History Main / FoeRomanceSubtext

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman and Poison Ivy's encounters are (almost) always sexually charged to some degree, given that she's a FemmeFatale who loves to [[TheTease playfully toy]] with her male victims. Her [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison debut episode]] alone sees her treat a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman, who'd intruded into her greenhouse lair, like a gentleman caller she's all too happy to steal [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] from, even seductively labeling their time together as [[CaptiveDate "a late night rendezvous."]] Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden "House And Garden"]] Pamela mentioning that in the past they've had an "intense relationship" is hard not too see from a more romantic angle. Truthfully though the flirtation is usually quite one sided, save for the (possibly canon) Sega CD game cutscenes where Batman, sporting an enthusiastic grin, refers to Ivy as Violet and Lilly's "pretty boss."

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman and Poison Ivy's encounters are (almost) always sexually charged to some degree, given that she's a FemmeFatale who loves to [[TheTease playfully toy]] with her male victims. Her [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison debut episode]] alone sees her treat a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman, who'd intruded into her greenhouse lair, like a gentleman caller she's all too happy to steal [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] from, even seductively labeling their time together as [[CaptiveDate "a late night rendezvous."]] Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden "House And Garden"]] Pamela mentioning that in the past they've had an "intense relationship" is hard not too see from a more romantic angle. Truthfully though the flirtation is usually quite one sided, save for the (possibly canon) Sega CD game cutscenes where Batman, sporting an enthusiastic grin, refers to Ivy as Violent and Lilly's "pretty boss."

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman and Poison Ivy's encounters are (almost) always sexually charged to some degree, given that she's a FemmeFatale who loves to [[TheTease playfully toy]] with her male victims. Her [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison debut debut episode]] alone sees her treat a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman, who'd intruded into her greenhouse lair, like a gentleman caller she's all too happy to steal [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] from, even seductively labeling their time together as [[CaptiveDate "a late night rendezvous."]] Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden "House And Garden"]] Pamela mentioning that in the past they've had an "intense relationship" is hard not too see from a more romantic angle. Truthfully though the flirtation is usually quite one sided, save for the (possibly canon) Sega CD game cutscenes where Batman, sporting an enthusiastic grin, refers to Ivy as Violent and Lilly's "pretty boss."

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman and Poison Ivy's encounters are (almost) always sexually charged to some degree, given that she's a FemmeFatale who loves to [[TheTease playfully toy]] with her male victims. Her [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison debut debut episode]] alone sees her treat a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman, who'd intruded into her greenhouse lair, like a gentleman caller she's all too happy to steal [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] from, even seductively labeling their time together as [[CaptiveDate "a late night rendezvous."]] Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden "House And Garden"]] Pamela mentioning that in the past they've had an "intense relationship" is truly hard not too see from a more romantic angle. Truthfully though the flirtation is usually quite one sided, save for the (possibly canon) Sega CD game cutscenes where Batman, sporting an enthusiastic grin, refers to Ivy as Violent and Lilly's "pretty boss."

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman and Poison Ivy's encounters are (almost) always sexually charged to some degree, given that she's a FemmeFatale who loves to [[TheTease playfully toy]] with her male victims. Her [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoisondebut debut episode]] alone sees her treat a [[VineTentacles flytrap entangled]] Batman who'd intruded into her greenhouse lair like a gentleman caller she's all too happy to steal [[KissOfDeath a kiss]] from, even seductively labeling their time together as [[CaptiveDate "a late night rendezvous."]] Later on in the episode [[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden "House And Garden"]] Pamela mentioning that in the past they've had an "intense relationship" is truly hard not too see from a romantic angle. Truthfully though the flirtation is usually quite one sided, save for the (possibly canon) Sega CD game cutscenes where Batman, sporting an enthusiastic grin, refers to Ivy as Violent and Lilly's "pretty boss."

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' "The Ex", Gumball's ArchEnemy Rob deciding to be Banana Joe's nemesis instead is treated like a breakup. Gumball takes it badly and tries to win back Rob's enmity. Gumball even tries ''dressing up like a banana'' and pleading that "[he] can change!" Gumball's girlfriend Penny finds the whole situation ridiculous.

* ''Anime/BatmanNinja'': The Joker makes various homoerotic comments about how exciting fighting Batman is, and Harley does some LecherousLicking to Catwoman, who lampshades their fight as [[GirlOnGirlIsHot "girl on girl" action]].

