History Main / FoeRomanceSubtext

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has explicit DatingCatwoman scenarios with Sam/Ruby and (at least on a HeterosexualLifePartners level) Dean/Crowley. A more subtextual example is Bella's relationship with both Winchesters: They hate her for the many times she's put them into a frustrating situation, but she still talks to them in a flirty way, is very sexy, and her very first interaction with them involves [[ShowSomeLeg giving Sam a titillating moment]] while she steals something from him. Meg often flirts with Sam and Dean, and later shows a thing for Castiel. Far more creepily, Lucifer chooses to first appear to Sam in his bed at night in the form of [[DeadPersonImpersonation his dead girlfriend Jessica]], while also being implied to have raped Sam in Hell later.

* Seymour and [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Audrey II]] in ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors.'' In its first VillainSong "Feed Me", Audrey II (who is named after the woman Seymour loves, by the way) seduces more than convinces Seymour to aid him. Audrey II sings to him "feed me [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything all night long]]", puts one of its roots up Seymour's shirt, and forces Seymour into a chair before bringing him uncomfortably close to his face. Audrey later [[ComedicUnderwearExposure pulls Seymour's pants down]] (to [[GroinAttack punch him in the scrotum]], but still). And in his later VillainSong "Mean Green Mother From Outerspace", in a brief part Audrey says: "I got garden style, major moves, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything nasty thoughts, and I'm using them."]]

* ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'' has an odd variant where Meimi is well aware that SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Asuka Jr. doesn't actually know enough about Saint Tail to be in love with her and that his goal is simply to arrest her as a thief, but she still feels romantic attraction to him based on the passion he chases her with and the fact his statements of intent often come off as ''really'' romantically-loaded. Part of it is more to do with the fact that she's charmed by him being able to have that sort of passion at all, but it's also because she actually has some [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife rather terrible self-worth problems]] that cause her to become attached to the idea of being a desirable object for him. Halfway into the story, a MidSeasonTwist abruptly changes things so that the FoeRomanceSubtext stops being subtext when Asuka Jr. starts suspecting that Saint Tail might actually be Meimi, resulting in his growing feelings for Meimi bleeding into the way he approaches and talks to Saint Tail... all while, ironically, Meimi starts having less faith that Asuka Jr. can see Saint Tail as any more than an idealized symbol and would have no interest in her as an ordinary girl. [[spoiler:Once the end of the story hits, the "foe" part has also dropped out of the equation too, and the word "catch" has been redefined into [[DeclarationOfProtection something completely different]] that only has a superficial resemblance to the original detective-and-thief dynamic.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'':

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': The Monarch seems to think he and Dr. Venture have a special relationship. Rusty Venture is the preson he hates most, the only one he wants as an ArchEnemy. This is completely one-sided, as Rusty would prefer to be left alone.

** This is retroactively {{Subverted}} by the revelations of Season 7. [[spoiler:The Monarch was right: they do have a special relationship. He and Rusty are half-brothers. In this light, their animosity seems like SiblingRivalry]].

Since most heroes and their villains tend to be members of the same gender, this results in most examples of Foe Yay overlapping with HoYay, but different gender foes qualify too. When it ultimately goes from subtext to text, and the two admit that they love each other, it is called DatingCatwoman. Contrast with DefectingForLove. For the villain who really ''is'' sexually obsessed with TheHero, see StalkerWithACrush, MindGameShip, InLoveWithYourCarnage, and VillainousCrush. See also DestructoNookie, when they actually do go the whole nine yards.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'': Professor Professor and Doctor Doctor occasionally have this. It doesn't help that they used to be lab partners. A quote from "Return of the Killer Toothbrush":

* In a ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' special edition, ComicBook/TheEnchantress kidnaps the team and binds ComicBook/{{Magik}} to a wall. She has several lines that come off as seductive, including "Before I am done, I shall know all thy secrets. Thou shalt serve me, Illyana. And eventually -- love me." (Of course, this was written by Chris Claremont, the king of lesbian subtext.)

