History UnknownRival / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/CobraKai''
** Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene actually started out as these ''to each other''. Robby [[GreenEyedMonster resents]] Miguel initially because his father, [[Film/TheKarateKid Johnny Lawrence]] has ended up [[LikeASonToMe forging a father-son]] bond with Miguel while he [[DisappearedDad walked out of his life on day one]]. Miguel, on the other hand, thinks his girlfriend Sam (who is also the daughter of Johnny's rival Daniel Larusso) is [[MistakenForCheating cheating on him with Robbie]], while, the truth is, Robbie simply started hanging out with the Larussos to get back at his father, because he hates Daniel and Daniel eventually took him under his wing and started teaching him Karate. {{Subverted}} by the end of Season 1, where the two finally come face to face and end up becoming [[TheRival actual rivals]] to each other, [[HistoryRepeats much like Daniel and Johnny]].
** A straighter example would be Hawk and Robby. Hawk absolutely hates Robby for insulting his mohawk at the All-Valley and kicking Miguel off the balcony, and is disturbed when he sees Robby joining Cobra Kai and eventually gaining Kreese's favor as the top student. Robby on the other hand...doesn't take him seriously, given his reserved hatred for Johnny and Miguel, as well as his far superior skill as a fighter. However by Season 4, they actually do become legitimate rivals to each other after Hawk intimidates Robby's MoralityPet, Kenny, and this later gets intensified when Robby has his Cobra Kais gang up on Hawk for his TraumaticHaircut. As a matter of fact, this later reaches its peak when they both '''face each other''' in the All-Valley Boys' Final, to which Eli wins in Sudden Death.
** Robby has also become an UnknownRival to his ''own father'', Johnny. Robby clearly resents Johnny for abandoning him all these years before the events of the series, even when Johnny expresses a desire to change for the better. As a matter of fact, for all the times Robby has hated his dad, it has never been reciprocated, and it clearly shows when they actually both get into a physical confrontation at the Reseda Cobra Kai dojo (with Robby now a student under Kreese) -- to which Johnny easily annihilates Robby in combat despite refusing to fight him.

** Mike Barnes' immense hatred for his former EvilMentor, Silver, is clearly justified, as the latter goes all the way to '''burn down his furniture store''' simply because he was helping Daniel expose him. While Silver does acknowledge his presence, he doesn't actually take him seriously even when Barnes dares himself to fight him, reserving more of his resentment for Johnny, Chozen, and Daniel.

** Ted Chaough ([[MyNaymeIs pronounced like "Shaw"]]) declares himself the rival to Don Draper. Draper had never even heard of the man when they first meet, although Chaough's challenge leads Draper to do some things to prove who's the better adman.
** When Ken Cosgrove gets a short story of his published in a national magazine, Pete Campbell jealously attempts to get a story of his own published, even coercing his wife into meeting with an ex-boyfriend of hers who's a publisher. When Ken and Pete are named joint heads of accounts, Pete resents having to share the position, while Ken seems perfectly happy to share. Then when Sterling and Draper approach Pete about [[spoiler: starting a new agency]], Pete asks if they approached Ken with the opportunity first.

** In Season 7, Harvey and Mike face off against a young up and coming attorney on a case. The man snaps on how he's finally going to show up Harvey and the man is intimidated by him. When Harvey states he has no idea who the guy is, the attorney stares at him and then snorts as he realizes Harvey is serious. He then relates how he and Harvey worked together at the District Attorney's office for ''three years'' and he was the one doing serious work while Harvey just did flashy stuff. Donna, of course, remembers the guy quite well, warning Harvey the man is out to show him up and Harvey is thrown how he could inspire hate from a guy without even knowing it.

** Although Angel knows precisely who Lindsey is, he doesn't take him very seriously as a threat during the show's final season, while Lindsey sees himself as Angel's archrival. They eventually team up against a bigger threat, and in the end, when [[spoiler:Lorne shoots Lindsey on Angel's orders]], the only thing Lindsey's angry about is that [[spoiler:he apparently wasn't important enough for Angel to kill personally]], which was simultaneously a little sad and deeply, hilariously pathetic.

** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/AngelS05E09HarmsWay Harm's Way]]". Someone has set Harmony up for murder, and eventually it turns out to be...some other vampire chick who works at Wolfram and Hart. Apparently, she's ticked that Harmony got the job she wanted just because Harmony already knew the boss.

