History Main / OpponentSwitch

** In ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies'', Superman and Batman attempt this when [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] and ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} fight them. It doesn't work since Marvel and Hawkman expect it and each is prepared to fight either opponent anyway. Hawkman uses a special gauntlet to hit Superman hard enough that even he is knocked out, and Marvel exploits Batman's soft spot for kids by briefly reverting to Billy Batson. [[spoiler:Superman and Batman beat them off-screen later.]]

Our group of heroes are fighting against the PsychoRangers, {{Evil Twin}}s, or opponents skilled or specialized against certain techniques against them, individually, fighting to, at best, a stalemate. One of the heroes realizes it's futile fighting against their equals, so all of them switch opponents, which wins them the battle. For some reason this almost never leads to Evil Twin A being defeated by Twin B but Evil Twin B defeating Twin A, as might be expected if they're actual equal to their doubles, nor the evil ones winning due to the change. There just seems to be some rule that switching opponents automatically guarantees heroic victory, even if it doesn't make sense. A common subversion of the PlotTailoredToTheParty. May be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that the villans use techniques that are only [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman useful]] against their chosen enemy, meaning they would be useless against [[WhatKindofLamePowerIsHeartAnyway anyone]] else. Another justification that makes more sense is that the heroes don't know their own weaknesses as well as they know those of their teammates, so when they switch, their teammates know the weaknesses of their teammate and thus the EvilTwin they're up against and can thus defeat them.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Uryu and Chad switch opponents in their first battle in Hueco Mundo and successfully defeat them. Note that it also went in an opposite direction: ''initially'', the speedy archer Uryu was fighting against a giant and TheBigGuy Chad has been fighting against a fast shooting Arrancar. Then they switched ''to'' MirrorMatch of sorts, by fighting opponents strong in the same fields as they - and completely overwhelmed them.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''. This happens a few times in the Enies Lobby arc. Nami gets Kumadori's key but is unable to defeat him due to his superior strength and close- to mid-range fighting, resulting in Chopper stepping in to help. Sanji is stronger than Kalifa but is [[WouldntHitAGirl unable to hit a girl]], and after his defeat, Nami saves him, winning because she can counter Kalifa's bubble powers with her Clima-tact. Usopp is not strong enough to defeat Jyabura, so Sanji steps in while telling Usopp to go save Robin, defeating Jyabura with his ability to break through his [[MadeOfIron specialized tekkai]]. Usopp manages to snipe Spandam and the guards from a distance, something no one else could do. Only Zoro and Franky end up defeating their original opponents; Kaku was a swordsman like Zoro, but Fukurou relied on speed and hand-to-hand combat, in contrast to Franky's mix of close-quarters and ranged attacks.
* In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite'', Ash's companions gets a rival of their own (Ash gets three, and Iris and Cilan have one apiece), in spite of not getting involved in some sort of major competition. Best Wishes would wind up having the largest number of multi-episode {{Tournament Arc}}s outside of the traditional regional competition (Club Battle, Clubsplosion, and Junior Cup) just so Ash, Iris and Cilan (as well as Dawn during the Junior Cup) can go up against their rivals. However, matchups in these tournaments where a protagonist faces a different rival (i.e. Iris' rival Georgia being Ash's second round opponent during the Club Battle) is actually commonplace.

** This is a common tactic ordered by Captain America while leading them into battle.
** When the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} are ordered by the government to rough up the ComicBook/NewAvengers (who are looking into things they don't like), the Avengers try to do this only to find out the Thunderbolts [[GenreSavvy predicted it]].

