History Main / FriendlyEnemy

** Agaard Jum Sai, the resident Muay Tai master of the YAMI group's One Shadow Nine Fists. Although his disciple, Tirawat Koukin, is a [[spoiler:mostly]] cold bastard, Agaard himself is quite friendly, has great respect for his rival Apachai even before and after the two fight each other, and freely and openly acknowledges Kenichi's growth as a martial artist under Apachai's tutelage. [[spoiler:He also gives Kenichi pointers for defending himself against a YAMI weapons master even while he himself is unable to assist directly due to temporary paralysis from his fight with Apachai]].
** Fellow Nine Fists member Akira Hongo could also count as an example, coming in second place to Agaard in spite of his [[JerkassFacade cool and aloof nature]]. While he and his rival Sakaki Shio aren't exactly on friendly terms due to their shared past, Hongo does acknowledge Kenichi as a worthy disciple of Sakaki, appreciates the bond that should exist between a martial arts master and his disciples [[spoiler:and encourages Sakaki to stay close to Kenichi and offer the boy support while Hongo himself takes the burden of fighting Silcardo Junazard]].
** [[spoiler:Miu's father Furinji Saiga]] [[BigBad the leader of the Nine Fists]], is pretty friendly to Kenichi [[spoiler:after revealing "John" was him in disguise all along]]. He thanks him for helping Miu, and gives his [[spoiler:parental]] approval for their developing relationship.
** It would be easier to list the enemies that ''aren't'' friendly, given how rare Complete Monsters are in this series. If they aren't friendly at the start, they usually become friendly after a fight or two.

* Stormer from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' is the TokenGoodTeammate of The Misfits. While she keeps up a JerkassFacade to fit in with her band, she has been shown to be the only one to get along with Jem and her friends. She even becomes [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship friends]] with Kimber in one episode (and ''dates her'' in the [[ComicBook/JemAndTheHolograms comic reboot]]), though they began the episode hating each other before DuetBonding.

* King Hezekiah of Judah and King Sennacherib of Assyria. Both were born in 740 BCE and were known as great builders. When Egypt revolted against Assyrian vassalship in 701 BCE, virtually every country in the Levant joined in, but despite seemingly having exhausted his army crushing a decades-long insurgency in Babylon, Sennacherib quickly subdued all of the rebel states...except for Judah. Hezekiah, was prophesied ''from the time of his birth'' to restore Judah to greatness by Isaiah, had spent over a decade fortifying Jerusalem to withstand any siege. Due to being surrounded, Hezekiah was forced to surrender anyway, but [[LoopholeAbuse because the Assyrians had never ''technically'' captured the city]], Sennacherib not only allowed Hezekiah to stay on the throne, but [[ProphecyTwist elevated Judah to the status of "most-favored nation."]] A generation later, their respective sons Manasseh and Esarhaddon teamed up to recapture Egypt from the Nubians.

Over the years, a [[TheHero Hero]] and their nemesis will share trials, failures, and successes at each other's hands, each becoming enormously important in the other's life and more intimate (not ''[[FoeYay that]]'' kinda intimate! ...[[DatingCatwoman Well]], [[RuleThirtyFour usually]]) than many [[TrueCompanions best friends]]. Over the course of a series' many {{Story Arc}}s, the two will develop a grudging respect for them as a WorthyOpponent. It can sometimes grow to the point that the villain will refrain from [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim killing the hero]] in a "cheap" or dishonorable way, and even start to concoct bizarre excuses to avoid doing so entirely, [[YouWillBeSpared spare his life]], or ''[[IWasJustPassingThrough even saving them]]''. In these cases, the hero and villain are very likely to become [[EnemyMine strange bedfellows]] to beat a new villain who doesn't play by the rules, which may lead to {{Fire Forged Friends}}hip. Sometimes, the villain will decide to admit to the friendship and perform a full HeelFaceTurn. If another villain kills the hero, this one may make sure that the hero doesn't [[DyingAlone die alone]], and the hero will do the same for them.

