History Main / DuelingMessiahs

The world can be a cruel, dreadful place sometimes, but thankfully, there's people that want to change that. There's only so many times the universe can [[KickTheDog kick the dog]] before [[TheDogBitesBack the dog bites back]], and at least a few individuals rise to fight the injustices of the world time and again.

[[TropesAreTools This trope is difficult to handle properly]], since it's very easy to make one of the messiahs a DesignatedHero[=/=]DesignatedVillain or too much of a WellIntentionedExtremist to be sympathetic [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Too much mudslinging from both sides while forgetting about fixing their world]] is also a one way ticket for [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy the audience hating both sides]]. But handled properly, [[BothSidesHaveAPoint you'll have two guys who both have compelling arguments to their methods]] and a fandom split right in the middle over which one of them's right.

[[TropesAreTools This trope is difficult to handle properly]], since it's very easy to make one of the messiahs a DesignatedHero[=/=]DesignatedVillain or too much of a WellIntentionedExtremist to be sympathetic. In addition, [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Too much mudslinging from both sides while forgetting about fixing their world]] is also a one way ticket for [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy the audience hating both sides]]. But handled properly, [[BothSidesHaveAPoint you'll have two guys who both have compelling arguments to their methods]] and a fandom split right in the middle over which one of them's right.

This trope is difficult to handle properly, since it's very easy to make one of the messiahs a DesignatedHero[=/=]DesignatedVillain or too much of a WellIntentionedExtremist to be sympathetic. In addition, [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic too much mudslinging from both sides while they forget about fixing their world]] is a one way ticket for [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy the audience ending up hating both sides]]. But handled properly, [[BothSidesHaveAPoint you'll have two guys who both have compelling arguments to their methods]] and a fandom split right in the middle over which one of them's right.

This trope is difficult to handle properly, since it's very easy to make one of the messiahs a DesignatedVillain or too much of a WellIntentionedExtremist to be sympathetic. But handled properly, you'll have two guys who both have compelling arguments to their methods and a fandom split right in the middle over which one of them's right.

* Commander Sam Vimes vs Lord Vetinari in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Both want what's best for Ankh-Morpork, but they often butt heads when Vetinari's using some of his more... unsavory methods, while Vimes's policing just flat out ruins Vetinari's plans.

... then [[BrickJoke coming back to them later]]:

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'' there was a legendary duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald because the dark wizard, Grindelwald, wanted to lead the wizards out of hiding and Dumbeldore had become the champion for the muggles, those without magic.

* Illya and [[spoiler:Julian Ainsworth]] in ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'', as it turns out. [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Angelica]] reveals that their world (i.e. Miyu's [[AlternateReality home dimension]]) is running out of mana, and will become uninhabitable very soon. [[WellIntentionedExtremist Julian]]'s plan is to sacrifice Miyu as the Holy Grail, and wish for humans to be able to survive the coming disaster. Illya is then presented with the SadisticChoice of saving Miyu or the world, and eventually decides to [[TookAThirdOption take the third option]] and find a way to save both, somehow]].

** All three have political differences which make any possible alliance between them an EnemyMine at best. Jon is right now in a very uneasy alliance with Stannis, and Daenerys hates Stannis for being a Baratheon and thus a brother to the usurper Robert.

* Kenshiro vs Raoh in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''. Both are students of ''Hokuto Shinken'', the most powerful martial art on the planet which produces men of great brilliance and destiny, and both recognize that the post-apocalyptic world in which they live could stand to be a better place. But while Kenshiro believes that one should use strength to inspire humanity towards peace and protect the weak, Raoh believes that the world will improve by [[TheSocialDarwinist becoming the leader and forcing those under him to maintain order]]. Toki, the third Hokuto Brother, strives for peace and non-violence, using Hokuto Shinken to ease the suffering of others as a healer. This puts him at odds with Raoh, but on Kenshiro's side.

* ''{{Exalted}}'': Due to the game mechanic, this is unavoidable. These eponymous heroes are are required to have moral excellence (called Virtues) if they want to be able to fuel their magic. [[{{Ubermensch}} The other requirement is a grand Motivation to change the world to their ideal state]]. That they come to a loggerhead is an inevitability. [[ApocalypseHow World-shattering, heaven-rending, nation-crushing loggerheads.]]