** The team used this same trick decades earlier than the above ''Peter Porker'' example in one of UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ComicBook/{{Galactus}} stories, and in another Silver Age story involving robot doubles fighting them.
** Inverted in another early story when they were up against elemental constructs. The elementals were under strict instructions from their creator to '''avoid''' going up against their opposite numbers (Reed/Water, Sue/Air, Thing/Earth, Torch/Fire) and each ends up being defeated by its counterpart.
* This is part of the premise of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse crossover ''ComicBook/ActsOfVengeance''. This, of course, lead to some very odd, but memorable match ups, with a variety of tones ranging from almost wacky comedy to deadly serious. Memorable stories included ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} vs. Ultron, [[ComicBook/ThePunisher the Punisher]] vs ComicBook/DoctorDoom, the Power Pack against Typhoid Mary, a group of [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spidey's]] D-listers against the ComicBook/FantasticFour, and Magneto (a Holocaust survivor) vs the Red Skull (a Nazi).
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks very first]] ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'' story featuring the [[MirrorUniverse Crime Syndicate of America]]. While the first battle saw the male heroes unintentionally switch opponents when their foes moved from their initial location before the hero arrived, resulting in Ultraman VS Flash, Owlman VS Green Lantern, Johnny Quick VS Batman and Power Ring VS Superman), in their rematch with the Justice League, the [=JLAers=] only won when each member took on their specific counterparts with a series of [[OverclockingAttack Overclocking Attacks]].
** A variant of this happened in a Silver Age story where the Justice League were summoned to Earth Prime to deal with a superbeing by the name of Ultraa, and they had to team up to stop Earth-Prime's first supervillain, the evil Maxitron. Maxitron sought to destroy Ultraa and the League by putting them in {{Death Trap}}s catered to each of their weaknesses. Unfortunately for him, he was defeated when Green Lantern disguised Superman and Ultraa as each other, resulting in the traps that should have killed them (ultrasonic pounding for Ultraa and red solar radiation for Superman) doing nothing to the latter. In the meantime, Green Lantern overpowered the Tiger-Bear sent after him (and whose yellow fur was impervious to his ring) through sheer guts and determination.
* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' does this during the final fight of the first volume, when the kids confront their parents. Gert's dinosaur companion Old Lace is incapable of attacking any of her family, and Karolina's family's powers don't work on each other. "Ready... set... switch!"

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In the newspaper comic strip ''[[ComicStrip/SpiderMan The Amazing Spider-Man]]'', Spider-Man is battling Kingpin while Iron Fist is battling another martial arts user, Golden Claw. The villains have studied their respective heroes moves for so long it's a stalemate until Spider-Man suggests they switch and the villains are promptly defeated.

** In ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies'', Superman and Batman attempt this when Captain Marvel and Hawkman fight them. It doesn't work since Marvel and Hawkman expected it and each was prepared to fight either opponent anyway. Hawkman used a special gauntlet to hit Superman hard enough that even he would be knocked out, and Marvel exploited Batman's soft spot for kids by briefly reverting to Billy Batson. [[spoiler:Superman and Batman beat them off-screen later.]]
** In ''ComicBook/ReignOfDoomsday'', slightly weaker clones of Doomsday were [[CripplingOverspecialization specifically designed to take out]] ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, Steel, and the Cyborg Superman. After getting curb-stomped the first time, they switched and defeated them.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': The team do this in ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. Colossus, Storm and Wolverine find themselves facing three of the Hellfire Club's EliteMooks with power armors customized for their individual powers. Switching things up works nicely.
* In the original ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' comic, they're up against fake nemeses; Robin versus Joker, Superboy versus Metallo, Impulse versus Grodd. Robin works out that they need to switch. He beats Metallo, Superboy beats Grodd, and Impulse...is so annoying that he drives ''ComicBook/TheJoker'' nuts with frustration.

* ''Fanfic/AllThingsProbableSeries''. In a rare villainous example, Team Probable do this against Team Possible with Rhonda fighting Kim and Grimm fighting Ron. Unfortunately for the heroes, it works.
* Comes up in the final battle of the ''Fanfic/AvengersOfTheRing'' sequel ''Return of the Avengers''; [[spoiler:despite Thor’s personal history with Malekith, he recognises that letting the iron-wearing Tony Stark battle the Dark Elf with the weakness to iron is the better choice, while he is better-suited to battling the Balrog Malekith has unleashed]].
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10987368/1/Always-a-Ranger Always a Ranger]]''- an AU of [[Recap/PowerRangersOperationOverdriveS1E20OnceARangerPart1 the confrontation with Thrax]] where he attacked [[Series/PowerRangersSPD the SPD B-Squad]] rather than the Operation Overdrive team- at one point the SPD Rangers travel to Phaedos to acquire a legendary sword, but as part of this they have to face five magically-created warriors, each specially configured to oppose that specific Ranger. However, once Bridge realises what makes their particular opponents dangerous (as his own relatively passive power doesn't make much difference in a combat situation), he is able to advise the others to switch opponents, such as Jack facing Sky's adversary as he can phase through the enemy's shields where Sky could only match them.

