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 "Just this once, we work together! Mortal enemies working together for the common good!"
A shorter form of the Arab proverb "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Another phrase used to describe this is "War makes for strange bedfellows." This results in a scenario where foes must work together to achieve a common goal.
This type of team-up usually starts with the villain coming to the hero's aid, usually saying that a certain threat is a danger to them both, or "No one kills you but me!" when they save the hero from certain doom. May arise from a Mexican standoff. After the team-up, the villain will usually let the hero live for now because they were so useful, so everything can return to status quo.
Frequently, if it is a goodie-baddie partnership, the baddie will look for opportunities to pull something that gets them a profit (or, in the case of really bad baddies, allows them to stab the goodie in the back). If the villain doesn't betray the hero right away, but there is still animosity between them while they are working together, then you have Teeth-Clenched Teamwork. If the Status Quo is not maintained there could be a creep towards Friendly Enemy status. Can become a Heel Face Revolving Door if it happens more than once.
Sometimes the baddie is more the hero's Worthy Opponent than a villain and the external threat will be truly evil. In this case the hero will recognize that the third part is the bigger/more dangerous threat and Worthy Opponent will be offended that the third party intruded on a 'private game'. Afterwards it's a pity to see them go back to their old rivalry because together, they're an unstoppable fighting force. (If they don't go back, it's Fire-Forged Friends.)
A good source of Foe Yay, whether due to the fact that the villain secretly does harbor feelings for the protagonist (a direct example) or simply realizes how boring and/or aimless his life would be without the protagonist. Compare Embarrassing Rescue, Gondor Calls for Aid. See also Enemy Civil War. Anti villains are more prone to this trope than most, and less likely to backstab the goodies afterwards.
See also An Offer You Can't Refuse, Genghis Gambit, and Colliding Criminal Conspiracies. When there's no common enemy per se, it's Go Karting with Bowser. If the villain saves the day without the hero's help, then Bad Guys Do The Dirty Work. If the villain in question is possessing the hero, but there's a greater threat the two must conquer together, this can result in a Symbiotic Possession. Contrast with We Are Struggling Together, where you have putative allies who end up backstabbing and/or infighting with each other. When this trope is averted completely, one has a Mexican Standoff.
As might be gathered by this point, this article is unrelated to passive defensive weapons planted by one's foes. Also not related to mines of the underground type; for that, see Underground Level or Minecart Madness.
Finally, this is an opportunity to show the villains as being more competent than they typically are. While they're defeated by the heroes week after week, the bad guys can actually contribute to the defeat of whatever threat they're teaming up with the heroes against.
Obviously, beware spoilers.
Not to be confused with the Dennis Quaid movie/Barry Longyear story Enemy Mine. We also sincerely hope that you did not have a slip of the finger and ended up here instead of at Enemy Mime. For an enemy that is a mine, see Action Bomb, and for a different kind of mine which is filled with enemies, see Dug Too Deep.
Compare Nominal Hero, a character who fights for good even though their intentions are not heroic at all.
— Dib on teaming up with Zim, Invader Zim, "Bolognius Maximus"
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alternative title(s): Strange Bedfellows; Enemy Of My Enemy; The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend; The Enemy Of My Enemy
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