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Worthy Opponent

"I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."
— Romulan Commander, Star Trek The Original Series

"One may dislike Hitler's system and yet admire his patriotic achievement. If our country were defeated, I hope we should find a champion as indomitable to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations."
—Winston Churchill

The equal and opposite enemy to the hero, who save for the tragic circumstances of his life, upbringing, politics, or financial situation, might have been the hero's best friend. Unfortunately, though, he must be the hero's opposition. Evenly matched, with a sense of honor that allows the hero to trust him about a select few things, and an honest respect for the hero, the Worthy Opponent also fights to the same standards of fairness as the hero. The Worthy Opponent will also do things like negotiate honestly or allow the wounded hero to escape to fight another day. Sometimes found in the role of The Dragon, but is almost never the Big Bad.

The Worthy Opponent is rarely a recurring character, but is usually likely to evolve into a Friendly Enemy. More often he is killed (sometimes by a fanatic on his own side) after one or two episodes, prompting the hero to mourn the loss of such an honorable but misguided soul. Sometimes the hero and the Worthy Opponent even agree that It Has Been An Honor. When he gets beaten and stays alive he will be a Graceful Loser.

Despite their honor, they rarely seem to decide to stop enabling their leader to do evil.

See also Antagonist In Mourning and Anti Villain. Contrast with the Evil Counterpart, Dark Magical Girl, and Minion With An F In Evil. The Noble Bigot With A Badge is a subtype—when they're not the protagonist, anyways. Very likely to become a Friendly Enemy, though respect does not always equal friendlyness.

