Line #42 Main/EnemyMine


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7	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/satw_enemymine.png]]]]
8	[[caption-width-right:350:How [[InnocentBigot Denmark]] stopped a Mideast conflict.]]
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13	->"''Look, even if you think we're still enemies, we're enemies with a common interest: revenge. You like revenge, right?'' EVERYBODY likes revenge! ''Well,'' let's go GET SOME!"
14	-->-- '''[=GLaDOS=]''', ''VideoGame/Portal2''
15	%%
16	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
17
18	''"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."''
19
20	An Enemy Mine is a scenario where foes must work together to achieve a common goal. (The trope name comes from [[Film/EnemyMine one particularly famous example]].) Note that this is different from VillainTeamUp or LegionOfDoom: although all three involve two parties working together to achieve a common goal, this trope usually involves two rivals/enemies that have opposing views (such as being good vs being evil) while the latter two involves characters that share similar views (such as both of them are evil), though they [[EvilIsOneBigHappyFamily don't necessarily like each other]].
21
22	This type of team-up usually starts with the villain coming to the hero's aid, usually saying that a certain threat is a danger to them both, or [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou "No one kills you but me!"]] when they save the hero from certain doom. May arise from a MexicanStandoff. After the team-up, the villain will usually let the hero live for now because they were so useful, so everything can return to status quo.
23
24	Frequently, if it is a goodie-baddie partnership, the baddie will look for opportunities to pull something that gets them a profit (or, in the case of ''really'' bad baddies, allows them to stab the goodie in the back). If the villain doesn't betray the hero right away, but there is still animosity between them while they are working together, then you have TeethClenchedTeamwork. If the Status Quo is not maintained, there could be a creep towards FriendlyEnemy status. Can become a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor if it happens more than once.
25
26	Sometimes the baddie is more the hero's WorthyOpponent than a villain and the external threat will be truly evil. In this case, the hero will recognize that the third party is [[EvilerThanThou the bigger/more dangerous threat]] and the WorthyOpponent will be offended that the third party intruded on a 'private game'. Afterwards, it's a pity to see them go back to their old rivalry, because together they're an unstoppable fighting force. (If they ''don't'', they've become FireForgedFriends.)
27
28	Finally, this is an opportunity to show the villains as being more competent than they typically are. While they're defeated by the heroes week after week, the bad guys can actually contribute to the defeat of whatever threat they're teaming up with the heroes against.
29
30	More short-term deals fall under CooperationGambit. When there's no common enemy ''per se'', it's GoKartingWithBowser. If the villain saves the day without the hero's help, then BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. If the villain in question is [[DemonicPossession possessing the hero]], but there's a greater threat the two must conquer together, this can result in a SymbioticPossession. Any western children's show is bound to have the main characters do this with their local [[HarmlessVillain Mr. Meanie]] at some point. If the villain hires the hero for a specific job, and pays them accordingly, it's HiredByTheOppressor.
31
32	Compare NominalHero (where a character fights for good even though their intentions are not heroic at all), MediationBackfire (where someone tries to get between two quarreling characters, only for them to put aside their differences to abuse the peacemaker) and ConflictKiller (where someone suddenly and permanently defuses the conflict of others, causing the others to join forces against the former). Also compare EmbarrassingRescue and GondorCallsForAid. See also EnemyCivilWar or ElvesVersusDwarves (with which it often overlaps). Anti-villains are more prone to this trope than most, and less likely to backstab the goodies afterwards. Contrast with PersonalHateBeforeCommonGoals and WeAreStrugglingTogether, where you have putative allies who end up backstabbing and/or infighting with each other. When this trope is averted completely, one has a MeleeATrois or MexicanStandoff. See also AnOfferYouCantRefuse, CollidingCriminalConspiracies, ContemptCrossfire, DoWellButNotPerfect, GenghisGambit, InevitableMutualBetrayal, TallPoppySyndrome. A defining feature of the StandardSciFiSetting. May be a result of the Good and the Bad teaming up in a TheGoodTheBadAndTheEvil scenario. It can be caused by TheHorseshoeEffect. It can be incredibly common in stories of EvilVsEvil and EvilVsOblivion when a villain decides to defeat another villain (by proxy saving a hero or even aiding them) due to not wanting the other villain to succeed. A common justification for one villain joining heroes to defeat another villain is that EvenEvilHasStandards.