** Mirage and Mr. Incredible. Of course, the fact that Mirage [[spoiler:ends up apparently turning good anyway and helping the protagonists]] makes it more questionable. They were never really in a relationship (Mr. Incredible already being married and Mirage respecting that), but their flirtatious banter, while standard for superheroes, ''did'' have strong subtext of being an emotional affair on his part.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** All four games illustrate this in Joker and Batman's relationship. Starting early in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' with Joker: "Tell me Bats, what are you really scared of? Failing to save this cesspool of a city? Not finding the Commissioner in time? Me, in a thong?!" and that the premise of the whole night was a party Joker threw for Batman. Then continuing in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' with the increasing phone calls from Joker to Batman, the [[spoiler:final death scene with Batman carrying Joker out in his arms, and Joker's swan song to Batman.]] Given their beginnings in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' when [[spoiler:Joker's obsession with Batman begins, including his Red Hood story and his mention of "meeting someone very special earlier tonight", and another song for Batman during the credits.]] And finally culminating in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' with [[spoiler:Hallucination!Joker mentioning over and over again being inside of Batman, the heavy indicators that Joker's death affected him so much that he could never return to normal (not even Talia's death is mentioned that much), and the serenade number Hallucination!Joker performed with a little help from Johnny Charisma]]. Catwoman even makes a dig at the relationship in ''Knight'', and how Batman should [[spoiler:stop mourning him and "find new maniacs"]]. The whole VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries can be read as an overall story of Batman and Joker's relationship.

* ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms'': Jiang Wei and Deng Ai are archenemies who supposedly hate each other... but they're also quite obsessed with one another, get jealous, and have ''very'' suggestive fight scenes.

* Snake’s conversation with Neil about romance in the ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' episode "The Lake Lilac Summer Social" has a lot of subtext to it. Especially considering that he and Neil are slow-dancing at the time, at his instigation, without actually needing to. And that he instigated said dance by dragging Neil away by the hand yelling, "Neil, I need you!"

* In ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', Jiang Wei and Deng Ai are archenemies who supposedly hate each other... but they're also quite obsessed with one another, get jealous, and have ''very'' suggestive fight scenes.
* Discussed in a ''Website/{{Springhole}}'' article about [[ArchEnemy arch-nemeses]]. It’s noted people tend to assume two enemies being obsessed with each other ''must'' be attracted to each other, and this can lead to romantic subtext being shoehorned into places it doesn’t belong. Syera then offers some suggestions for [[AvertedTrope avoiding this trope]].
** Later in the same article, a villain swearing eternal vengeance after the hero messes up their plans once is compared to declaring eternal love for someone on the first date, i.e. not really believable.

* ''Manga/SoulHunter'': Dakki / Dahi with Taikobou. She is shown to be frequently impressed with his intellect and adaptability and enjoys playing mind games with him. It is also heavily hinted that she is attracted to him despite their status as arch-enemies.

* ''[[Creator/ProZD The King Dragon Canon]]'': One of King Dragon's minions tries and fails to hide his crush on an unnamed hero. (Likely Dennis, the PlayerCharacter)

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'': [[HotBlooded Knuckles]] and [[ClassyCatBurglar Rouge]], particularly in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. The two spend the better part of the game at each other's throats, mainly because they both want to restore the Master Emerald after it as broken earlier, albeit for different reasons, noble and selfish respectively. However, in their final confrontation when Rouge was in trouble, Knuckles saved her and the two [[HeldGaze gazed in each other's eyes while holding hands]] for a good few seconds before Rouge pulled away in disgust. Knuckles calls her out on her ungrateful attitude, but then Rouge teases that he just wanted to hold her hand. Rouge decides to just give up her pieces and leaves it at that, Knuckles apologizes if he hurt her in their previous fight and Rouge gives a small smile in his direction before departing.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'', there's quite a bit of this between Emilie "Lili" de Rochefort and her rival Asuka Kazama. Mostly (if not entirely) on Lili's end, though.