Examples

Anime and Manga
  • Yuuri and, later, Mimi and Sheshe from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
  • L from Death Note, only emphasizing the fact the show has a Villain Protagonist.
  • Ashram from Record Of Lodoss War, at least in the TV version.
    • He was in the OVA, too — it's just that, for most of the series, he was Kashue's Worthy Opponent, not Parn's (or rather, Parn had to level up quite a bit to be a worthy opponent for him).
  • Yusuke Urameshi and Younger Toguro. Heck, Younger Toguro even has to pretend to kill Kazuma Kuwabara in order to greatly increase Yusuke's Power Level for him to truly become his Worthy Opponent
  • Nietzsche Wannabe Schwarzwald of The Big O, although initially antagonistic of hero Roger Smith, became an unspoken ally of Smith later in the second season. Both searched for the truth behind The Event: Schwarzwald preferred fear, aggression, and mass murder to spread his message, while Smith opted to protect the citizens of Paradigm City from Schwarzwald's attack and was nearly killed by Schwarzwald in the process. Smith later speaks fondly of Schwarzwald, who leaves clues for Smith in an attempt to lead him to the ultimate truth behind The Event.
  • Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Ended up doing a Heel Face Turn and became The Lancer.
  • Shimi from Outlaw Star makes a great drinking buddy to Gene until he has to kill him. He eventually decides to settle this in a duel where his gun jams and the crew bury him before setting off.. until he digs himself out ("They should have buried me deeper.") and reveals he faked the whole thing since he hated being a space pirate and was looking for a way to quit.
  • Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh) is pretty much the epitome of this.
  • Sendoh Akira and Sawakita Eiji to Rukawa Kaede in Slam Dunk.
  • s-CRY-ed is built around this trope, having two main characters who start off on opposite sides of the conflict and are bitter enemies, but actually have a lot in common, unite against a common enemy in the second half of the series, and even become sorta-friends, though they still have an intense rivalry and can't have a conversation without it devolving into insults.
  • Rambal Ral from Mobile Suit Gundam, who actually did befriend Amuro before they battled to the death.
  • Although they are enemies, Ankoku Daishogun and Tetsuya Tsurugi (both from Great Mazinger) respect each other as warriors and when the first falls, Tetsuya gave him a salutation for being a Worthy Opponent. Obviously, these get carried over in Super Robot Wars.
  • Nanoha and Fate quickly become Worthy Opponents of each other in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, complete with adorable pre-teen Foe Yay and the inevitable Heel Face Turn. In the second season, Fate and Signum pair off similarly, maintaining a friendly rivalry even after the second inevitable Heel Face Turn (never mind that Fate's Just A Kid when they meet and Signum is Really Seven Hundred Years Old, respect is respect). Nanoha and Vita, on the other hand, are more like rivals due to the latter's attitude.
  • In Martian Successor Nadesico, Tsukumo Shiratori and Captain Akiyama seem to consider themselves the Worthy Opponents of the "heroic" mecha pilot Akito and the "brilliant" captain Yurika, neither of whom really seem to care. The pilot pair do become friends for a brief while before, yep, Shiratori gets offed by a scheming fanatic on his own side.
  • Eyeshield 21 has this kind of relationship between the Devil Bats and many of the members of the other football teams they play, but especially the Oujou White Knights. You get the feeling a couple of times that Sakuraba and Monta, and Kurita and Otawara could've been the best of friends if they were on the same team. On the other hand, Shin and Sena are probably as close as they'll ever get, as fiercely competitive yet friendly rivals with deep respect for one another.
