Line #1 Literature/TheEnemyPapers


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8143srzmbel.jpg]]
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3	''Enemy Mine'' by Barry B. Longyear was published as a novella in IASFM, September, 1979. It won the Hugo and Nebula awards in the novella category in 1980.
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5	[[AdaptationDisplacement Then there was]] [[Film/EnemyMine the movie]].
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7	Later published in ''The Enemy Papers'' along with sequels ''The Tomorrow Testament'' and ''The Last Enemy'', as well as some bonus material related to the setting.
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9	The main plot is driven by implications of a big war between Humans and Dracs, its consequences and the true cause behind it.
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11	----
12	!!This series provides examples of:
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14	* BilingualBackfire: A trio of Dracs on the way back to their homeworld don't expect the human protagonist to be able to understand them. He lets the most annoying of them know with a few choice words in Drac that they picked entirely the wrong human to insult.
15	* CycleOfRevenge: ''The Tomorrow Testament'', and particularly ''The Last Enemy'', wrestle with this problem. How to stop a war which is counterproductive for both Humans and Dracs, but whose populations will still fight because of this?
16	* DeadManSwitch: Through an almost- IrrevocableOrder. When cornering [[spoiler:people more forward-looking than even Dracs]], it's good to have a Deadman Fleet Command. "Blow me up and your ''planet'' will be blown up".
17	* DeathWorld: Amadeen. Once it was just one more boring mining colony, but no more -- a courtesy of WarIsHell trope.
18	* EnemyMine: Not the TropeNamer, but helped popularize it.
19	* IrrevocableOrder: If the station where peace negotiations are conducted will be blown up, this will also take out the only officer capable of stopping the fleet sent to bomb the guilty party's homeworld. Joanne Nicole [[GoodIsNotNice isn't nice]].
20	* LetMeAtHim: Following the BilingualBackfire incident listed above, the other two Dracs have to physically restrain the target of the insult.
21	* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: A number of characters, but principally Davidge.
22	* RubberForeheadAliens: The difference between humans and Drac (save the very fact that the latter are hermaphrodite lizards) is not so great and more cultural than biological in nature. Much the same for other aliens.
23	* SealedEvilInACan: A "solution" of the [[spoiler:Amadeen]] problem.
24	* SelfSacrificeScheme: Part of [[spoiler:Davidge's]] solution in ''The Last Enemy''.
25	* SummonBiggerFish: There's a whole ''species'' who has the "LetsYouAndHimFight" approach ingrained in their culture. They're not warlike, but quite dangerous.
26	* SwordOfDamocles: The whole point of the Navi Di, although they do have to establish that they're fully willing and capable of using the power they have.
27	* WarIsHell: The first book is mostly about two stranded pilots, but second and third deals with it more closely.
28	* XanatosGambit: One of the main messages of Talman (Drac "Bible") is "look what your true goal is, then start looking for the ways to reach it" [[note]]yeah, it's Buddhist "[[http://www.google.com/search?q=%2BBuddha+%2Bwounded+%2Barrow+%2B%22who+shot%22+%2Bpull look for things that really matter, don't be distracted by trifles]]" cranked up to eleven[[/note]]. {{Realpolitik}} is just one pattern in a tapestry for them. No wonder that in this society the renowned teachers of Talma are given a wide berth, the way AsskickingLeadsToLeadership works in more primitive cultures. They lead powerful clans, and even when one is disgraced and sent to PenalColony, the convoying soldier doesn't want to contradict him. But then, it turned out that even ''Dracs'' were duped and [[UnwittingPawn used by other schemers.]]
29	* YouFightLikeACow: Human pilots are taught to insult one of the most revered Drac philosophers [[IShallTauntYou to taunt cold-blooded enemy pilots into more rash actions]]. Drac pilots are [[BatmanGambit taught]] that [[spoiler:''Mickey Mouse'']] was a renowned human philosopher, so they answer accordingly. It's not hard to guess which one incapacitates better.
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Context Literature / TheEnemyPapers