** This was especially true [[http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/14/politics/antonin-scalia-ruth-bader-ginsburg-friends/index.html of Supreme Justices Ginsberg and Scalia]], who were polar opposites on the Court, and truly NotSoDifferent otherwise. Their careers - and close friendship - was even the subject of an ''opera'', believe it or not.

* Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, two US Supreme Court Justices who are about as far apart ideologically as possible without either of them committing high treason, were friends for 40 years and liked to go to the opera together. They also went on ''vacations'' with each other, leading to adorable images of the two of them parasailing and riding an elephant ([[http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/02/14/17/3133DE4B00000578-0-image-a-4_1455471161211.jpg here's a picture]] for those curious). They also listened to each other's legal arguments, and gave constructive criticism on them. Notably, after Scalia died in February 2016, Ginsburg released a statement calling them "best buddies" and expressed genuine affection for him. Scalia offered similar comments throughout his life--when Ginsburg's husband died, he openly wept, and during an interview, he remarked: "I attack ideas. I don't attack people."

** [[OccultDetective Harry Dresden]] and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Lara Raith]] generally respect each other for the other's skills at manipulation, deceit, and fighting prowess, and have worked together in the past, even though she really wants to eat him or convince him to be her partner in crime or her sex slave. Every now and then the "Friendly" part goes away when Lara does something that reminds Harry that she is a monster who preys on humans.

** As of ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry and Fix find themselves on opposite sides [[spoiler:as the Knights of the Winter and Summer courts, respectively,]] but despite misgivings about Harry's state of mind, Fix hasn't quite forgotten that Harry saved his life in ''Literature/SummerKnight''.

* Max Schmeling and Joe Louis, two boxers of the 1930s, the former German and the latter African-American duked out the world championship between them twice and despite the media of both sides (especially UsefulNotes/NaziGermany) trying to blow the fight up to some political symbol became livelong friends and Schmeling is even on record as saying he was glad to have lost the second bout, given the UnfortunateImplications his win would have enabled the Nazis to get away with.

* General Lewis Armistead was a commander of the Confederacy. Winfield Hancock was a general in the Union Army. Both men went to school at West Point and became closer than brothers. Both would not meet again until at the Battle of Gettysburg. Sadly, General Armistead died on the battlefield.
** A more impromptu case: Nathan Bedford Forrest once rode up to the Union lines, having mistaken them for the Confederates. The Union soldiers, rather than taking a shot at him, told him where he was and suggested that he return to his camp. Forrest saluted them and rode off.

%%* Largo and Ed of ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo''
%%** Ed and Dom too, for that matter.
%%* The majority of the characters on ''Webcomic/SuperStupor'' fit this trope, whether they are on the same side or not.

* Reportedly, there were many such instances between Union and Confederate soldiers during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar-brother against brother and all that. It was a lucrative activity, too: the Confederates had all the good tobacco, and the Union had all the good coffee. Informal trading went on whenever possible.

* In ''Franchise/EverAfterHigh'', Raven and Apple frequently hang out, despite one being destined to poison the other. Both have expressed respect and admiration for the other, and in fact, Apple insists on sharing a dorm with Raven in the first episode.

** Of course, the aforementioned episode ends with Davros viciously backstabbing the Doctor and admitting that his hints of friendship were utterly and cold-bloodedly manipulative. [[KansasCityShuffle Except the Doctor saw this coming but played into his plan anyway]] to subvert it, since, as noted above, he still clearly views that they never were friends.

* This was {{played for laugh}}s in Ring Of Honor when Dalton Castle challenged Bobby Fish for the Television Title belt, as most fans who knew them outside of ROH probably knew them much better for fighting than for friendship and even while describing in detail how well they knew each other Fish couldn't resist being the {{troll}} the fans all knew he was. Still, their meeting on "[[[ShowWithInAShow The Fish Tank]]" successfully averted the "fists" in TalkSHowWithFists, Castle just stormed off, and canceled brunch.