* ''Fanfic/TimeAndAgain''. Naruto switches with Kakashi when he realizes Kakashi's lightning jutsu are needed to beat Naruto's opponent's earth-elemental armor.

* Done in the climax of ''Film/Hitman1998'', a 90s action film starring Creator/JetLi as the protagonist while Creator/SimonYam plays TheLancer. The final showdown begins with Li taking on main villain Eiji's lackey, [[NoNameGiven the Tall Man]] while Yam tackles Eiji himself, but after a while the heroes are losing their edge, so Li and Yam swaps their targets, leading to Yam and the Tall Man facing each other in a LancerVsDragon fight while Li continues fighting Eiji.

* Happens in the BatmanColdOpen of one of the ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'' novels, when John Taylor and Susie Shooter battle their MirrorUniverse opposite-sex counterparts, Joan and Steven.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/SeijuuSentaiGingaman''/''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy''. Copis/Chameliac, a MonsterOfTheWeek that is able to copy and [[NoSell counter the rangers' fighting style]] gets outsmarted when the rangers switch fighting styles with each other, confusing the monster. Then, in the Megazord fight, he copies the Megazords' powers as well. When the Stratoforce Megazord shows up, he copies it...only for it [[MidfightWeaponExchange pull out the Centaurus Megazord's gun]] and shoot him.
* In the series finale of ''Series/CloakAndDagger2018'', Andre Deschain[=/=]D'Spayre pits Tyrone and Tandy against opponents specifically tailored to them: An EvilTwin for Tyrone and a representation of her abusive father for Tandy. After struggling for a bit against their own opponents, they switched places and fought each other's until Andre forced them to switch back.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' gives us one with Kendra actually rolling over the back of Buffy to do so. Spike claims to prefer fighting Buffy.

[[folder:Multi-Media]]
* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}''
** This is how the Toa Mata defeated their [[PsychoRangers shadow counterparts]] in ''Tales of the Masks''. The encyclopedia RetConned it, however -- in the new version, the Toa understand that the Shadow Toa were actually their inner evil, and reabsorb them by accepting it.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement ''Red Doom''. One of the Supreme Soviets' standard combat maneuvers was "Soccer Ball", in which the team members switched opponents until they found one that was vulnerable to their attacks.

* ''{{VideoGame/Pokemon}}'': After defeating an opponent's Mon, the game informs you of which Mon that is and allows you to switch out accordingly if the type disparity is too strong or your Mon is near-fainting. You can also switch out mid-battle, but this costs you your turn (although doing so with a stronger one is an efficient way of powerleveling a low-level Mon since participating in a battle splits the experience between the participants).

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''

** The Linear Guild strikes again much later. With Roy getting the tar kicked out of him by Thog, Elan fleeing Nale, and V unable to get through Zz'dtri's magical defences, V then realises that Zz'dtri's achilles heel is best countered by someone else and invokes this trope - [[MindManipulation by using the Guild's own archer specialist]], to boot. Even better, when Zz'dtri's spells hit said archer, suddenly the Suggestion spell gets a lot easier.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* "Ayla and the Great Shoulder Angel Conspiracy" in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse: when fighting New Olympians best suited to combatting them (even PersonOfMassDestruction Tennyo), Team Kimba manages to trade opponents one by one until they defeat enough opponents that they can double-team the last couple.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble:'' When the All-New Avengers face off against the Leader's new Cabal, they have difficulty with the fight until they hit upon the idea of switching up. That works for a time, until it turns out the Cabal have their own ideas.
* A Season 3 episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' features the ''villains'' setting this up in order to get the upper hand against their respective {{Archenemy}}. ComicBook/TheJoker fights Franchise/WonderWoman, Cheetah deals with Superman, leaving ComicBook/LexLuthor with Batman.
* While antagonism at the level of actually fighting doesn't last long enough for them to switch, the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode where the gang travels to a parallel universe lampshades why this trope might be a good idea.

