" 'Cause we're frenemies
We like disliking one another
Yes, we're frenemies
He's like my least favorite brother"
We like disliking one another
Yes, we're frenemies
He's like my least favorite brother"
— Buford and Baljeet, Phineas and Ferb
An index of tropes having to do with character relationships that combine enmity with friendship. Compare and contrast Rivalry Tropes which separates friendship from rivalry. For the romantic/familial versions, see the Dysfunctional Romance Index and Dysfunctional Family Index.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil: If the villain is affable to the point that they have a Friendly Enemy relationship with a hero.
- All-Loving Hero: The hero will Save the Villain and honestly believes that everyone has a chance to turn their life around, even if the villain wants them dead.
- Arranged Friendship: "We don't actually like each other. We only hang out because our parents made us."
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Can apply to friends; they fight a lot but ultimately prove they do care about each other.
- Best Her to Bed Her: A woman can or will fall in love only with a man who can conquer her.
- Bickering Couple, Peaceful Couple
- Big Bad Friend: A protagonist's close friend is revealed to have been working for the Big Bad, or is the Big Bad themselves.
- Bonding Over Dislikes: They both hate something, and that hatred is what bonds them together.
- Bully Turned Buddy: A character is friends with someone who used to bully them.
- Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: A character finds their companion annoying, yet misses them when they're apart.
- Commonality Connection: Characters who are initially neutral or hostile bond over something they have in common.
- Cooperation Gambit
- Dating Catwoman: A hero and antagonist are explicitly in love.
- Defeat Means Friendship: A character beats another character at something, leading to them becoming friends.
- Defeat Means Respect: A character gains respect for another after they beat them at something, which can lead to friendship.
- Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: A harmless encounter with an Eldritch Abomination.
- Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?: A downright pleasant encounter with an Eldritch Abomination.
- Dislikes the New Guy: Someone dislikes the new member of a group for whatever reason.
- Dysfunctional Family
- Enemy Compassion: A character comforts their enemy when they're feeling depressed.
- Enemy Mine: Two enemies team up to achieve a common goal, which can lead to a genuine friendship (whether it sticks is another matter).
- Evil Former Friend: A character who used to be friends with a protagonist until they had a Face–Heel Turn.
- Faith in the Foe: A person trusts an enemy's strength of character.
- Fair-Weather Foe: A person's enemy will act nice just to get something out of them.
- Fair-Weather Friend: A character's friend ditches them when things get tough.
- Fire-Forged Friends (when they start out as enemies)
- Foil
- The Friend Nobody Likes: A member of a friend group who, at best, is merely tolerated by everyone else in the group.
- Friend Versus Lover: A character is torn between being loyal to their friend and their love interest.
- Friendly Enemy: Enemies who are amiable to each other; they may even consider each other a true friend.
- Friendly Rivalry: A pair of rivals who are amiable to each other and may even consider each other a true friend.
- Friendly War: A conflict where both sides are in it for fun.
- Friendship Bribe: A person (or someone they know) bribes others to be someone's friend.
- Friendship Denial
- Friendship Moment
- Friendship-Straining Competition
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Goodies and evil-doers enjoy quality time together.
- God-Karting with Beelzebub: God and Satan are friends.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: A happy person paired with a grouchy one.
- Headbutting Heroes: Heroes on the same side clash with each other.
- Hero, Rival, Baddie Team-Up: A character teams up with both their rival and their enemy to achieve a common goal.
- Hypocritical Heartwarming
- I Don't Like You And You Don't Like Me
- Insult of Endearment
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Someone who is capable of being both very rude and kind, sometimes towards the same individuals.
- Kiss-Kiss-Slap
- The Lancer: The hero's second-in-command who acts as a narrative foil to them.
- Like an Old Married Couple
- Living with the Villain
- Mirror Character: A character who shares significant similarities to another to emphasize each character's traits.
- Noble Demon
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You
- Power Dynamics Kink: Power, subjugation, and punishments serving as the erotic "turn-on".
- Rivalry as Courtship
- Rivals Team Up: Two rivals join forces to achieve a common goal; it may lead to a genuine friendship.
- Roommate Drama (When the roommates are friends normally)
- Save the Villain: A hero chooses to save a villain when their life is endangered, which can lead to mutual amity, or they may have done it because they already had rapport with them.
- Science Foils
- Slap-Slap-Kiss
- Sympathy for the Devil: The hero pities the villain.
- Sympathy for the Hero: A villain or rival pities the hero.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: People grudgingly work together to achieve a goal.
- Terms of Endangerment: (Usually) insincere affectionate nicknaming from an enemy.
- Territorial Comic Relief: When a group's Plucky Comic Relief feels challenged by a new comic relief joining the group.
- Third Wheel: A character who constantly hangs around with a romantic couple (they're usually friends with one or both of them), which can cause issues with the friendship, romance or both.
- Token Evil Teammate: A member of a group of heroes who is notably immoral.
- Token Good Teammate: A member of a group of villains who is notably more moral than the others.
- Tough Love: Treating someone you care about harshly to make them a better person, which can apply to friends.
- Tsundere: A person who switches between being abrasive and caring with their friends.
- Two-Timing with the Bestie: A character's significant other cheats on them with their best friend.
- Villainous Rescue: The villain rescues the hero, which can be due to them having positive regard for the hero and/or may lead to a more positive relationship between them.
- Villain Over for Dinner
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Two friends who argue and insult each other constantly, but do genuinely like each other.
- We Used to Be Friends: Friends have a falling out and stop being friends.
- With Friends Like These...: A character who is treated poorly by their friends (and it's genuinely harmful to them rather than lighthearted ribbing and so on).
- Worthy Opponent
- Yearning for a Nemesis