* Negi and [[spoiler:Fate]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', in a similar manner to [[spoiler:''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'' above]]. [[spoiler:Negi and the gang eventually discover that Fate and the Cosmo Entelechia are trying to prevent the collapse of the Magical World, which will result in its human inhabitants being stranded on Mars (whose landscape was used to create the Magical World). Negi opposes their plan to send the humans to a [[LotusEaterMachine never-ending dream world]] by sacrificing Asuna and the Magical World's non-human inhabitants, and tries to get them to help him find another way.]]

* Negi and [[spoiler:Fate]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', in a similar manner to [[spoiler:''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'' above]]. [[spoiler:Negi and the gang eventually discover that Fate and the Cosmo Entelechia are trying to prevent the collapse of the Magical World, which will result in its human inhabitants being stranded on Mars (whose landscape was used to create the Magical World). Negi opposes their plan to prevent this by sacrificing Asuna and the Magical World's non-human inhabitants, and tries to get them to help him find another way.]]

* Illya and [[spoiler:Julian Ainsworth]] in ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'', as it turns out. [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Angelica]] reveals that their world (i.e. Miyu's [[AlternateReality home dimension]]) is running out of mana, and will become uninhabitable very soon. [[WellIntentionedExtremist Julian]]'s plan is to sacrifice Miyu as the Holy Grail, and wish for humans to be able survive the coming disaster. Illya is then presented with the SadisticChoice of saving Miyu or the world, and eventually decides to [[TookAThirdOption take the third option]] and find a way to save both, somehow]].

* Negi and [[spoiler:Fate]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', in a similar manner to [[spoiler:''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'']] above. [[spoiler:Negi and the gang eventually discover that Fate and the Cosmo Entelechia are trying to prevent the collapse of the Magical World, which will result in its human inhabitants being stranded on Mars (whose landscape was used to create the Magical World). Negi opposes their plan to prevent this by sacrificing Asuna and the Magical World's non-human inhabitants, and tries to get them to help him find another way.]]

* Kenshiro vs Raoh in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''. Both are students of ''Hokuto Shinken'', the most powerful martial art on the planet which produces men of great brilliance and destiny, and both recognize that the post-apocalyptic world in which they live could stand to be a better place. But while Kenshiro believes that one should use strength to inspire humanity towards peace and protect the weak, Raoh believes that the world will improve by [[TheSocialDarwinist becoming the leader and forcing those under him to maintain order]]. Toki, the third Hokuto Brother, strives for peace and non-violence, using Hokuto Shinken to ease the suffering of others as a healer. This puts him at odds with Raoh, but on Kenshiro's side.

* A psychology experiment in 1959 placed three schizophrenics in the same room, each believing he was {{Jesus}} Christ. Doing so did nothing to relieve them of their delusions, only making it stronger and causing them to fight over which one of them should be worshipped. Eventually they rationalized their conflicting identities with their own explanations, such that the other two were mental patients or that the other two were robots. Two years later, each man still believed he was Jesus, and the doctor in charge of the experiment [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone felt tremendous guilt over the experiment]] and renounced his methods.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. [[AntiHero Guts]] is seen by the public as TheAntichrist who's trying to kill [[BigBad Griffith]], [[MessianicArchetype the Hawk of Light]] [[TheProphecy prophesized]] by [[HighPriest the Pope]]. [[VillainWithGoodPublicity In reality]], Griffith (aka Femto) is [[DarkMessiah the Hawk of Darkness]], a member of [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils the God Hand]] who's supposed to bring a new age of darkness upon the world. This would in turn make Guts, who's actively [[TheHunter slaying]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Apostles]] and [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge trying to kill Griffith]], the ''real'' Hawk of Light. This setup is, however, [[BlackAndGreyMorality further complicated]] by the fact that Guts is a borderline NominalHero who is constantly struggling with his [[EnemyWithin inner]] [[SuperPoweredEvilSide demons]], while Griffith [[spoiler:is actually making the Apostles fight on the side of the humans (though to what end, we can't be quite sure)]].