** Ramsay Snow/Bolton was this initially with Jon Snow. Before becoming Warden of the North, Ramsay was rather interested in Jon Snow, who didn't even know much about Ramsay beyond being a Bolton bastard son. Ramsay mentions Jon Snow to his father, citing that despite his bastardry, Jon is still a Stark and is a threat to their rule. Later, he tells Sansa (whose eyes light up upon hearing this) that her half-brother Jon Snow has become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, citing this as proof that bastard children can rise high in the world. Locke, the man he sent to assassinate Jon, gets it even worse; he's killed off by a third party before Jon realizes he isn't a friend, and leaves so little impression everyone immediately forgets he existed.
** Joffrey absolutely despised Robb Stark. While Robb in return wants to kill Joffrey he considers Tywin to be his true threat. Fitting form, Joffrey considers Robb Stark's death his greatest victory even though he didn't play any role in it.
** Viserys Targaryen to Robert Baratheon. When Robert hears that Daenerys is pregnant, he goes berserk and calls for her assassination, but when giving the order he throws out "and that fool Viserys", almost as an afterthought. Viserys however saw Robert ("the Usurper") as his ArchNemesis.
** Oberyn Martell to Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane. Oberyn has spent 15 years planning to kill Clegane for killing his sister and her children on the orders of Tywin Lannister. Clegane? He doesn't even seem to know him. Responding with "Some dead man" when Oberyn asks if he knows who he is. He barely even seems to recall the murder at first, only remembering the details right before [[spoiler:he pops Oberyn's head like a grape.]]

** In "The Gang Reignites the Rivalry," the gang are eager to reignite their "heated feud" with a rival bar that ended after a ten-year ban from flipping cups. They march over to mock the owner, Art Sloan, who got them banned a decade ago. Sloan is now a successful restaurant owner, barely even remembers them and has far more important things to do than waste time on some stupid contest.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' does this a few times:
** In the first season, Oliver was unaware Malcom Merlyn was behind many of the actions of the year and was also the murderous Dark Archer. Even when Ollie suspected Malcom, he thought the Archer was just Malcom's enforcer, which nearly got him killed when he confronted Merlyn on his own.
** For his part, Malcom didn't know until the finale that his son's best friend was the vigilante fighting him all year.
** In the second season, Ollie doesn't know until mid-way through the year that his various challenges are from former ally turned enemy Slade Wilson.
** Oliver believed Isabel Rochev was a partner and shrewd businesswoman. It's only after Isabel takes over his company that Oliver finds out she's working with Slade, out for revenge after Oliver's father broke off their affair.
** Finally, Oliver considers Sebastian Blood a good ally, not knowing he's the murderous Brother Blood, another agent of Slade's. Laurel figured it out, [[CassandraTruth but no one believed her]] and Blood eventually discredited her so thoroughly that even she was left doubting herself.
** The fourth season has Oliver discovering that many of the threats he's been facing over the years were secretly the work of Damien Darkh and HIVE who are upset the Arrow has spoiled their plans.

* For most of the first season of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' Barry is totally unaware that [[spoiler: ally Harrison Wells]] is actually [[spoiler: The Reverse Flash]] who's out to use Barry in a wild scheme to change history.

** Kenny Payne eventually becomes this to Hawk and ''Robby'' (mind you, his former mentor). Hawk, being the reigning All-Valley boys' champion, sees Kenny as nothing more than a MilesGlorious who is way out of the former's league when it comes to combat skill — explicitly shown when he can't even ''land a hit'' to him in the waterpark. Though it's also worth noting that they do eventually face off in the Sekai-Taikai qualifier to which ''Kenny'' wins (albeit through unfair advantage from another ref bribed by Silver, as well as Hawk going a little too easy on him). As for Robby, while Kenny outright starts hating him after the former defects from Cobra Kai and eventually mentors Anthony, Robby has nothing but sadness as to what Kenny has become under Silver, even refusing to fight him in the FinalBattle at Silver's dojo.

* The ArchEnemy of the ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' and BigBad of the whole series is The Hood, an international terrorist, saboteur and DiabolicalMastermind bent on stealing the secrets of International Rescue for his own nefarious aims, to which end he is more than willing to engineer disasters and endanger thousands of innocent lives in order to lure them into a trap; on top of this, he's the older brother of their butler Kyrano and the EvilUncle of their sidekick Tin-Tin, and can use MindControl to manipulate and torment the former for his evil ends...and despite ''all of this'', International Rescue is barely aware that he even ''exists'', and even in the later episodes the closest they get is realising that "someone" who uses disguises is out to get them.
* Played with in ''Series/{{VIP}}'' when a noted Russian-trained assassin is after one of the firm's targets. Tasha, the former KBG agent, talks of how she's fought with this woman several times and they have an intense rivalry going. The killer is defeated thanks to Val (who's only posing as a bodyguard when she's really a goofy Valley Girl) and Tasha informs the killer she's beaten. To her shock, the killer says she's never met Tasha before but "you have beaten me once more, Valerie Irons." Apparently, the woman's pride and ego leads her to believe a "world-class bodyguard" like Valerie ''must'' be someone she tangled with before. She's led away as Tasha vainly tries to explain that ''she's'' the woman's rival, not Val.

* Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene were these ''to each other'' in ''Series/CobraKai''. Robby [[GreenEyedMonster resents]] Miguel initially because his father, [[Film/TheKarateKid Johnny Lawrence]] has ended up [[LikeASonToMe forging a father-son]] bond with Miguel while he [[DisappearedDad walked out of his life on day one]]. Miguel, on the other hand, thinks his girlfriend Sam (who is also the daughter of Johnny's rival Daniel Larusso) is [[MistakenForCheating cheating on him with Robbie]], while, the truth is, Robbie simply started hanging out with the Larussos to get back at his father, because he hates Daniel and Daniel eventually took him under his wing and started teaching him Karate. {{Subverted}} by the end of Season 1, where the two finally come face to face and end up becoming [[TheRival actual rivals]] to each other, [[HistoryRepeats much like Daniel and Johnny]].
** A straighter example would be Hawk and Robby. Hawk absolutely hates Robby for insulting his mohawk at the All-Valley and kicking Miguel off the balcony, and is disturbed when he sees Robby joining Cobra Kai and eventually gaining Kreese's favor as the top student. Robby on the other hand...doesn't take him seriously, given his reserved hatred for Johnny and Miguel, as well as his far superior skill as a fighter.

* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': In Season 3, a mysterious woman named Vadic is hellbent on getting revenge on Picard and all his friends, saying she will make them and everyone they love suffer. They have no idea who she is and what her grievance with them is.

* On ''Series/{{Suits}}'' Harvey Specter is a star lawyer in one of the top law firms in New York City. He represents scores of famous athletes helps close billion dollar deals. During one case he runs into Travis who proclaims himself Harvey's rival and vows to crush Harvey. Harvey never heard of the guy before and is hardly intimidated by this 'rivalry'. Sure enough, whenever Harvey and Trevor face off against each other in a legal case, Harvey wins.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}: Danny Pickett immediately takes a [[IrrationalHatred dislike]] to Sawyer when he's assigned to guard him and Kate while the two are prisoners of the Others and forced to work on their runway, which only grows when he blames Sawyer for his wife Colleen's death at the hands of Sun, [[InsaneTrollLogic even though Sawyer was still imprisoned at the time and had nothing to do with it]]. For his part, Sawyer doesn't think of Pickett as anything more than a {{Mook}} for the Others and is baffled as to why the man hates him so much.

* In the sixth season of ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' Jane finds herself being stalked by someone who sets fire to her apartment, sends threatening messages and arranges for Maura's abduction. It turns out to be Alice Sands, a former classmate of Jane's from the police academy who had long been used to coming in first thanks to her demanding father but ended up always behind Jane in training. When Jane graduated top of the class, the woman's father basically disowned her and her life went downhill, all of which she's blamed on Jane, who's amazed as she never even knew the woman in the academy and didn't know they were "competing."
** When Alice is arrested, she launches into a major speech on how she was always in Jane's shadow and grew to hate the woman. Jane flatly tells her "You know what I remember about you from the academy? ''Nothing.''" Despite that, Alice still seems to consider her and Jane as major enemies.

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In season 3, the team is recruited/blackmailed into going after Damien Moreau, a financier of several criminal organizations [[spoiler:who also used to be Eliot's boss]]. While the heroes continue their crusade against the rich and corrupt who prey on the poor and vulnerable, they also take on cases that allow them to make a few dents in Moreau's operation. Moreau is largely unaware of the Leverage team's existence until he confronts Nate in the penultimate episode of the season.

* Played with in ''Series/{{VIP}}'' when a noted Russian-trained assassin is after one of the firm's targets. Tasha, the former KBG agent, talks of how she's fought with this woman several times and they have an intense rivalry going. The killer is defeated thanks to Val (who's only posing as a bodyguard when she's really a goofy Valley Girl) and Tasha informs the killer she's beaten. To her shock, the killer says she's never met Tasha before but "you have beaten me once more, Valerie Irons." Apparently, the woman's pride and ego leads her to believe a "world-class bodyguard" like Valerie ''must'' be someone she tangled with before. She's led away as Tasha vainly tries to explain that ''she's'' the woman's rival, not Val.

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In season 3, the team is recruited/blackmailed into taking down Damien Moreau, a financier of several criminal organizations [[spoiler:who also used to be Eliot's boss]]. While the heroes continue their crusade against the rich and corrupt who prey on the poor and vulnerable, they also take on cases that allow them to make a few dents in Moreau's operation. Moreau is largely unaware of the Leverage team's existence until Moreau confronts Nate in the penultimate episode of the season.