  • Mugen and Jin of Samurai Champloo, from the moment they first meet. Literally within seconds of coming into contact, they fight to the (almost) death, then get arrested together and commiserate (half naked, too), all while swearing to murder each other once they escape.
  • Father Anderson and Alucard's in Hellsing (at least, the manga and recent OVA). In one sequence from the manga, Alucard watches admiringly as Anderson slices his way through an army of mooks Alucard summoned in order to have a final showdown with Alucard.
  • In Dragon Ball Z, before Goku obliterates Kid Buu with the Spirit Bomb, he comments that the fight with him was so good and intense, he wishes he wasn't the Big Small Bad. He wished that maybe in another life, they'd get to do this again. Interestingly, his wish came true, as Buu was reincarnated into a human boy named Uub, and in the 28th Tenka'ichi Budokai, he loved the fight so much that he abandoned left his family, friends, and the most persistent rival of the series, Vegeta (who truly is a worthy opponent looking at what happened to the rest of Goku's rivals in the series), to help him master his abilities, and fight him again. In Dragon Ball GT, this took ten years.
    • Applies best to Vegeta, who's Goku's rival/Lancer. He hates Goku with a passion through most of the series and spends half that time trying to kill the latest Big Bad so he can finally get his fight with Goku. First he learns to respect Goku, then he learns to understand Goku's motivations. Finally, ultimately, he makes his peace, recognizes that Goku is simply the better warrior, and if you don't count Dragonball GT may even have found peace in his life.
    • Earlier in the series during the Namek arc, Captain Ginyu treats Goku as a worthy challenge for his skills and refuses to take advantage of Jheese's surprise attack. However, when he realises that Goku is actually more than twice as powerful as he is, this attitude goes out the window and he uses his body change technique instead.
  • Vagabond has Miyamoto Musashi has this with dynamic with various other characters even before they fight; in fact, in his first major fight he survives because Yoshioka Denshichirou wants him to become this. (Unfortunately for Denshichirou, Musashi makes far better use of the year between their duels and ends up defeating him easily.) In'ei trains him specifically because he's the one for Inshun (no one else can threaten Inshun's life), but Musashi's two most clear Worthy Opponents seem to be Yagyuu Hyougonosuke and Sasaki Kojirou.
  • Although he starts out their match aiming to injury Tezuka (and succeeds), rival captain Atobe from The Prince Of Tennis ends the match considering Tezuka a Worthy Opponent (and becomes it himself, in turn), to the point that once he finally wins the match after a ridiculously long tiebreaker, the first thing Atobe does is raise Tezuka's hand in a sort of shared victory.
  • In the Pokemon Special manga, Bruno is the only Elite Four member who isn't evil, he just wants a worthy opponent to fight with. He finds one in Red.
  • Negi and Kotaro in Mahou Sensei Negima start out this way with Kotaro as Negi's enemy. Tsukuyomi also appears to feel this way about Setsuna (among feelings beyond mere admiration).
  • In Full Metal Panic, apparently Gauron feels something of this sort towards Sousuke. It's one-sided, though - Sousuke really really hates him. The first time they met, even, Gauron wanted to take Sousuke in. However, Sousuke refused. Of course, as an ally or as an enemy, Gauron has a great appreciation for Sousuke's stoic-ness and skill. His affection and obsession, however, might have actually deepened because they became enemies...
  • Kenshiro and Raoh. The ending of series one even credits Raoh as helping restore stability to the world.