* [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Mellisandre]]--in a highly predatory, MrsRobinson sort of way-- from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. It doesn't help matters that Mel seems to have inherited Jon's dead girlfriend's CatchPhrase (and of course, the hair color). Well, Mel does need someone [[DeusSexMachina to make shadow babies with]].

* Numbuh Five and her former candy hunting partner Heinrich Von Marzipan in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor''. Many of their interactions come off like ones between ex-romantic partners, not to mention their habit of calling one another by special nicknames (Liebchen and Heiny, respectively).[[spoiler:Not to mention their making up after Numbuh Five managed to free [[HoYay Henrietta]] from being cursed to be a boy.]]
-->'''Numbuh Five:''' Heinrich, what happened to you? [[OneWingedAngel You've become a monster!]]\\

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': In the fourth season's OP, Louise gets [[LecherousLicking licked on her face]] by a new, evil purple-haired girl named Janette and the girl hugs Louise close to her with a blushing Louise struggling to get away. And in episode two Janette tricks Louise by pretending to be a plebeian, gets close to her face, and licks her again. She also touches her face and says that if things had worked out different they could have been friends. She also calls Louise "cute and innocent".

* ''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 & 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."

* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'': Some interpret there to be romantic tensions between Dracula and Lucy, Dracula and Mina, and/or Dracula and Jonathan. Literary scholars regularly debate whether any of this was intentional or not. Not only was Stoker a rather old-fashioned type writing when the social and sexual liberation movements were just beginning to take off, but it is generally taken as fact by historians that Stoker himself was a heavily closeted [[InternalizedCategorism self-hating gay man]], and further, commonly assumed by literary scholars that Stoker used the story of ''Dracula'' to work through some issues, so the sexualized nature of the vampires took on a whole new meaning as an unsubtle appeal for restraint. (Scholars also note that while Dracula is knifed, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything female vampires are killed by having something long and hard stuck in them]]. This is discussed in SERIOUS SCHOLARLY WORKS.)

** Bond/Le Chiffre from ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''. When your naked torture scene begins with the villain eyeing Bond up and saying "You've taken good care of your body"... This is more explicit in the novel where Le Chiffre addresses Bond as "dear boy" during the scene, and Fleming based him on the bisexual Aleister Crowley.

** Bond/Le Chiffre from ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''. When your naked torture scene begins with the villain eyeing Bond up and saying "You've taken good care of your body"... This is more explicit in the novel where Le Chiffre addresses Bond as "dear boy" during the scene, and Fleming based him on the bisexual Alastair Crowley.

* Where to start with ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot''? William and Sherlock are on nominally opposite sides of the criminal/detective match up for much of the series. Despite this, Sherlock talks about a RedStringOfFate tying him to William repeatedly, is unabashedly excited every time he sees William, and is fixated on saving him from himself. William hopes to be reincarnated with Sherlock to be with him in another life, desires to throw his entire plan 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--he even compares meeting Sherlock to a [[FlamesOfLove fire being lit in his dark, cold, empty life]]. By ''The Final Problem'' arc, the "enemies" facade is almost entirely gone, with other characters acknowledging their bond. Even Louis, who has a well known dislike for Sherlock, admits that [[spoiler:only Sherlock can save William]]. [[spoiler:Then Sherlock catches William in his arms and cradles him protectively surrounded by [[CherryBlossoms cherry blossom]] imagery. After that, in Sherlock agrees to work with Billy to provide William's medical care and stays vigilant at William's bedside, after which they move into together and [[CurtainFic discuss buying curtains together]]. When [[ShipperOnDeck Billy]]] calls their promise [[spoiler: to live their lives together]] their wedding vows, neither seems put off in any way. 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'':

* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' has the intense, antagonistic yet irresistible draw between the two protagonists, GoodIsNotNice [[NotGoodWithPeople unsociable]] [[TheProfiler FBI profiler]] [[TheEmpath Will Graham]] and AffablyEvil [[IAmAHumanitarian Cannibal]] SerialKiller [[ManipulativeBastard Hannibal Lecter]] at the core of the entire show. [[spoiler:The series ends with the two admitting mutual romantic feelings before disappearing with plans to start new lives together.]]