History Main / TigerVersusDragon

-->--''Manga/BattleAngelAlita''
A subtrope of AnimalJingoism and RedOniBlueOni.

This can be used either for [[RuleOfSymbolism depth]], [[FauxSymbolism exploitation]], or [[RuleOfCool just because it is cool]]. For another example of Eastern AnimalJingoism, see TanukiKitsuneContrast. Compare and contrast PrimateVsReptile, a Western mammal vs. reptile motif.

* In "VideoGame/DaveTheDiver" celebrity chef Wang Pang gets pitted against Banchu, the owner of the restaurant Dave manages, to
And in their splash versus screen Banchu Is accompanied by a Dragon motive and Wang by a tiger. Befitting their RedOniBlueOni personalities.

Whether it's just competing companies, martial arts, board games, or whatever, the dragon and the tiger will likely be used to represent these similar-but-different forces. The person representing the dragon will usually be wise, tempered, patient, humble, plucky, and/or any other traits usually seen as "laid-back". The person representing the tiger will probably be passionate, driven, enthusiastic, wild, and/or other traits seen as "HotBlooded". The dragon is often represented by the protagonist or by another good character if the tiger is represented by an antagonist. However, reversals are not unknown, DragonsAreDEomic and SoftSpokenSadist are things after all, usually with a HotBlooded hero, and WickedCultured Villain with DissonantSerenity.

Whether it's just competing companies, martial arts, board games, or whatever, the dragon and the tiger will likely be used to represent these similar-but-different forces. The person representing the dragon will usually be wise, tempered, patient, humble, plucky, and/or any other traits usually seen as "laid-back". The person representing the tiger will probably be passionate, driven, enthusiastic, wild, and/or other traits seen as "HotBlooded". The dragon is often represented by the protagonist or by another good character if the tiger is represented by an antagonist. However, sometimes ReptilesAreAbhorrent, so reversals are not unknown, usually with a HotBlooded hero, and WickedCultured Villain with DissonantSerenity.

* In ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'', reflected in their {{Meaningful Name}}s, Tatsumi Oga is the dragon and Hidetora Tojo is the tiger.
** Oga gets another tiger, Izo Aiba, another child-carrying gang leader.
* In ''Manga/BGataHKei'', Yamada is the tiger and Kyouka Kanejou is the dragon. Interestingly, Yamada is a rare protagonist example of being the tiger.

* The World Nobles of ''Manga/OnePiece'' are known as the Celestial Dragons. One of the greatest challenges to their authority, an attack on their lands and the freeing of all their slaves, occurred at the hands of a Fishman called Fisher Tiger. A case of the tiger being the good guy while the dragon(s) being the bad.
** One could also say that Queen Otohime is the "dragon" to Fisher's "tiger". Otohime wants her people to live peacefully with humans, while Tiger disagrees with her and fights the Marines because he's a {{pirate}}. He hates the humans [[spoiler:which ultimately causes his death]], but he knows that there are also kind humans and he hopes that his hatred won't become his legacy to his people. Otohime is killed by a human, [[spoiler:who turns out to be the Fishman Hody Jones,]] but she tells her children not to hate neither the killer nor the humans.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''
** Marco and Jeremy have this antagonistic relationship. Marco is the dragon because he is the most rational, patient and logical to win fights. Jeremy is the tiger because he fights because of his ego and SpoiledBrat behavior which results in him being an aggressive fighter.
** When [[Characters/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilStarButterfly Star Butterfly]] and [[Characters/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilMarcoDiaz Marco Diaz]] argue, they represent this trope. Alternatively, they represent this trope when fighting enemies.
*** Star is the tiger because her magic is affected by her emotions. She tends to allow her emotions to affect her decisions. Examples include: refusing to help an enemy because she believed that monsters were naturally evil and irredeemable, angrily believing that Marco saw her as helpless and in need of rescue from Tom (despite Marco having good reasons to be concerned). Finally, she tried to bury her feelings for Marco because she feared that she would ruin their friendship or ruin his relationship with Jackie.
*** Marco is the dragon because he is the most rational and logical when making decisions but it has gotten him in trouble. Primarily because these dimensions have different laws and traditions. This trope is best shown in two episodes: when Star and Marco try to save the bounce lounge, Marco tried to tell her that she should accept the change to preserve her nostalgia. However, Star refused to listen and valiantly tried to save it. This is also shown when Marco and Star became babysitters for Buff Frog's children, Star disregarded the rules so that the children can have fun, but, Marco insisted that they follow Buff Frog's instructions.
*** This dichotomy is also shown when the pair fight enemies as Marco uses his martial arts skills to win, whereas, Star uses devastating magical attacks to quickly win fights.
* The episode "Other Victories" is ''Franchise/{{Transformers}} WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' features a battle between Megatron in his dragon form and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Tigerhawk]]. At one point, [[http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/6/6a/OtherVictories_clash.jpg a flash of lightning illuminates them black on a white background]], a possible reference to this trope.