Comic Books
  • The DC Elseworlds story "Red Son," in which the infant Superman's rocket ship crash lands in the Soviet Union and Kal-El is brought up to become a Communist leader, the American scientist (and, later, President) Lex Luthor is Superman's Worthy Opponent, impressive for a man with no superpowers. Their rivalry is much more personal than the international politics they are embroiled in, and though they are constantly seeking to destroy one another, Superman at one pivotal moment refers to Lex as "old friend". Lex, the irony lost on him, at one point muses that he and Superman could have been close allies had Superman been raised in America.
    • Just about every incarnation portrays their relationship this way. Luthor is the one person Superman can't defeat with strength and Superman is the one person Luthor can't control with his wealth.
  • Enemy Ace is often portrayed as a Worthy Opponent. He is obviously inspired by the real-life Red Baron, mentioned below.
  • Captain Marvel, no not that one, after Nitro had exposed him to a certain gas he developed cancer. On his deathbed Mar-Vell was visited by many heroes and champions, but by none of his own creed (little pun there). Yet he was visted by a Skrull high commander, the people which had been in war with his species since fuck knows when, and then commemorates him with the highest honour an opponent of the Skrull could have.

Film
  • Literary and Film example: In The Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya to the Man in Black in their duel. Wishing for a fair duel, Inigo goes as far as helping the Man in Black up the cliff, then waiting for him to be fully ready, and the two of them compliment each other throughout.
    • Also applies to Fezzik the giant, who refused to kill the Man in Black (Wesley) in an "unsportsmanlike" manner by throwing a rock at him from a distance, instead challenges him to a wrestling match "as God intended." During the match, Fezzik refrains from instantly curbstomping Wesley, telling him "I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed."
      • “You mean: you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try to kill each other like civilized people?”
    • Ultimately, Wesley defeats and spares both Inigo and Fezzik — after which they turn Friendly Enemy, rescuing Wesley and joining him to form a Power Trio.
  • The World War II movie The Enemy Below, in which U-boat captain Von Stolberg (Curt Jurgens) was the Worthy Opponent of destroyer escort captain Murrell (Robert Mitchum).
  • Star Trek:Nemesis is quite literally about an equal and opposite opponent to Picard, a clone of him who grew up in different circumstances (though they really look nothing alike).
  • Bill Cutting from Gangs of New York considered Priest Vallon, the leader of the Irish immigrant gang, the last man he could truly respect. After the gang battle in the beginning of the movie ends in Vallon's death, Cutting orders that Vallon's body "will cross over whole," while the other dead are mutilated for trophies, and is himself buried beside Vallon at the end.
  • The Operative from Serenity, who genuinely respects his opponents for their ingenuity and tenacity: "We should have done this as men - not with fire."
  • In Troy, Achilles eventually comes to feel this way about his nemesis Hector, despite having already killed and desecrated him in vengeance for the death of his cousin. Also, Hector's father, King Priam's attitude towards Achilles himself ("We are still enemies tonight. But even enemies can show respect").
  • Detective Lt. Vince Hanna of the LAPD and master thief Neil McCauley in Michael Mann's Heat are an excellent example of this trope; see especially the scene where McCauley pulls his car over while Hanna is shadowing him and suggests they go grab a cup of coffee.
  • The Zulu Army in Zulu. They are a Proud Warrior Race who follow The Spartan Way. And in the movies Crowning Momment of Awesome the Zulus sing their war chants and the Welsh Redshirt Army(who really do wear red shirts)sing Men of Harlech which is of course a Welsh war song. Thus they show that "all warriors are brothers".
  • Said by resident badass Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda: "So that's his name? Po. Finally! A worthy opponent! Our Battle will be legendary!" And oh what a worthy opponent Po was....

