History Main / EnemiesEqualsGreatness

* '''Moral character:''' The hero has gained a lot of enemies because he stood up for something that is [[HonorBeforeReason right]]. After all, they're [[EvilCannotComprehendGood too cruel and nasty to understand it]]. This character usually obeys the {{Peer Pressure Makes You Evil}} trope since hanging with his [[GoodIsBoring boring]] friends is better than [[EvilIsCool hanging with the wrong crowd]], which is no wonder why he doesn't mind eliciting enemies.

Other reasons may vary. Because of these reasons, it's no secret that the hero wouldn't bother changing the [[StatusQuoIsGod status quo]] and it's also no secret that he remains [[{{Determinator}} physically, emotionally, and morally strong]].

Note that this doesn't always have to be exclusive to the heroes. Villains like the {{Visionary Villain}} can apply this philosophy to their goals, although that doesn't mean they wouldn't give their enemies a [[SmugSnake smug]] [[EvilGloating gloat]] if they have succeeded. Other versions would have an oppressive tyrant having an enjoyment of being hated because he believes they fear him. Even the hero would [[GoodIsNotNice rub it in all of their faces]] for being inferior towards him. Believing this trope too much would make the character {{pride}}ful, and [[PrideBeforeAFall you know where that goes]]. Also note that believing in this trope would have the character ''[[{{Jerkass}} deliberately]]'' make enemies, and [[WrongGenreSavvy this will normally have bad results]].

A subtrope of {{Misery Builds Character}} if opposition or mistreatment from others is what makes a character stronger. Can relate to {{Good Needs Evil}} if having enemies is a necessity. Obviously on the idealistic end of the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}}. If so, it can be served as {{An Aesop}} if [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop played right]]. Can be the belief of a {{Blood Knight}} as far as fighting is concerned. Can be {{Truth In Television}} [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity for many politics]], [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment but lets leave it at that]]. See also TallPoppySyndrome.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': A rather [[DethroningMoment/{{FamilyGuy}} infamous]] example would be from the episode "Seahorse Seashell Party". According to Brian, [[ButtMonkey Meg]]'s constant mistreatment from her own family (Peter, Lois, and Chris) is the very thing to keep the family from falling apart. Translation: [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Sure, your family hates you with a burning passion, but it's a good thing that they do because if they don't hate you, then the whole family will start killing each other and who will take care of you then]]?

A subtrope of {{Misery Builds Character}} if opposition or mistreatment from others is what makes a character stronger. Can relate to {{Good Needs Evil}} if having enemies is a necessity. Obviously on the idealistic end of the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}}. If so, it can be served as {{An Aesop}}. Can be the belief of a {{Blood Knight}} as far as fighting is concerned. Can be {{Truth In Television}} [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity for many politics]], [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment but lets leave it at that]]. See also TallPoppySyndrome.

Other reasons may vary. Because of these reasons, it's no secret that the hero wouldn't bother changing the [[StatusQuoIsGod status quo]] and it's also no secret that he remains [[{{Determinator}} morally strong]].

Note that this doesn't always have to be exclusive to the heroes. [[{{Villains}} Villains]] like the {{Visionary Villain}} can apply this philosophy to their goals, although that doesn't mean they wouldn't give their enemies a [[SmugSnake smug]] [[EvilGloating gloat]] if they have succeeded. Other versions would have an oppressive tyrant having an enjoyment of being hated because he believes they fear him. In fact, even the hero would [[GoodIsNotNice rub it in all of their faces]] for being inferior towards him. Believing this trope too much would make the character [[{{Pride}} prideful]], and [[PrideBeforeAFall you know where that goes]].

* The reason why Wrestling/{{John Cena}} is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, star in the Wrestling/{{WWE}} today is because not only for having a large fanbase, but also having a huge pack of haters, so it really doesn't matter whether he's [[BaseBreaker cheered or booed]], what matters is that he has the biggest reaction. And selling all of the "Cena Sucks" T-shirt doesn't help the Cena haters' a bit.