* ''Manga/KurokosBasketball'': The two BloodBrothers Taiga Kagami (another rare protagonist who represents the tiger) and Tatsuya Himuro are this, which is symbolized by their given names ("Taiga" obviously rhymes with "tiger", and "Tatsuya" has "tatsu" in his name), which becomes even more apparent due to both, most often than not, calling each other by their given names. Both of them are {{Foil}}s to each other in several different ways. Kagami plays in a team with a very offensive playstyle, he's gifted with talent and his playstyle emphasizes more on power than technique, and his partner Kuroko is a short pass player who supports Kagami in every game. Himuro plays in a team with a very defensive playstyle, he's not as gifted as Kagami, but he has refined his basics so much that he can beat many players with his skills, and his partner Murasakibara is a large and powerful Center whom Himuro supports.

* in ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'' has Ch'en the dragon and Swire the tiger, they work in the same rank as the chief officer of Lungmen Guard Department. and they often throw [[MemeticMutation *Lungmen]] [[PrecisionFStrike profanities*]] at each other.

''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters XIV]]'', in the Team Fatal Fury's ending where Joe talks about the tiger and dragon themes of the characters[[note]]For context, he's trying to find an animal theme for Andy, since Terry has the wolf and Joe has the tiger himself[[/note]]. The "team tiger" is Robert, Ramón, and himself, while the "team dragon" is Ryo, [[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier Kensou]], and Mui Mui.

* ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' has a rivalry between its two main protagonists: Ryo Sakazaki (the tiger) and Robert Garcia (the dragon). In fact, the Japanese name of the series is ''Ryuuko no Ken'', or "Fist of the Dragon/Tiger". Their stances occasionally reflect their animal motifs, and they share a super move, the Ryuuko Ranbu ("Dragon and Tiger's Rebellious Dance"), that refers to the rivalry in its name. Ironically, Ryo is called the "Invincible Dragon" while Robert is called the "Raging Tiger" and some of their desperation moves summon a tiger for Robert and a dragon for Ryo. This is lampshaded in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters XIV]]'', in the Team Fatal Fury's ending where Joe talks about the tiger and dragon themes of the characters[[note]]For context, he's trying to find an animal theme for Andy, since Terry has the wolf and Joe has the tiger himself[[/note]]. The "team tiger" is Robert, Ramón, and himself, while the "team dragon" is Ryo, [[VideoGame/PsychoSoldier Kensou]], and Mui Mui.

->''"What do a fictious reptile and an [[ExtinctInTheFuture extinct carnivore]] have to do with martial arts, anyway?"''

* The Liger vs. Theropod-type rivalry in ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' is likely intended to invoke this trope.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' has an interesting application of this trope. In the fifth game, there is an arena called Dragon's Nest, a temple with a dragon statue set during daytime. The ''Dark Resurrection'' UpdatedRerelease introduces a variation of the arena called Western Gate, which has the same feel, except it is now nighttime, while the dragon statue has been replaced by several tiger ones.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'':
** The protagonist of the series is Kazuma Kiryu, a former [[{{Yakuza}} Japanese gangster]] known as "The Dragon of the Dojima family" who also has a [[TattooedCrook large tattoo]] of a silver dragon on his back. One of the first game's antagonists and [[RecurringBoss Recurring Bosses]] is Futoshi Shimano, a yakuza boss who has a large tattoo of a tiger on his back and wants revenge against Kiryu for [[FallGuy supposedly]] killing the head of the Dojima family. Kiryu beats him twice.
** The trope is in greater effect in the [[VideoGame/Yakuza4 fourth game]] when [[MeaningfulName Taiga]] Saejima is introduced, another protagonist who happens to have a large [[TattooedCrook tattoo]] of a tiger on his back. While Kiryu at this point has been characterized by his sage wisdom as well as his strength, Saejima is a full-blown powerhouse with monstrous strength. Naturally, they end up fighting shortly after they first meet, and their duel ends in a draw. [[spoiler: They later work together to defeat the BigBad alongside two others without any tattoos but have [[AnimalMotif motifs]] of the Sparrow and Tortoise.]] In the [[VideoGame/Yakuza5 fifth game]], [[spoiler: they end up fighting again to lure out the game's BigBad, which ends in a draw once more]].
** And special mention goes to the [[VideoGame/Yakuza2 second game]], where Kiryu fights and defeats two ''actual'' tigers. ''With his fists''.
** Subverted in Yakuza 2, where both the protagonist and antagonist carry dragon tattoos in their backs.
** While Kiryu's main rival Goro Majima's primary AnimalMotifs are dogs and snakes, he gets referred to as "tiger" a couple of times.
** Subverted in ''Yakuza 0'', with Fei Hu and Long Hua. "Hu" can be read as "tiger" and "Long" as "dragon", but Fei Hu and Long Hua are very HappilyMarried and are the focal point of a global network of weapons enthusiasts... and can serve you a mean stir fry too.

* ''VideoGame/WarioWare Gold'' has this as part of 18-Volt and 13-Amp's battle rap. Depending on whether you win or lose a microgame, 18-Volt's tiger will either get bigger or curl up in fear against 13-Amp's dragon.

** The prequel, ''Ultraman Regulos'', reveals that Regulos got those Cosmo Beasts from studying under two different mentors, the strict disciplinarian Instructor Phoros of the Lightning White Tiger Fist, and the excommunicated, lazy, and passionate Tubahn of the Blazing Red Dragon Fist. The two are literally Yin and Yang and have a fierce and evenly-matched rivalry between them.