''(The two Leelas flying jump kick at each other, knocking each other down.)''\\

* The ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' crossover "Hercules and the Arabian Night" had Hades and Jafar team up. They decide to take on each other's enemy. Jafar says Hercules should be easy for him because Hercules isn't very agile nor clever, and Hades thinks Aladdin is worthless because he doesn't have SuperStrength. The heroes defeat them anyway. Afterwards, the villains try Plan B: LetsYouAndHimFight.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', when [[spoiler:Luthor-Brainiac merged being]] pits the League against their own {{Evil Twin}}s, ComicBook/TheFlash, Franchise/{{Batman}}, and ComicBook/MartianManhunter are able to defeat their doubles on their own, while the rest eventually switch opponents. Leads to an amusing exchange between Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, who both comment that the other one enjoys whacking their opponent [[UnresolvedSexualTension a little]] [[StarCrossedLovers too much.]]

'''Hawkgirl:''' ''(knocks Lord!GL's head clean off)'' Likewise, I'm sure.
* Inverted in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' where three crooks dress up as the Powerpuff Girls. When the Girls and the crooks throw down, both sides end up attacking their teammates by mistake before Blossom says they should just fight their counterparts to keep things simple. The whole episode is taken into RefugeInAudacity territory because the crooks' disguises are blatantly obvious to the viewer[[note]]as in, grown men wearing giant plastic "heads" and dresses[[/note]] and yet everyone including the real Powerpuff Girls ''and'' the crooks ''still'' confuses them for the real thing.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Reboot}}'' Episode "Wizards Warriors and a Word From Our Sponsors" has Bob, Dot, Enzo and Mike the TV fight off their evil doppelgangers in a fantasy game. It doesn't go well until Mike inadvertently switches opponents by bumping into Evil Dot (who runs screaming from Mike's incessant infomercials).

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' had Baxter Stockman create a Turtle Robot that scanned each of the turtles as they went to attack it, once scanned the robot could replicate their weapons and fighting style, which worked, until the turtles [[MidfightWeaponExchange switched weapons with each other]].
* This is how Spider-Man and his teammates defeat the [[VillainTeamUp Sinister Six]] for the first time in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012''. Kinda weird, considering that unlike usual examples, the Sinister Six are ''not'' ThePsychoRangers, but villains who have nothing to do with the team, and yet each one of them get [[CurbStompBattle curb stomped]]. Including those like Beetle, Kraven, and Electro, would could give the entire team a hard time...

* One episode of of the ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' had Baxter Stockman create a Turtle Robot that scanned each of the TMNT as they went to attack it, once scanned the robot could replicate their weapons and fighting style, which worked, until the TMNT switched weapons with each other.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10987368/1/Always-a-Ranger Always a Ranger]]''- an AU of [[Recap/PowerRangersOperationOverdriveS1E20OnceARangerPart1 the confrontation with Thrax]] where he attacked [[Series/PowerRangersSPD the SPD B-Squad]] rather than the Operation Overdrive team- at one point the SPD Rangers travel to Phaedos to acquire a legendary sword, but as part of this they have to face five magically-created warriors, each specially configured to oppose that specific Ranger. However, once Bridge realises what makes their particular opponents dangerous (as his own relatively passive power doesn't make much difference in a combat situation), he is able to advise the others to switch opponents, such as Jack facing Sky's opponent.

* This is part of the premise of the Franchise/MarvelComics crossover ''Acts of Vengeance''. This, of course, lead to some very odd, but memorable match ups, with a variety of tones ranging from almost wacky comedy to deadly serious. Memorable stories included ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} vs. Ultron, [[ComicBook/ThePunisher the Punisher]] vs ComicBook/DoctorDoom, the Power Pack against Typhoid Mary, a group of [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spidey's]] D-listers against the ComicBook/FantasticFour, and Magneto (a Holocaust survivor) vs the Red Skull (a Nazi).

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In the newspaper comic strip ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Spider-Man is battling Kingpin while Iron Fist is battling another martial arts user, Golden Claw. The villains have studied their respective heroes moves for so long it's a stalemate until Spider-Man suggests they switch and the villains are promptly defeated.

** Subverted. When the Linear Guild is failing to make progress against the Order, Nale suggests to Thog that they trade opponents. This actually makes things worse for him, as Elan's normally useless bardic magic is effective against Thog, and Roy has been holding back a strong urge to beat the tar out of [[EvilTwin Nale's]] twin brother Elan for quite some time.