* In ''Literature/CheatMagicianLifeThatStartedFromBeingJudgedUseless'', there's the complicated relationship between the protagonist Kobuku Kento and the EvilPrincess Camilla Rosenberg who summoned him and the entire third floor of his school to this new world, tricked all but Kento himself into wearing bracelets with slavery magic and sent Kento into a dangerous forest, at sword point, expecting him to die. On the one hand, he's murderously enraged at how cruelly and unfair she treated them all, and after learning of the aftermath the summon itself caused in Japan, is doubly outraged. On the other hand, he was fascinated by her beauty, elegance, and regal bearing when they met and remains infatuated with her in spite of what she's done. When the two are forced to work together to deal with an incoming monster stampede and her own evil siblings, who make her look like a saint by comparison, he repeatedly rewards her devotion with genuine affection and honest concern for her well-being, which she greatly appreciates. He tries various excuses to justify this dichotomy, but his closest allies don't buy it.

* The fight between Ladd Russo and Chane Laforet atop the Flying Pussyfoot in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' is punctuated with this, as Ladd repeatedly declares his love for Chane and monologues about how she loves him back. [[InterplayofSexandViolence Even while he's trying to blow her to bits with a shotgun.]] It's implied that Ladd's just trying to mess with her, but when he starts to caress her cheek and play with her hair, [[VillainousCrush one can't help but wonder.]]

-->“We will never understand each other.”\\

“I can’t join you.”\\
''<Doesn’t that just make it all the more exciting?>''

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** In [[Recap/ArrowS4E23Schism “Schism"]], Darhk is touched that Oliver chose to [[spoiler:spend his last moments on Earth with him]].
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Londo and G'Kar start off as fierce rivals, with Londo revealing in the first regular episode ("Midnight on the Firing Line") that he'd had a prophetic dream about his death, where the two of them would choke each other to death some twenty years in the future[[note]]As later revealed, a ProphecyTwist was involved[[/note]]. As the series progressed, the rivalry waxed and waned (with others often commenting about the two ambassadors' unique relationship), with the two settling into a sort of bickering FriendlyRivalry[=/=]VitriolicBestBuds situation by the end of season four, with the two would often arguing LikeAnOldMarriedCouple.
-->'''Mack:''' [[LampshadeHanging So, how long have those two been married]]?

* In the later seasons of ''Series/BlakesSeven'', there is overt innuendo of sexual attraction between the Seven's new leader Avon and BigBad Servalan. In particular, at the end of the episode "Death-Watch", Avon plants a partially-sincere, partially-TakeThatKiss on her, and she '''doesn't kill him'''. For Servalan, that's the equivalent of most women ripping their clothes off and leaping on him.

* In ''Series/{{Intelligence|2014}}'' Mei Chen, a rogue Chinese Intelligence operative into whom Dr. Cassidy implanted a chip under duress, gets very flirty when she encounters Gabriel, likewise a chipped operative. Among other things she compares him to [[Literature/BookOfGenesis Adam (to her Eve)]]. He is ''not'' interested, though he does fake it at one point to lure her in so the team can remotely delete some classified data from her chip.

* In ''[[Literature/KingdomsDisdain The Kingdom's Disdain]]'', Princess Sareash and the warlock/assassin Worm tread a fine line between pure disdain and sexual/romantic attraction. [[Spoiler: To the point she can't bring herself to kill him because he's "too beautiful".]]

* In ''LightNovel/CheatMagicianLifeThatStartedFromBeingJudgedUseless'', there's the complicated relationship between the protagonist Kobuku Kento and the EvilPrincess Camilla Rosenberg who summoned him and the entire third floor of his school to this new world, tricked all but Kento himself into wearing bracelets with slavery magic and sent Kento into a dangerous forest, at sword point, expecting him to die. On the one hand, he's murderously enraged at how cruelly and unfair she treated them all, and after learning of the aftermath the summon itself caused in Japan, is doubly outraged. On the other hand, he was fascinated by her beauty, elegance, and regal bearing when they met and remains infatuated with her in spite of what she's done. When the two are forced to work together to deal with an incoming monster stampede and her own evil siblings, who make her look like a saint by comparison, he repeatedly rewards her devotion with genuine affection and honest concern for her well-being, which she greatly appreciates. He tries various excuses to justify this dichotomy, but his closest allies don't buy it.

* The fight between Ladd Russo and Chane Laforet atop the Flying Pussyfoot in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' is punctuated with this, as Ladd repeatedly declares his love for Chane and monologues about how she loves him back. [[InterplayofSexandViolence Even while he's trying to blow her to bits with a shotgun.]] It's implied that Ladd's just trying to mess with her, but when he starts to caress her cheek and play with her hair, [[VillainousCrush one can't help but wonder.]]

