History TheRival / VideoGames

** ''Sonic Rivals'' series take this trope to a whole new level. The first game has four characters -- Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver -- serving as rivals to each other, racing each other to catch up with Dr. Eggman. In the sequel, it's the same thing except said rivals have a companion to fight against the team with (Sonic/Tails, Knuckles/Rouge, Shadow/Metal Sonic, Silver/Espio).

** Eggman started out as an enemy of Sonic's, but became this due to VillainDecay.
*** Eggman's still Sonic's ArchEnemy, he's just not as much a threat as he used to be ([[VideoGame/SonicColors until]] [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations recently]], and the comic version made a comeback after a slump into insanity)

** In [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire the third generation]], this has an interesting twist: The rival is the playable character who the player did ''not'' choose.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you have ''two'' rivals. In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' this gets upped to ''three''. (With one of them, however, you get some control over who it is; while the player speaks to both Calem and Serena in the beginning, only the one that is the opposite gender of your character becomes a Rival.)

* Some species of Pokémon have rivalries, which are ''much'' less friendly than any the player has. Seviper and Zangoose hate each other, as do Durant and Heatmor. This is emphasized in ''X and Y'', where if the two rival species appear in a Horde Battle, they'll fight each other instead of your Pokémon.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you have ''two'' rivals. In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' this gets upped to ''three''. (With two of them, their genders are the opposites of the player's chosen gender.)
** In most games, the rivals have default names or no names at all, and the player is able to name them. There are some exceptions; in ''Black and White'' is an exception; Cheren and Bianca cannot be renamed. You can't change the names of the ones in ''X and Y'' either, although two of them are named Calem and Serena no matter which gender they are.)
** Traditionally, the rival's starter Pokemon is the starter that has Type Advantage over your starter. The two exceptions are ''Yellow'' (where your only choice is a Pikachu, and the rival uses an Eevee) and ''Black and White'' where Cheren gets the one with Type Advantage while Bianca gets the remaining one.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you have ''two'' rivals. In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' this gets upped to ''three''.
** In most games, the rivals have default names or no names at all, and the player is able to name them. ''Black and White'' is an exception; Cheren and Bianca cannot be renamed.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you have ''two'' rivals.

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''
** In ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', we have Miles Edgeworth, who was a childhood friend of Phoenix, but is now his rival. [[spoiler: He eventually becomes Phoenix's friend again.]] Phoenix himself says that one of his primary motivations for becoming a lawyer was so he could face Edgeworth in court.
** Franziska von Karma steps up to the bench for the second game. She violently wants to defeat Phoenix because [[spoiler:she wants to succeed where Edgeworth failed.]]
*** She also shares this position with Shi-Long Lang in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'', specifically in [[spoiler:the flashback case four, where she's a thirteen-year-old obsessed with beating Edgeworth in everything. Edgeworth mostly ignores it.]]
** And for the third game we have Godot who really hates Phoenix's guts and won't explain why. [[spoiler:He blames Phoenix for Mia's death.]]
** In Apollo Justice we have Klavier Gavin, the brother of Apollo's [[spoiler:former]] mentor. He is way more helpful than the other rivals though.

* Yanagi and Hiroki have this relationship in {{Canvas 2}} after reconciling.

* RyuAndKen from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' have been friendly rivals to each other from the very beginning of the series. Later, Sakura and Karin came along as rivals to one another.

** Sonya Blade has a major one against Kano, who she's sought to bring to justice.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney''

* In ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Miles Edgeworth was a childhood friend of Phoenix who was his rival in the first game, but eventually became his friend again. Phoenix himself says that one of his primary motivations for becoming a lawyer was so he could face Edgeworth in court.

*** She also takes up this position in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'', specifically in [[spoiler:the flashback case four, where she's a thirteen-year-old obsessed with beating Edgeworth in everything. Edgeworth mostly ignores it.]]

* Knuckles from the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games is often billed as Sonic's "[[FriendlyRivalry friendly rival]]"; in the [[Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], the "friendly" part was often ignored, as many of the two's conversations simply wound up dissolving into fistfights. This lasted until the "Endgame" arc, after which the two became steady friends.