Literature
  • In the Honor Harrington series, Thomas Theisman would qualify, taking into account that Honor fears and respects him at the same time.
  • Professor Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes.
    • Irene Adler might also be considered a Worthy Opponent (and, according to some fen, maybe a little bit more).
    • It is also interesting to note that when Maurice Le Blanc needed a worthy opponent to his own character, Arsene Lupin, especially as Ganimard simply wasn't cutting it, he instead decided to use a ready made one in an expy of Sherlock Holmes.
  • The Sharpe books often included this type of character among the French ranks. Often, the character would be a portrayal of a real French officer whom the author respected. In a military context, this character makes more sense.
  • Sergey Golovko or the Soviet Union as a whole in Tom Clancy novels.
  • In the Warhammer 40000 Eisenhorn novels, Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn regards the Sealed Evil In A Can Pontius Glaw as a being who is intelligent, erudite, charismatic, and likable, and regretfully remarks that if Glaw hadn't chosen to follow Chaos, then they would have been the best of friends.
  • Rudyard Kipling's The Ballad of East and West is basically a prolonged exploration of this trope, culminating in the purportedly villainous character being so impressed with his enemy that he sends his own son to serve as the hero's bodyguard.
  • In Scott's The Talisman, Sir Kenneth and the Saracen.
  • The titular magicians from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell never lose their mutual respect of each other's abilities, even as their rivalry grows more intense.
  • Rangers Apprentice has quite a few of these, most notably Erak the Proud Warrior Race Guy who later becomes a close ally of the protagonists, and Selethen, who ends up the Graceful Loser.
  • The Canim from the Codex Alera series consider one of these better to have than a friend.
  • Subverted in the Star Wars Expanded Universe; Han Solo tells his evil cousin Thrackan that the Emperor's enemies mourned him as a worthy opponent, though Han knows full well that news of Palpatine's death provoked dancing in the streets.
  • Jelaudin in Bones of the Hills - having survived the fall of Samarkand, he understands the Mongols' tactics and is able to counter them. Genghis Khan privately admits a grudging respect for him. Just to drive the point home, his life after the loss of Samarkand is a compressed repeat of Genghis' own. When he dies, Genghis himself comments on his courage and honour.
  • Rana Sanga in the Belisarius Series is the Worthy Opponent to Belisarius as a general, and to Raghunath Rao and Valentinian in individual combat. . He has the latter healed and treats him as an honored guest after (just barely) defeating him in single combat and taking him prisoner; when Sanga's army is forced to retreat from the invasion of Persia, he releases Valentinian. In the last two books, Valentinian's role in protecting Sanga's wife and children from a plot against them by Link and the Malwa dynasty is key to Sanga's Heel Face Turn, and he eventually sends his own son and heir to be Valentinian's apprentice in the art of combat.
    • Also Domodara to a lesser extent and before their Heel Face Turns Kungas and Vasudeva. In fact the Rajputs and the Kushans in general, being Proud Warrior Races kind of qualify for this.
  • Lancer and Saber in Fate Zero. Neither one is really a bad or good guy, they just happen to be on opposite sides pursuing the same goal. And their Masters are both a lot less noble.

Live Action TV
  • The Master from Doctor Who clearly believes the Doctor to be a Worthy Opponent, to the point that in "The Five Doctors" he agrees to save the Doctor's life, musing "A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about." The Doctor reciprocates this feeling in the new series.
  • The Romulan commander in the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror", as quoted above.
    • It is extremely common throughout the Original Series (and it's movies) for the opponenet to be a Worthy Opponent of Kirk, or at the very least have a very healthy respect for him (albeit one full of hatred).
      • Most notable of these was Khan Noonien Singh, originally a Worthy Opponent of Kirk— as well as the only one who was also an actual Earth-man (vs. simply a metaphor); in Space Seed, the two Worthy Opponents parted in mutual respect and honor, with Kirk dropping all charges against Khan, and granting him his original wish of a new world to command.
      • In the movie Wrath of Khan, he was changed to a Big Bad with a serious grudge against Kirk, as the new world ended up being becoming an inhospitable wasteland after six months due to a Negative Space Wedgie and his wife subsequently died from brain slugs.
    • Also from Trek (and also Romulan), Commander Sela was Data's Worthy Foe - a concept TNG constantly beat us over the head and chest with whenever Sela showed up.
  • This is sort-of played with on The Colbert Report with the segment "Formidable Opponent", where Stephen debates himself, with the footage flipped and the background color changed (from red to blue, naturally).
    • Used as a Take That against one guest when Colbert referred to him as "a formidable opponent", implying an unfortunate similarity between the guest and his own Strawman Political character.
  • Hauptmann Hans Dietrich of Rat Patrol. Though he was rarely able to stop the Allied commando unit, he was smart and always honorable.
  • Mr. Wolf, leader of a bank-robbing team of former Marines who engages in an epic duel of wits and will with police negotiator Horst Cali in Kill Point
  • Steven Keane from Highlander: The Series