33
34	We sincerely hope that you did not have a slip of the finger and ended up here instead of at EnemyMime. For an enemy that ''is'' a mine, see ActionBomb, and for a different kind of mine which is filled with enemies, see DugTooDeep. As might be gathered by this point, this article [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant is also unrelated]] to [[SeaMine passive defensive weapons]] planted by one's foes. Also not related to mines of the underground type; for that, see UndergroundLevel or MinecartMadness. [[OverlyLongGag Wholly unrelated to]] QuoteMine, which refers to the propaganda tactic of being very particular in quoting someone the propagandist disagrees with to convey an inaccurate conception of their actual opinion and/or why they said that.
35
36	'''Obviously, beware unmarked spoilers.'''
37
38	----
39	!!Example subpages:
40
41	[[index]]
42	* EnemyMine/AnimeAndManga
43	* EnemyMine/ComicBooks
44	** EnemyMine/TheDCU
45	** EnemyMine/MarvelUniverse
46	* EnemyMine/FanWorks
47	* [[EnemyMine/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]
48	* [[EnemyMine/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
49	* EnemyMine/{{Literature}}
50	* EnemyMine/LiveActionTV
51	* EnemyMine/ProfessionalWrestling
52	* EnemyMine/TabletopGames
53	* EnemyMine/VideoGames
54	* EnemyMine/WebAnimation
55	* EnemyMine/{{Webcomics}}
56	* EnemyMine/WebOriginal
57	* EnemyMine/WesternAnimation
58	* EnemyMine/RealLife
59	[[/index]]
60
61	!!Other examples:
62
63	[[foldercontrol]]
64
65	[[folder:Advertising]]
66	* The 2023 Marubeni ad "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1C_hXD1HOw&pp=ygURbWFydWJlbmkgZ2hpZG9yYWg%3D Share the Challenge]]" has an ever escalating battle where two rival factions of samurai are forced to team up when zombies suddenly appear, only for [[Film/GodzillaMothraKingGhidorahGiantMonstersAllOutAttack King Ghidorah]] to show up and cause the samurais and zombies to team up against him. A giant meteor arrives onto the scene, resulting in Ghidorah working with the armies.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
70	* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': Happens between the goats and wolves whenever forced to work together; for example, in the [[Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfMoonCastleTheSpaceAdventure third movie]], the goats work with Wolnie and Wilie to help them find Wolffy and defeat the Gourd King.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
74	* The Fox siblings of ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' have teamed up on each other in every possible combination (Peter and Paige vs. Jason, Peter and Jason vs. Paige, Paige and Jason vs. Peter).
75	* A hilarious example occurs in ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', when Lucy arrives one day to find that Frieda was in her claimed territory (Leaning on Schroeder's piano). Dejected, she and Snoopy (who also enjoyed lying there and listening to piano music), commiserate on a curb... until Snoopy comes up with the idea of [[spoiler: Lucy doing Snoopy's own famous aerial attack on Frieda]]. One swirling girl-fight later, a slightly battered (yet victorious) Lucy is shaking Snoopy's paw in thanks.
76	* Spoiler alert for every ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'' strip where the spies set aside their differences or work together: [[spoiler:one betrays the other]].
77	* One ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' short has Garfield and a guard dog threatening each other, with Garfield being intimidated by the dog's massive teeth while the dog is equally intimidated by Garfield's claws. It ends with both of them smirking evilly at the reader:
78	--> '''Garfield:''' We've decided to gang up on the mailman.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Game Shows]]
82	* It happens on ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'' on the first episode of Series 7. The contestants are tasked with putting fruit on their hats using long garbage-pickers. Rhod offers to Phil to collaborate and do ''each other's'' hats, knowing this will give them a huge advantage and easily net one of them first and one of them second, which then inspires Kerri and Jess to do the same. This leaves poor James far behind, all by himself, helplessly floundering to get fruit on his own head. Greg actually feels bad enough for James that he gives him a bonus point.