*** Recently, [[spoiler: Geoffrey became the RivalTurnedEvil]].

** Knuckles gets his own rival in the form of Rouge The Bat in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' whereas Tails battles Dr. Eggman. The former got a ''[[BelligerentSexualTension little]]'' better, but definitely not the latter.

** ''Sonic Rivals'' series take this trope to a whole new level. The first game has four characters - Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver - serving as rivals to each other, racing each other to catch up with Dr. Eggman. In the sequel, it's the same thing except said rivals have a companion to fight against the team with (Sonic/Tails, Knuckles/Rouge, Shadow/Metal Sonic, Silver/Espio).
* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Miles Edgeworth was a childhood friend of Phoenix who was his rival in the first game, but eventually became his friend again. Phoenix himself says that one of his primary motivations for becoming a lawyer was so he could face Edgeworth in court.
** Franziska von Karma steps up to the bench for the second game. She violently wants to defeat Phoenix because [[spoiler: she wants to succeed where Edgeworth failed.]]
*** She also takes up this position in ''Investigations'', specifically in [[spoiler: the flashback case four, where she's a thirteen-year-old obsessed with beating Edgeworth in everything. Edgeworth mostly ignores it.]]
** And for the third game we have Godot who really hates Phoenix's guts and won't explain why. [[spoiler: He blames Phoenix for Mia's death.]]

* [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]] is Mario's rival, though its doubtful whether Mario has ''noticed''.

** Wario's ''actual'' rival is probably Captain Syrup, a villain in some games that he's starred in, who's greed is said to be even greater than his.

** Though often misunderstood, Squall and Ultimecia indeed have an intense rivalry between them considering [[spoiler: Squall is what turns Ultimecia into the monster she is in the future, and Ultimecia caused Squall to become the hero he is in the past.]] [[StableTimeLoop They truly were meant to battle each other for eternity.]]

* This has been a tradition in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' since the beginning. The hero character always has a rival whom he meets at various points of the game. The rival in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the first generation]] (called "Blue", officially) was a prototype for Gary Oak, Ash's rival in the anime. The hero's relation with the rival varies depending on the game; usually it's someone he's known for a long time. The one exception is in the second generation, where it's a stranger with a dark past. Most of the time, the rival is both an adversary and an ally, depending on the situation.

** In most games, the rivals have default names or no names at all, and the player is able to name them. ''Pokémon Black and White'' is an exception; Cheren and Bianca cannot be renamed.
** Traditionally, the rival's starter Pokemon is the starter that has Type Advantage over your starter. The two exceptions are ''Pokémon Yellow'' (where your only choice is Pikachu, and the rival uses an Eevee) and ''Pokémon Black and White'' where Cheren gets the one with Type Advantage while Bianca gets the remaining one.

** Between High Schools :

** Between individual characters :

* VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight''

* The [[http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Domination domination]] system in {{VideoGame/Team Fortress 2}} lets potentially any two players on opposite teams be rivals.

* Knuckles from the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games is often billed as Sonic's "[[FriendlyRivalry friendly rival]]"; in the [[Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], the "friendly" part was often ignored, as many of the two's conversations simply wound up dissolving into fistfights. This lasted until the "Endgame" arc, after which the two became steady friends.

** The ''VideoGame/SonicRivals'' series take this trope to a whole new level. The first game has four characters - Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver - serving as rivals to each other, racing each other to catch up with Dr. Eggman. In the sequel, it's the same thing except said rivals have a companion to fight against the team with (Sonic/Tails, Knuckles/Rouge, Shadow/Metal Sonic, Silver/Espio).
* In ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Miles Edgeworth was a childhood friend of Phoenix who was his rival in the first game, but eventually became his friend again. Phoenix himself says that one of his primary motivations for becoming a lawyer was so he could face Edgeworth in court.

* RyuAndKen from ''StreetFighter'' have been friendly rivals to each other from the very beginning of the series. Later, Sakura and Karin came along as rivals to one another.