Mythology

Professional Wrestling

Video Games
  • General Leo of Final Fantasy VI worked for the Empire, but was otherwise an honorable person. And, like the trope states, he was killed off by Kefka (a power-hungry lunatic also working for the Empire).
  • Gogandantes, the Greatest Swordsman of all the Demons, from Onimusha 2, is essentially a demonic Samurai. He appears to be entirely invincible, but repeatedly refuses to finish off the hero, since that would be dishonorable. During the hero's final fight against him, he rescues the main love-interest from a fiery death before engaging him in an honorable duel. When, thanks to a magic flute, you actually defeat him, the hero acknowledges his honor and skill as he dies. What a senseless waste of demon life...
    • Although one wonders how honorable he can be if he fights all his battles surrounded by an impenetrable force field...
  • It is stated repeatedly throughout Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney that one of the primary reasons Phoenix became a defense attorney is that he could meet his childhood friend Miles Edgeworth in court, as Edgeworth is a prosecutor. Despite their positions as adversaries in court, their mutual desire for justice leads them to jointly take down quite a few criminals. In the fourth game, Apollo Justice gets his own Worthy Opponent, Klavier Gavin.
  • Vergil from Devil May Cry fills this role in the third outing and arguably somewhat in the first, being Dante's brother, with a definite tendency towards only using melee weapons.
  • Meta Knight in the Kirby games (pictured above), who will give the hero a sword in their battles so they can fight on more or less even terms. In many games, he will even refuse to fight unless Kirby picks up the sword.
    • Admittedly, the latter half was partially so that he didn't get stuffed in a pot and cooked or similar fates possible in some of the games.
    • In Amazing Mirror, the fact that he doesn't give you a sword is a sign that it's not really him.
  • The Drakengard games have two examples. The first game has Caim and Inuart. Inuart bemoans early in the game how he is never as strong as Caim, but when he turns evil, he gains the power of a pact with a dragon and handily defeats Caim in a tense cinematic. They hold each other to a certain standard as Inuart doesn't take advantage of the situation to kill Caim. The second game has Caim appear as the Worthy Opponent to Nowe, the protagonist of that game. Caim's duel with Nowe is only a formality as Nowe isn't the one Caim wants dead, and Caim only fights Nowe long enough to weaken him and achieve his real objective, which, once learned, is actually quite sympathetic.
  • Tales Of Symphonia features an... unusual Worthy Opponent in the form of Forcystus, one of the Desian grand cardinals, who is posthumously constructed as a Worthy Opponent in a discussion between Kratos and Lloyd and is easily the most tolerant and level-headed of the lot (being, for instance, willing to enter into a mutual non-agression pact with the human village within his territory). When taken into account that he is still a spluttering racist misanthrope who burned down Lloyd's hometown, mutated one of Genis' best friends into a monster and set her loose on the party, tried to doom the world because of the flawed ideals of his Knight Templar boss and tried to gun down innocent bystanders when the party thwarted him, their declaration of how war makes enemies out of people who could otherwise be friends seems a little... Off.
    • To be fair, he was a hero to his own kind because he killed a group of humans who were burning half-elven villages. Most of the Desians have the Freudian Excuse of having experienced human hatred of half-elves all their lives, causing them to hate humans with varying degrees of insanity.
  • Wodan Ymir in Super Robot Wars Original Generation 2 to Sanger Zonvolt, his still-living Alternate Universe counterpart. In one battle, he actually helps Sanger out, and fights against his own allies because he is The Only One Allowed To Defeat Him.
  • Forsythe from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin fights on the side of the Lazurian army, but is a kind-hearted general who stands by a strict code of honor and turns down Caulder's offer to resort to dirty tactics when fighting against Brenner and the Rubinelle army. When he is defeated, he promptly surrenders without resistance and is killed by Admiral Greyfield, leaving his subordinates Tasha and Gage to fly the Lazurian banner for him after his loss.
    • In the Wars World-based Advance Wars trilogy, Hawke of the Black Hole army holds some grudging respect for young Orange Star CO Andy. In Dual Strike, he and his Perky Hench-Goth Lash switch sides and help them fight the remnants of the Bolt Guard during the last few missions.
  • The Black Knight in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Although he murders Greil in cold blood, he doesn't do so before offering a powerful sword and insisting that he use it. He fights Ike honorably as well, in fact, more honorably than Ike, if Mist appears.
  • In Metal Gear Solid 3, Ocelot and Big Boss view one another as Worthy Opponents even though they stand at opposite sides of the Cold War. This causes Ocelot to act like a Stalker With A Crush.
    • Also, The End seeks to end his life with a sniper duel against a worthy opponent - the player.
  • General Selena from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones are all reluctant villains who are well-respected by the heroes.
  • Holly Summer from No More Heroes is another example.
  • Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies' Yellow Thirteen calls [[AFGNCAAP Mobius]] One this after Mobius One has made a name for himself, and it's reinforced after Mobius One destroys Stonehenge and shoots down Yellow Thirteen's wingman Yellow Four. Mobius One however proves that he's actually better, shooting Yellow Thirteen down during the Siege of Farbanti.
    • Ace Combat, as a rule, tends to do this quite a bit, throwing entire squadrons of Worthy Opponents at the player.
  • Admiral Gregorio in Skies Of Arcadia. A completely honourable man and basically the adoptive uncle of Defector From Decadence Enrique, he is killed by Big Bad Galcian after the latter betrays the Valuan Empire. Intriguingly, even Galcian seemed to consider Gregorio a Worthy Opponent and insists his body be shipped back to Valua with the highest honours.
  • Elvis, That One Boss from God Hand. He gives his Mooks a Megaton Punch for disrespecting the bodies of their victims and treats Gene like an old friend when he sees him. Gene even comments that he and Elvis could have been good friends if Elvis wasn't a demon.
  • Lancer (again, see above Fate Zero entry) or Assassin for Saber in Fate Stay Night. The first is so disgusted by his Master that he turns on him in both routes he plays a part in and is also rather tetchy about Archer's tactics and lack of pride despite his ability. Assassin lets Shirou go and helps fight off Archer, as he has an agreement with Saber to fight again and therefore will not allow Archer to give him an unfair advantage. His Neutral Evil alignment actually doesn't really make much sense since he doesn't do anything even immoral. He is also a graceful loser even to True Assassin.
  • Several bosses from Mega Man Zero count, most notably the Four Guardians.
  • Captain Narville of Killzone 2 sees Colonel Radec as one, and Radec in turn sees Templar as one.