* Wrestling/TeamHellNo was a tag team consisting of [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] and Wrestling/{{Kane}} that ran on this trope. There was so much animosity between the two that they argued constantly, stole each other's title belts, and even cost each other singles matches. But when one of them was in serious trouble, the other would become very defensive of his tag team partner.

* El Canek and Dr. Wagner Junior were this in Wrestling/{{AAA}}. They started as friends in Wrestling/{{CMLL}} then became enemies when Canek returned to CMLL since Jr. felt "abandoned" when Canek left the promotion, and its pareja belts that he held with Jr, to try and save Lucha Libre Internacional. During their feud Dr. Wagner Junior [[HeelFaceTurn turned face]] for unrelated to Canek and stopped antagonizing him and AAA just couldn't resist furthering an unresolved angle from their top rival, even if both luchadors involved in it remained honorable, rule abiding {{tecnico}}s.

** UsefulNotes/BarackObama and Tom Coburn (a very conservative Republican Senator from Oklahoma); they bonded over ''fiscal policy'' of all things. Nerds everywhere...

* WesternAnimation/{{Wordgirl}} is often humorously polite to the villains.
-->'''Chuck The Evil Sandwich Making Guy:''' I HATE Wordgirl!!... No... hate is a strong word... I don't like Wordgirl AT ALL!!!

* Magneto to Charles Xavier in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''.

** [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Buford]] and [[BollywoodNerd Baljeet]]. Officially, they're [[DesignatedVillain a bully]] and [[DesignatedHero a nerd]], but like Doof and Perry, they're more likely to spend the day together than fighting. In "Lotsa Latkes", they even get ''a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zivdhfUjVVA musical number]]'' about it!

* Within the arcade RhythmGame industry, Creator/{{Konami}} (''Franchise/{{BEMANI}}''), Creator/{{SEGA}} (''VideoGame/{{maimai}}'', ''Chunithm'', ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA Arcade''), [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] (''VideoGame/TaikoNoTatsujin'', ''Synchronica''), and Creator/{{Taito}} (''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'') all seem to cross-promote their works in each other's as much as they compete with each other. They have done major cross-company song crossover events on two occasions, spread their [=IPs=]' songs into other company's games, and share a lot of common song composers with composers like Tatsh, Masayoshi Minoshima, and [=REDALiCE=] composing songs for multiple companies' games. Additionally, Namco's and SEGA's card networks share the same infrastructure, i.e. you can use a Namco [=BanaPassport=] on a SEGA game, a SEGA Aime card on a Namco game, both on some third-party games, and so on.

* Tohru and Elma were like this in the backstory of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', having become close friends despite being members of [[OrderVersusChaos opposing dragon factions]]. Their friendship has long since deteriorated into a fierce rivalry by the time the story starts due to personal issues (mainly related to [[ObsessedWithFood Elma's eating habits]]), albeit one with strong VitrolicBestBuds undertones [[spoiler:and they end up reigniting their friendship later on]].

* In ''Manga/UQHolder'', Episodes 4 & 5 (chapter 14) sees this with Kaito & Tota. [[spoiler: Beginning of episode 4 and latter half of episode 5. His evil attitude begins to taper off when he sees Tota improve with his Martial Arts.]]

** Larry Bird and Magic Johnson started off as rivals when they met in the 1979 NCAA championship game and that continued into the NBA as they met several times in the NBA Finals. However, the two of them developed a friendship after shooting a commercial together in the early 1980's and have remained close friends since. When Johnson contracted HIV, Bird was one of the only people he told before announcing it in a press conference and Bird offered him complete support. Later on, Johnson convinced Bird to join him on the 1992 Dream Team so they could play on the same team together for one time. They also worked with each other on a book about their relationship released in 2009 that was eventually adapted into a Broadway play.
** LA Laker Magic Johnson and Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas were such good friends that they met at half-court and exchanged a ''kiss''.