* Wrestling/{{The Miz}}'s promo during his run as the United States Champion has this {{Wham Line}}:

** He again boasts to his detractors in a promo in November 2010 after winning the WWE Championship from Wrestling/{{Randy Orton}} the previous week.
* Part of Wrestling/{{CM Punk}}'s imfamous "pipebomb" promo in June 2011 states that eversince he came to the Wrestling/{{WWE}}, he was strongly hated because Wrestling/{{Paul Heyman}} saw something in him that they don't want to admit. In short, [[MemeticMutation he's a Paul Heyman guy]].
** His [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech "Reason You Suck" Speech]] against Wrestling/{{John Laurinaitis}} points out that the reason Laurinaitis has been getting under Punk's skin for the past months is because he's jealous of his success as the WWE Champion. This is what also let Big Johnny to [[VillainousBreakdown snap]].
* During his feud with Wrestling/{{Hulk Hogan}} in mid 2005, Wrestling/{{Shawn Michaels}} insults the Montreal crowd for hating him because he's everything they wish they could be. This is one of the guys who claim that he [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob screwed]] Wrestling/{{Bret Hart}}.

* The first lines of {{Shinedown}}'s "Bully" implies this:

* In ''[[Videogame/DragonAge Dragon Age Origins]]'', Loghain will remark that his late friend King Maric once told him that a man can be judged by the quality of his enemies. [[WorthyOpponent He wonders if that's more a compliment to you or to him.]]

* Played with in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. [[BigBad Hazama]] [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly needs people to hate him to stay in the world]].

** The quote was also then used by {{Dr. Seuss}} in one of his books, but without the citation of the work.

* '''Honesty:''' Maybe it could be that the hero knows that it's better to have openly [[VillainsNeverLie honest]] enemies than [[EtTuBrute distrustful]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends friends]]. Reason 2 from above would be that enemies are lighting up the fire in the hero whereas friendships are just there to [[FalseFriend bring down the hero]]. An interesting subversion of this trope would be having the enemies becoming the hero's friends.

This is more of an alternate version of {{The Power Of Friendship}} where a hero's friends and allies are the reason why he has accomplished his goals. Replace friends and allies with enemies and you have this trope in a nutshell.

A subtrope of {{Misery Builds Character}} if opposition or mistreatment from others is what makes a character stronger. Can relate to {{Good Needs Evil}} if having enemies is a necessity. Obviously on the idealistic end of the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}}. If so, it can be served as {{An Aesop}}. Can be {{Truth In Television}} [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity for many politics]], [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment but lets leave it at that]]. See also TallPoppySyndrome.

** Stephen was hated and brutally stoned to death all because he was witnessing to others about Jesus, cementing himself as the first Christian martyr in history. For this matter, a Christian being persecuted for faith in God is a sign of honor and rewards, especially in heaven.

** Stephen was hated and brutally stoned to death all because he was witnessing to others about Jesus. It's even better that he is the first Christian martyr. For this matter, a Christian being persecuted for faith in God is a sign of honor and rewards, especially from heaven.

** The reason why Joseph was [[CainAndAbel hated by his ten half-brothers]] was for three things: 1.) Being favored by Israel, thus being granted with the "coat of many colors". 2.) Sharing his dreams to his family, which said dreams were given by God. And 3.) Being [[ParentalFavoritism the most loved son of his father, Jacob]].

** Job is a good example of a person who is doubted by others (his wife and his close [[WithFriendsLikeThese friends]]) due to putting their trust in God during a {{Crisis Of Faith}}.
** Stephen was hated and brutally stoned to death all because he was witnessing to others about Jesus. It's even better that he is the first Christian martyr.
*** For that matter, being persecuted for your faith in God is a sign of honor and blessings.
** Let's not forget about Jesus Himself. He was hated, tortured, mocked, and was nailed to a cross for performing miracles that some thought was impossible to believe, preaching doctrines that the Pharisees strongly disagree with, [[BewareTheNiceOnes angrily rebuking merchants for defiling His Father's house]], and most importantly, being the Son Of God.

-->Wrestling/{{The Miz}}: "I'd rather you all hate me for who I am than love me for something I'm not!"