* In ''LightNovel/DateALive'', Kurumi at first sought out Shido to consume him and take the mana of the three Spirits he had sealed up to that point. Her behaviour towards him seems to oscillate between "I really want to eat you and take your power" and "I really want to pin you down to the bed and screw your brains out", making little flirting gestures like licking him and nibbling him, to make him squirm. After he nearly gave his life protecting her from [[spoiler:Kotori]], [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she has seemingly garnered a genuine affection for him]].
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara. HateAtFirstSight meeting, obsessive loathing (to the point that Shizuo flies into a rage just by ''seeing'' Izaya), NoSenseOfPersonalSpace -- it's like a love story, except you replace every instance of "like" and "love" with "''despise''" and "''hate''". Considering how the subtext is so strong that other characters have seriously considered the possibility of at least a "hate sex" relationship, while an InUniverse FanGirl outright ''ships'' it, all signs point intentional subtext.
* ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' is about the conflict between Kyousuke and the White Queen, whom he used to date until she broke her promise to not kill anyone. Then she broke it again to protect him in the Secret War. Currently his goal is to kill her, and her goal is to make him love her again.

** [[WesternAnimation/Incredibles2 The second film]] features a rare example of Foe Romance Subtext between two women. Rare because both female protagonists are rare, as are female antagonists. To have them both in the same animated movie offers a fairly unique dynamic that the movie most definitely takes advantage of. [[AmbiguouslyGay Evelyn Deavor]] and Elasigirl share a handful of atmospheric and chemistry-laden scenes earlier on in the movie. After Evelyn's [[TragicVillain backstory]] is revealed the two share several tension-filled exchanges, including one where [[spoiler:Evelyn is physically dominant over the super, having her tied to a chair in one scene, and another where she gloatingly lifts Elastigirl's face by the chin with her hand while she's incapacitated. The two physically duke it out on a plane in the climax.]]

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Given that Galadriel had no idea that the fella she met in the middle of sea is Sauron in disguise, all the ShipTease between her and Halbrand come as this. From he very moment they meets, their argues reeked of BelligerentSexualTension. As they began to slowly warm up to each other, they were HoldingHands for whatever reason, HeldGaze after HeldGaze and bond over their mutual feeling of not belonging anywhere. After defeating Adar and his Orcs, they finally confess what they feel for each other, but is left very ambiguous in nature. It all culminates with Sauron caressing her face and outright asking Galadriel to be his Queen and rule Middle-earth, whatever he meant by that. Their interactions were positively compared by fans to Rey and Kylo Ren.

* Where to start with ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot''? Despite William and Sherlock being on nominally opposite sides of the criminal/detective match up for much of the series, Sherlock talks about a RedStringOfFate tying him to William repeatedly, is unabashedly excited every time he sees William, and is fixated on saving him. William hopes to be reincarnated with Sherlock to be with him in another life, desires to throw his entire plan and life away to spend more time with Sherlock, requests to die with Sherlock alone at his side, and thinks of Sherlock as a warm breeze in a cold and lonely room he's trapped in--even compares meeting Sherlock to a [[FlamesOfLove fire being lit in his dark, cold, empty life]]. Sherlock says they have ''always felt the same way''. [[spoiler:Then Sherlock catches William in his arms and cradles him protectively surrounded by cherry-blossom imagery. After that, in the manga Sherlock agrees to work with Billy to provide William's medical care and stays vigilant at William's bedside in the manga, and in the anime Sherlock is asked if he is looking for a "lover" and answers that he is looking for a "friend" and grins at William]]. And on top of all of that profession of feelings, their story matches the usually-romantic shinjuu plot structure. With their constant devotion to each other, it gets harder and harder as the series goes on to see their professed "dear friendship" as JustFriends. Plus, you know, they live together for a while and [[CurtainFic literally discuss buying curtains for their home together]]. And then they both ask each other to live together, struggle together, and help each other with they go astray, and even Billy says it sounds like wedding vows.

* In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', most of [[spoiler:Munakata]]'s [[CrisisOfFaith inner turmoil]] stems from the fact that his ImpliedLoveInterest was really, ''really'' evil, which he only learns after she's been brutally killed. [[KnightTemplar He]] can't reconcile his grief for her with his hatred for all things Despair, which is foreshadowed in a scene where he, um, stabs her corpse while sighing her name. The fanbase capitalized on this opportunity to make Freudian jokes, even more so after [[spoiler:Munakata admits that, in spite of everything she's done, part of him still wishes Chisa were alive]].

* Killer Frost very often has this with her archenemy {{ComicBook/Firestorm|DCComics}}. In the {{ComicBook/Forever Evil|2013}} event, she reacted to his disappearance much the same way one would react to losing a lover, and their encounters often involve her [[KissOfDeath kissing him at some point]]. Many adaptations remove the subtext all together and -either make them exes or have them be in a [[DatingCatwoman romantic relationship]]. The original incarnation, Crystal Frost, ''did'' have a crush on Martin Stein, but [[LegacyCharacter her successors]], Louise Lincoln and Caitlin Snow, do not have the same excuse.

