Basic Trope: The protagonists have a dispute and abandon their friendship.
- Straight: Alice and Bob quarrel over who's doing a better job of foiling Emperor Evulz's scheme. This causes them to declare their friendship over and go their separate ways.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Bob have been True Companions for years, yet their argument causes them to become Arch-Enemies who want to torture, rape, and kill each other.
- Downplayed:
- Alice and Bob are casual acquaintances who are willing to work together if it means saving the world, and their argument causes them to dislike each other, prompting them to have some time apart from each other before reconciling and resuming their mission.
- Alice and Bob eventually having the dispute have been foreshadowed throughout the story, with both of them expressing growing frustration at each other before the last straw.
- Justified:
- They said some things to each other that really cut deep.
- A third party is manipulating the protagonists and trying to turn them against each other for their own purposes.
- Inverted: Alice and Bob are enemies competing with each other to defeat Emperor Evulz before the other. Evulz casts a magic spell on them that causes them to become friends, and thus does not want to defeat Evulz because neither of them wants to feel superior to the other.
- Subverted: "I've had it with you, Alice! ...I've had glory and adventures and it's all thanks to you! Now come on, let's go defeat Evulz together!"
- Double Subverted: "Fine. You're still a klutz for dropping that sword off the ship, though." "Okay, that does it, now I really do hate you!"
- Parodied: They make up ten seconds later.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob and Alice have an argument early on, but they reconcile. They later get into another unrelated argument, which is where the real conflict begins.
- Averted: Bob and Alice never have a dispute.
- Enforced:
- "We need to include a part in the plot where Alice and Bob get mad at each other and go their separate ways, but reconcile just in time to defeat Emperor Evulz. It adds drama and we can keep them as friends."
- "We can't hide the discontent between Alice and Bob's actors for much longer!" "Dudes, he just gave us our two-week notice… he just can't work with her anymore." "Let's write Bob out of the story in a huge breakup, that'll let them vent their frustrations and give an In-Universe explanation for his absence."
- Foregone Conclusion: This prequel is about the breakup between Alice and Bob (Now?, then?, will be? Dr. Evil) mentioned in the original.
- Lampshaded: "This friendship is OVER!"
- Invoked: Alice and Bob search Evulz's lair and split up to cover more ground. Evulz's Mooks tell them separately that Alice or Bob thinks the other is worthless.
- Exploited:
- Evulz recruits Bob, who accepts this as a way to get back at Alice.
- With the two separated and unavailable to defend each other, Evulz captures one of them to use to their advantage.
- Defied: "Alice, while I don't approve of some of your actions, and you don't approve of some of mine, we're still friends and we still need to defeat Emperor Evulz together."
- Discussed: Charlie: "You left Alice?!" Bob: "She thinks I'm worthless." Charlie: "But aren't you guys going to defeat Evulz?" Bob: "If I'm so worthless, she can do it by herself." Meanwhile, Alice is having the same conversation with Diane.
- Conversed:
- "Oh shit, Alice and Bob aren't friends anymore!" "For now. They'll make up later, these movies always have a sequence where the heroes have an argument. It creates drama and tension."
- "Why is it that near the end of the story the best friends temporarily break up?"
- Implied: Alice and Bob silently confront each other, ready to tear into each other about their mistakes. The scene then cuts to them walking away from each other, giving each other the stink-eye.
- Deconstructed:
- Because Alice and Bob ended their friendship over a quarrel, Emperor Evulz wins.
- They still defeat Emperor Evulz, but the argument left a bitter taste in their mouths, and they either don't repair their friendship, or it takes them an awfully long time to reconcile afterward.
- Reconstructed:
- Emperor Evulz has a Near-Villain Victory because of Alice and Bob's falling out. Before Evulz can succeed, the two realize the strength of their bonds and work together to defeat him.
- They realize that they have a point about each other and see the incident as a sign that they need to change. They reunite with a stronger bond, and their newfound Character Development helps to defeat Emperor Evulz.
- Played for Laughs:
- Their quarrel was over Bob forgetting to bring ketchup and mustard for the hot dogs they packed for their long journey.
- They have their big argument, but all it leads to is the two of them pouting on opposite sides of the room.
- Played for Drama: Alice and Bob get progressively angrier at each other until Alice says something particularly nasty. Alice severely regrets what she just said, but Bob sullenly walks off before she can take it back. When they reunite, they tearfully apologize to each other and hug it out before dealing with Emperor Evulz.
- Played for Horror: Due to this, Alice and Bob begin to stalk each other to foil each other's plans to stop Evulz.
Back to Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure.