Webcomics

Western Animation
  • Prince Zuko from Avatar The Last Airbender filled this role for Aang in the first season.
  • Robin and Slade in Teen Titans
    • One would argue Slade considers Robin a Worthy Opponent but Robin simply sees Slade as a diabolical villain. A better Worthy Opponent comparison would be Robin and Red X.
      • The "second" Red X, at least. Robin was actually the original Red X.
  • Brock Samson and Molotov Cocktease are one part this, two parts really frustrating Foe Yay.
  • Kim Possible and Shego. They're like sisters.
  • In a non-combat related example, look at Huey and the government agent in one particular episode of The Boondocks. Yes, Huey is suspicious of the man, who may or many not always be watching, but they both understand where the other is coming from and engage in calm and intelligent conversation. The agent even mentions at the end of the episode of Huey ever needs to talk about something, he'd lend an ear.
  • The straight example is Vlad and Danny in Danny Phantom, but one episode had Skulker of all people declaring Valerie and Danny to be this. So much so that he hunted them both when he couldn't decide who was better.

Real Life
  • WWI German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, better known today as the Red Baron, was greatly admired among the Allied powers. Upon his death, he was given a full military funeral by his Australian opponents. Erwin Rommel, the Wehrmacht Field Marshal from World War II, known as the Desert Fox by his enemies, was similarly praised by his opponents, especially his legendary archrival George Patton. Both the Red Baron and the Desert Fox were the living Magnificent Bastards of their time (in fact, the trope Magnificent Bastard was named after Rommel). It should be noted that Rommel, while not a member of the Nazi party, was still under the command of Adolf Hitler. However, he had Jewish friends and consistently defied orders to execute both Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners of war. In fact, his Afrikacorps was well known for being fairly humane and were not charged with any war crimes under his command. Though not directly involved, he knew enough about the July 20 plot to become entangled in the aftermath and was given the choice of suicide over execution. The fact that he managed to become the only German general from the Second World War with his own museum just shows how well he exemplified both Magnificent Bastard and Worthy Opponent.
    • In fact, real-life examples pop up all over the place: at the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans shouted to each other when they were resting at night, and there's also the famous Christmas truce of 1914.
      • Another is the rivalry between Takeda Shingen and Uesegi Kenshin, two Daimyos in Japan. Although ruling different territories, and often waging war against one another, legend says they developed a deep respect for one another, to the point where Kenshin reportedly wept openly and loudly at the death of Shingen, and never again attacked Shingen's territory.
      • Kenshin went so far as to break a blockade against Shingen during his opponent's most dire hour, sending him salt (for preserving food) and saying: "Wars are to be won with swords and spears, not with rice and salt."
      • King Fredrick the Great of Prussia once commented on Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, "I warred with her, but I was never her enemy."
    • Union and Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War sometimes conducted temporary truces to trade for tobacco, food or alcohol, with or without their superior officers' knowledge or consent. There is at least one documented instance of soldiers deserting and joining the opposing side because their commanding officer killed a soldier they had made a truce with.
      • Also from the Civil War: General Robert E. Lee was well respected by many members of the Union, including Abraham Lincoln.
      • Ulysses S. Grant was similary well respected by Lee, who, after the war, never, ever tolerated an unkind word about Grant in his presence. Joseph Johnston was similarly disposed towards his rival. Considering that the rival in question was the oft-villainized William T. Sherman, that's saying something. Johnston even served as a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral, and refused to cover up despite poor health and bone-chilling winter.
      • Indeed the Civil War was full of this, as most of the Confederate officers had been Union officers until just before the war.
    • Raizo Tanaka(from an American troper's point of view of course). He was one of Japan's finest naval officer and the leader of the legendary Tokyo Express in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1942-43. He kept Japanese outposts alive, and evacuated them when the time came, in the teeth of the American naval and air forces, fighting a number of fierce actions. Fortunately for American arms, envy of his success and anger at his lack of tact caused the Obstructive Bureaucrats of the Imperial Japanese Navy to beach him.
    • Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Pearl Harbour, had a tremendous respect and appreciation for the military power of the United States, gained whilst working as a Japanese naval attache in Washington. He repeatedly advised the Japanese government not to pursue a course of war against the USA and was vocally opposed to the Tripartite Pact (the alliance with Germany and Italy), which led to him receiving death threats. When ordered to present a plan for a sneak attack on the US fleet, he judged it futile, claiming that even in the best-case scenario (the destruction of the US carriers) all he would gain is six to twelve months of freedom of action in the Pacific before the US gained the upper hand, and sure enough the US achieved this by winning the Battle of Midway just six months after Pearl Harbour. Whilst Yamamoto's respect for the military and naval power of the United States was high, this was not entirely reciprocated, as his role in planning the 'cowardly' Pearl Harbour attack made him more a figure of hate than respect. That said, the Americans did 'honour' him by going to the trouble of sending a long-range intercept mission to shoot down his aircraft when they learned its flight-plan through code intercepts.
  • A fair few Cold War veterans feel this way about some of their opponents on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
    • This Troper once witnessed a speech by Putin in Kalinsgrad in German and understood how much a worth opponent he was of the West.
  • The military ethic has analogies to the legal ethic in that it presumes that a professional soldier will do his best for the State he serves(barring Very Exceptional Circumstances: see Those Wacky Nazis )just as a lawyer does the same for his client. Thus many soldiers do not think it contradictory to try to kill someone and yet admire them as killing is their job but hating isn't, as after all enemy soldiers aren't much different from themselves.
  • What with the glorification of chivalry, the Middle Ages should have been full of these, but one outstanding example is Saladin of the Third Crusade who treated Richard the Lionheart with a profound respect. Given the contention surrounding the events that took place during the Crusades, how true this really was may never be known.
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