* Film/ABulletForTheGeneral: A dark and violent example between Tate and Chuncho. Both of them favour guns and money over women; Chuncho completely ignores his human prize once he hears news of a machine gun, which is foreign, like Tate. Film scholar Alex Cox describes the film as being a love affair between Tate and Chuncho.

* ''Film/Hannibal''. Hannibal Lecter sees his obsession with FBI agent Clarice Starling as romantic, comparing it with Creator/DanteAlighieri's unrequited love for Beatrice (unlike the novel however, this is presented as being entirely one-sided). There's also some in the ActionPrologue when the female drug dealer goes to shoot Clarice. "Let's swap body fluids, bitch."

* Where to start with ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot''? Despite William and Sherlock being on nominally opposite sides of the criminal/detective match up for much of the series, Sherlock talks about a RedStringOfFate tying him to William repeatedly, is unabashedly excited every time he sees William, and is fixated on saving him. William hopes to be reincarnated with Sherlock to be with him in another life, desires to throw his entire plan and life away to spend more time with Sherlock, requests to die with Sherlock alone at his side, and thinks of Sherlock as a warm breeze in a cold and lonely room he's trapped in--even compares meeting Sherlock to a [[FlamesOfLove fire being lit in his dark, cold, empty life]]. Sherlock says they have ''always felt the same way''. [[spoiler:Then Sherlock catches William in his arms and cradles him protectively surrounded by cherry-blossom imagery. After that, in the manga Sherlock agrees to work with Billy to provide William's medical care and stays vigilant at William's bedside in the manga, and in the anime Sherlock is asked if he is looking for a "lover" and answers that he is looking for a "friend" and grins at William]]. And on top of all of that profession of feelings, their story matches the usually-romantic shinjuu plot structure. With their constant devotion to each other, it gets harder and harder as the series goes on to see their professed "dear friendship" as JustFriends. Plus, you know, they live together for a while and [[CurtainFic literally discuss buying curtains for their home together]].

** Music/TheGame's diss track towards Eminem also incorporates a lot of purposeful romantic subtext as an apparent attempt to creep Eminem out. Rapping in character as an {{Expy}} of Eminem's infamous LoonyFan Stan, Game claims to have a photo he stitched together of him and Eminem together, then concludes "''God made you near perfect''".

* Wrestling/CMPunk and Wrestling/{{MJF}} had a lot of subtext in their feud as well thanks to their general obsessive behavior towards each other, ''especially'' after MJF revealed his StartOfDarkness as a bullied Jewish kid who used to love and idolize Punk, only for that love to turn to hate and resentment after Punk left wrestling in 2014. A genuinely touched Punk then tried to apologize and reconcile with MJF the following week -- only for MJF to reveal that he was also a massive {{Yandere}} for Punk by promptly using this reconciliation as an opportunity to attack his former idol and bust him open, leaving him practically ''drenched'' in his own blood. For the icing on the cake, Punk decided that the second match of the feud had to be a dog collar match, which only reinforced the BDSM undertones of their developing dynamic.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Rick's rivalry with the President of the United States has a lot of this. When the President officially declares war with Rick and Morty, he orders his cabinet out of the office and then plays sad breakup music. Later, throughout the Thanksgiving special -- as [[ItMakesSenseInContext Rick plots to turn into a turkey for a free presidential pardon and the President plots to stop him]] -- [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike multiple different characters]] recommend that Rick and the President "just fuck and get it over with".

* The Music/{{Eminem}} and Music/MachineGunKelly beef got unusually homoerotic for a rap beef, with both rappers accusing the other of being in love with them. In "Rap Devil", Kells teased Eminem about having released an album of diss tracks (in which he was dissed), claiming it was all because Eminem couldn't stop thinking about him -- "''Damn, you in love with me!''". "Rap Devil" was also riddled with sincere compliments over Eminem's skill, popularity and a willingness to talk it over as two single dads, which Eminem observed in "Killshot" -- "''that a death threat or a love letter?''". Eminem complimented MGK on his black leather outfits, compared him to his [[StalkerWithACrush Stan]] character (a LoonyFan in love with Slim), and used an extended image of MGK giving him oral sex -- "''You would suck a dick to fuckin' be me for a second, lick a ballsack to get on my channel[...] I'm sick of your mumble rap mouth, need to get the cock up out it before we can even talk about it[...] you're not about it, so just leave my dick in your mouth and keep my daughter out it, you fuckin'... [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion oh]].''"

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': WordOfGod states that Adora and Catra's relationship was deliberately written in this manner, with this trope actually being showrunner Noelle Stevenson's favorite type of character relationship. Almost every other interaction they have once Adora defects to the Rebellion comes across as heavy flirting, even in the middle of a serious fight. [[spoiler:At the end of the series the two begin a relationship after Catra undergoes a HeelFaceTurn.]]