* ''MortalKombat'' has its own big rivalries as well:

* [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]] is {{Mario}}'s rival, though its doubtful whether Mario has ''noticed''.

** Also Ragna the Bloodedge and Jin Kisaragi in ''BlazBlue''.

* Sora and Riku (At least in the beginning) in ''KingdomHearts''.
* This has been a tradition in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' since the beginning. The hero character always has a rival whom he meets at various points of the game. The rival in the first generation (called "Blue", officially) was a prototype for Gary Oak, Ash's rival in the anime. The hero's relation with the rival varies depending on the game; usually it's someone he's known for a long time. The one exception is in the second generation, where it's a stranger with a dark past. Most of the time, the rival is both an adversary and an ally, depending on the situation.
** In the third generation, this has an interesting twist: The rival is the playable character who the player did ''not'' choose.
** In the ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you have ''two'' rivals.
** In most games, the rivals have default names or no names at all, and the player is able to name them. ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is an exception; Cheren and Bianca cannot be renamed.
** Traditionally, the rival's starter Pokemon is the starter that has Type Advantage over your starter. The two exceptions are ''VideoGame/PokemonYellow'' (where your only choice is Pikachu, and the rival uses an Eevee) and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' where Cheren gets the one with Type Advantage while Bianca gets the remaining one.

* {{Jak}} gains a racing rival/ArchEnemy in Erol in the second game. [[WeaselMascot Daxter]] also gains a {{Vitriolic Best Bud|s}}, a [[PollyWantsAMicrophone talking]] [[MixAndMatchCritters monkaw]] named [[EmbarrassingFirstName Pecker]].

* Knuckles from the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games is often billed as Sonic's "friendly rival"; in the [[Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehog Archie comics]], the "friendly" part was often ignored, as many of the two's conversations simply wound up dissolving into fistfights. This lasted until the "Endgame" arc, after which the two became steady friends.

** The ''VideoGame/SonicRivals'' series take this trope to a whole new level. The first game has four characters - Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver - serving as rivals to each other. In the sequel, the said rivals have a companion to fight against the team with (Sonic and Tails, Knuckles and Rouge, Shadow and Metal Sonic, Silver and Espio).

*** ''Tokimeki Memorial 1'' has [[{{Kawaiiko}} Yumi]] and [[YamatoNadeshiko Saki]], for the UnknownRival variety (Yumi considers Saki her rival for the protagonist's heart as soon as Saki shares a bento with him, but Saki doesn't notice Yumi's jealousy ;

* There are many rivalries from the [[NintendoWars Advance Wars]] series between [=COs=] (Commanding Officers). [[AcePilot Eagle]] and [[JackOfAllStats Andy]] (one of the missions where you fight Eagle is even named "Rivals!"), [[ActionGirl Sami]] and [[{{Meganekko}} Sonja]] and possibly [[TheArcher Grit]] and [[BoisterousBruiser Max]] from the first game, [[SmugSnake Adder]] and [[OldMaster Sensei]] and [[EvilGenius Lash]] and [[{{Meganekko}} Sonja]] from the second game, and possibly [[MagnificentBastard Hawke]] and [[IceQueen Candy/Kindle]] from the third. ''Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict'' doesn't have rivalries as such; everybody generally just hates each other, except for the NRA and IDS (the two main antagonist armies of the game) who get along nicely. [[spoiler: Except when in a [[TheReveal reveal]] the player finds out that Caulder/Stolos (the MadScientist and BigBad) couldn't really care less about anyone living or dying (the NRA included), apart from when [[ForScience it has "scientific" purposes,]] and essentially leaves the NRA to crumble after its defeat.]]

* This has been a tradition in ''Franchise/Pokemon'' since the beginning. The hero character always has a rival whom he meets at various points of the game. The rival in the first generation (called "Blue", officially) was a prototype for Gary Oak, Ash's rival in the anime. The hero's relation with the rival varies depending on the game; usually it's someone he's known for a long time. The one exception is in the second generation, where it's a stranger with a dark past. Most of the time, the rival is both an adversary and an ally, depending on the situation.