* Part of Wrestling/{{CM Punk}}'s imfamous "pipebomb" promo in June 2011 states that eversince he came to the {{WWE}}, he was strongly hated because {{Paul Heyman}} saw something in him that they don't want to admit. In short, [[MemeticMutation he's a Paul Heyman guy]].
** His [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech "Reason You Suck" Speech]] against {{John Laurinaitis}} points out that the reason Laurinaitis has been getting under Punk's skin for the past months is because he's jealous of his success as the WWE Champion. This is what also let Big Johnny to [[VillainousBreakdown snap]].

* During his feud with Wrestling/{{Hulk Hogan}} in mid 2005, Wrestling/{{Shawn Michaels}} insults the Montreal crowd for hating him because he's everything they wish they could be. This is one of the guys who claim that he [[MontrealScrewjob screwed]] Wrestling/{{Bret Hart}}.

A subtrope of {{Misery Builds Character}} if opposition or mistreatment from others is what makes a character stronger. Can relate to {{Good Needs Evil}} if having enemies is a necessity. Obviously on the idealistic end of the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}}. If so, it can be served as {{An Aesop}}. Can be {{Truth In Television}} [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity for many politics]], [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment but lets leave it at that]].

* A lot of [[HipHop rap songs]], especially from the {{Glam Rap}} and {{Swag Rap}} sub-genres, are all over this trope. There are too many to list, but common songs include "Hate Me Now" by Music/{{Nas}}, "Motivation" by T.I., and "Hi Hater" by Maino.

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* ''{{White Chicks}}'' has a memorable line said by a random party boy:

* The reason why Wrestling/{{John Cena}} is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, star in the {{WWE}} today is because not only for having a large fanbase, but also having a huge pack of haters, so it really doesn't matter whether he's [[BaseBreaker cheered or booed]], what matters is that he has the biggest reaction. And selling all of the "Cena Sucks" T-shirt doesn't help the Cena haters' a bit.

* RobLiefeld has referred to himself as "the most hated man in comics".

They've insulted you for your [[HollywoodHomely physical appearance]]. [[GangOfBullies They've]] beat you up and stuffed you into the locker. [[AlphaBitch They've told nasty rumors]] about you liking an unattractive girl. They tried to get the boss to fire you. Scratch that. [[MeanBoss Your boss wants to get rid of you, too]]. Heck, they even made an attempt to [[MoralEventHorizon kill you for goodness sake]]! [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Those herd of jerks]] will do many nasty things to you just for the sake of making your life miserable.

Other reasons may vary. Because of these reasons, it's no secret that the hero wouldn't change the [[StatusQuoIsGod status quo]] and it's also no secret that he remains [[{{Determinator}} morally strong]].

This is more of an alternate version of {{The Power Of Friendship}} where a hero's friends and allies are the reason why he has accomplished his goals; replace friends and allies with enemies and you have this trope in a nutshell.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'', Dellyn believes that how badly a person's enemies want to kill them decides whether or not they're worthy of being described as 'legendary'.

# '''Moral character:''' The hero has gained a lot of enemies because he stood up for something that is [[HonorBeforeReason right]]. After all, they're [[EvilCannotComprehendGood too cruel and nasty to understand it]]. This character usually obeys the {{Peer Pressure Makes You Evil}} trope since hanging with his [[GoodIsBoring boring]] friends is better than [[EvilIsCool hanging with the wrong crowd]], which is no wonder why he doesn't mind eliciting enemies.
# '''Motivation:''' Another reason could be that the hero sees their scorn as some sort of motivation. The more they hate him, the more stronger and better he will become in the long run.
# '''Honesty:''' Maybe it could be that the hero knows that it's better to have openly [[VillainsNeverLie honest]] enemies than [[EtTuBrute distrustful]] [[WeUsedToBeFriends friends]]. Reason 2 from above would be that enemies are lighting up the fire in the hero whereas friendships are just there to [[FalseFriend bring down the hero]]. An interesting subversion of this trope would be having the enemies becoming the hero's friends.
# '''[[DrivenByEnvy Jealousy]]:''' They are torturing the hero for just being different from them, but deep down, they [[TheResenter envy]] him for being gifted with many talents and accomplishing so much in his life. This is what commonly creates a very dangerous villain for the hero.