast Pony: According to Spike and the Gala song choir, Twilight and Princess Celestia both have crushes on each other. Yet Twilight seems to resent Celestia, and Celestia hides her romantic gestures behind acts of petty antagonism. For example, when Twilight shows up late to the Grand Galloping Gala, Celestia declares that Twi must spend the whole night at her side, as "punishment".
  • Abihira and Dracula in Vampiru. Possibly; the attraction seems to be entirely one-sided.

    Western Animation 


    This Index Is Not My GirlfriendBetter as Friends
Anyone Can DieRule of DramaBigot vs. Bigot
Bedlam HouseAbuse TropesTakahashi Couple
Unresolved Sexual TensionRomance ArcWrong Guy First
Bed TrickOlder Than DirtBFS
Battle HaremHarem GenreBromantic Foil
Artifact of AttractionDiscord TropesBigot vs. Bigot
Becoming the MaskLove TropesThe Bet

alternative title(s): Vitriolic Couple; BST; When A Jerk Loves A Tsundere; Love Hate Relationship
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