** DarkMessiah Madara and WideEyedIdealist Hashirama came to believe in conflicting ideas on how to bring lasting peace to the world, culminating in their battle at the Valley of the End. [[spoiler:After Hashirama's death, Madara continued to work on his plan and passed it on to [[SelfishEvil Obito]]. Naruto's emergence as the HopeBringer has set him as the new messiah opposing the two Uchiha]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has the mutual dislike between Byakuren Hijiri (former [[BlackMagic Black Mage]] [[TheAtoner turned]] [[AllLovingHero All Loving]] HeroAntagonist Buddhist who attempts to create peace by saving {{Youkai}} from being exterminated) and Toyosatomimi no Miko [[EvilIsHammy extremely hammy]] [[HistoricalDomainCharacter sanctified]] [[SheIsTheKing emperor]] Taoist who [[PathOfInspiration practiced Buddhism for political gain]] and [[TakeOverTheWorld planned to "administrate" the humans]] for their own good). It's mostly a conflict between [[FluffyTamer pro-youkai]] [[WideEyedIdealist idealism]] and [[ProhumanTranshuman pro-human]] pragmatism, but Byakuren knowingly putting her temple over Miko's grave didn't make it any better. However, they aren't outright antagonistic (compared to how Gensokyo residents [[DuelsDecideEverything usually behave]]) and even [[spoiler:[[EnemyMine team up]] to fight a common enemy]].

* Kenshiro vs Raoh in ''FistOfTheNorthStar''. Both are students of ''Hokuto Shinken'', the most powerful martial art on the planet which produces men of great brilliance and destiny, and both recognize that the post-apocalyptic world in which they live could stand to be a better place. But while Kenshiro believes that one should use strength to inspire humanity towards peace and protect the weak, Raoh believes that the world will improve by [[TheSocialDarwinist becoming the leader and forcing those under him to maintain order]]. Toki, the third Hokuto Brother, strives for peace and non-violence, using Hokuto Shinken to ease the suffering of others as a healer. This puts him at odds with Raoh, but on Kenshiro's side.

* There are many religions in the world. They have the goal of bringing humanity to a state of non-suffering, be it in a distant paradise or as peace of self. Those religions don't get along very well. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment We're not calling names.]]

Compare OpposedMentors, who are more concerned with doing right by one person than the entire world, GoodVersusGood depending on how "moral" the messiahs in question are, NotQuiteTheRightThing, and SmallStepsHero.

* {{Touhou}} has the mutual dislike between Byakuren Hijiri (former [[BlackMagic Black Mage]] [[TheAtoner turned]] [[AllLovingHero All Loving]] HeroAntagonist Buddhist who attempts to create peace by saving {{Youkai}} from being exterminated) and Toyosatomimi no Miko [[EvilIsHammy extremely hammy]] [[HistoricalDomainCharacter sanctified]] [[SheIsTheKing emperor]] Taoist who [[PathOfInspiration practiced Buddhism for political gain]] and [[TakeOverTheWorld planned to "administrate" the humans]] for their own good). It's mostly a conflict between [[FluffyTamer pro-youkai]] [[WideEyedIdealist idealism]] and [[ProhumanTranshuman pro-human]] pragmatism, but Byakuren knowingly putting her temple over Miko's grave didn't make it any better. However, they aren't outright antagonistic (compared to how Gensokyo residents [[DuelsDecideEverything usually behave]]) and even [[spoiler:[[EnemyMine team up]] to fight a common enemy]].

* Sort of joked about in the {{Dire Straits}} song "Industrial Disease":

* TheBookOfTheNewSun: though it may not be apparent to the protagonist, there are two apparent candidates for the messiah figure known as the Conciliator, namely [[spoiler:Bardanders and Serverian himself]]. Naturally they end up fighting - the trigger being the science-driven former destroying a relic belonging to the faith-driven latter.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica vs ComicBook/IronMan in ''ComicBook/CivilWar''. After the tragedy at Stanford results in civilian casualties during a supervillain attack, the government puts into motion the [[SuperRegistrationAct Superhuman Registration Act]]. Iron man takes the "Lawful" side of the [[ToBeLawfulOrGood conflict]], while Cap takes the "Good" side.
* Professor Charles Xavier vs Magneto in ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}''. Both want the welfare of the Mutant race, but their methods could not differ more. Xavier wants Mutants to be one with humanity, using their abilities for the betterment of mankind and living with humans as equals. Magneto, by contrast, wants Mutants to be the rulers of humanity, considering them genetically superior. While this might make Magneto seem like the bad guy(and he is, to an extent), his backstory also gives him valid reasons for his way of thinking and disbelief that humanity is capable of existing in harmony even with itself (let alone a race of super-powered individuals): being a Holocaust survivor, he's faced persecution before, and has sworn that the people of his race shall not face it while he's around.