Basic Trope: A rivalry stems out of a crush, or a crush stems out of a rivalry.
- Straight: In Tales of Troperia DCXXX, The Hero Bob and The Big Gal Claire have a heated rivalry, though as the game goes on they discover that their "rivalry" is actually a result of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Exaggerated: Bob and Claire are practically at each others' throats, being bitter rivals. Next thing you know, their throats are not choked by each others' hands, but by each others' tongues. They have multiple kids by the end of the game.
- Downplayed: Bob and Claire have a Friendly Rivalry, it's nothing too heated or romantic.
- Justified:
- Bob and Claire went through the romantic variant of the process of becoming Fire-Forged Friends.
- Bob and Claire didn't realize that their vitriol towards one another was just Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Bob and Claire knew they liked each other, but due to their fight-happy nature, it's pretty much natural that this starts out as being bitter rivals.
- Inverted:
- Bob and Claire have reciprocative crushes on one another, but it's ruined from their rivalry.
- Bob and Claire have a vicious rivalry between each other, but it mellows down into a relationship, and by the time they get married, the rivalry's completely fizzled out.
- Subverted: ???
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: Bob and Claire have a rivalry at an early age, which is pretty much why their parents proceeded to arrange a marriage between them. In fact, rivalries are pretty much considered the end all be all factor as to whether or not a couple is compatible.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob and Claire are very confused as to what they want to be: A couple of lovey-dovey Sickeningly Sweethearts, a pair of Sitcom Arch Nemeses, or a mix of both. It's constantly changing every scene they're in together.
- Averted:
- Bob and Claire are lovers without loathing.
- Bob and Claire are rivals without romance.
- Enforced: It's pretty much the same reason why Tsunderes are so popular.
- Lampshaded: "I'm glad I'll be seeing this idiotic rivalry blossom into an idiotic marriage..."
- Invoked:
- Bob and Claire try to win each others' hearts, but because of how aggressive and violent they naturally are, they manifest their love into a rivalry.
- Claire typically picks on Bob, but when Bob manages to knock Claire down and out with a solid right cross, she manages to fall in Love at First Punch!
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Bob and Claire actively decide to either should just break it off and remain rivals or simmer and settle down, because they can't have their cake and eat it too.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs:
- Whenever Bob or Claire manages to one up the other, the other rival sulks and hides away, before furiously masturbating at how cool their rival was and how they managed to get one-upped so incredibly.
- Bob and Claire are initially seen brawling savagely, punching, kicking, and headbutting each other senseless (during their wedding no less), and the other characters leave them to their Brutal Brawl... And once they come back as part of the Brick Joke, they're both naked, in bed, satisfied, and the whole room's turned upside down, implying they somehow managed to consummate the marriage (presumably multiple times) while fighting.
- Implied:
- Bob and Claire are a married couple, though they occasionally drop some words about how they initially didn't like each other as much.
- Bob and Claire are bitter rivals, though they occasionally let a Freudian Slip out revealing that they think the other is pretty hot.
Rivalry as Courtship, eh? At least you two knew when to settle down...