83	--> '''Greg:''' Obviously James crashes into last place. But I'll tell you this: seeing him scrabbling around on the floor, seeing his desperate cries, there was something heartwarming about that. Subsequently I've decided to award you two points. Congratulations.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Manhwa]]
87	* ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'': Phuan decides that since she and Jijon Jang were both attacked by the same person they should join up to find her and settle things.
88	--->'''Phuan:''' (''ruffling Jang's hair'') "I've found someone who experienced the same thing as I did. We'll get along, right my friend?"
89	--->'''Jang:''' (''horrified'') "N...no, I don't want to."
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Podcasts]]
93	* Dr. Bright, the titular character of ''Podcast/TheBrightSessions'', would rather keep Damien out of the AM's hands and on her side, even if it means being forced to give him free therapy and endure his [[StalkerWithACrush stalking]]. Although Damien doesn't always necessarily agree with Dr. Bright and seems to go out of his way to make her life difficult, he claims he would never hurt her and that he sees her as the big sister he never had. He also points out that they're not only confidants, but also the closest thing either of them has to a friend. When Agent Green first contacts Damien, the latter first refuses to believe Dr. Bright told Agent Green about Damien's ability. Even after accepting it, he refuses to go to the AM, stating, "Dr. Bright doesn't trust you, and I trust her." Later, Dr. Bright apologizes to Damien and asks for his help infiltrating the AM. Things [[InevitableMutualBetrayal don't go well]] and their relationship never recovers, but Dr. Bright does later express sadness that she wasn't able to help Damien.
94	* In the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Bloody Mooney'', [[spoiler: the kids get the attention of the government agents following them as soon as it becomes clear that Mooney is dangerous.]]
95	* A series of murals discovered by the party in ''Podcast/DarkDice'' detail an alliance between gods, demons, devils, dwarves, dragons, elves, and giants, many of whom are otherwise mortal enemies, to seal [[EldritchAbomination The Nameless God]]. According to one mural, even The Blood War, the eternal struggle between demons and devils, was put on hold until the Nameless God was sealed.
96	* A frequent feature in ''Podcast/LionsLedByDonkeys'' is various groups who hate each other agreeing to work together against a common enemy, usually whoever is invading or occupying their shared country. This is described by host Joe Kassabian as the "Grand Unifying Theory of Fuck That Guy."
97	* ''Podcast/OldGodsOfAppalachia'': The Dead Queen, the ArcVillain of Season 2, is an aberrant [[WalkingWasteland force of death and decay]] so powerful and dangerous that when she awakens from her seal [[RegularlyScheduledEvil every seven years]], it leads to [[GaiasVengeance the Green]] and [[EldritchAbomination the Inner Dark]] working together to [[SealedEvilInACan lock her away again]].
98	* In the ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'' episode "Stop the Presses", the Red Panda is forced to work with his self-proclaimed arch nemesis the Mad Monkey when Nazi spy Archangel arranges a hostage situation at the newspaper where his wife and partner, the Flying Squirrel, works. This results in situations such as the Red Pandas getting the willies when the Monkey uses the Squirrel's catchphrase of "Yes, Boss" at him and arguing about whether or not using their combined hypnotic powers to make their enemies ignore them counts as invisibility. In the end, they stop Archangel but the Mad Monkey reveals that while all this has been going on his army of mind controlled baboons has been robbing the city and he gets away because the Red Panda can't chase him ''and'' tie up Archangel's goons.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Radio]]
102	* In the ''Stanley Baxter's Playhouse'' episode "The Pool", a landowner arrests a poacher and then slips in the river and injures himself. The two of them, the poacher handcuffed and hogtied and the landowner unable to walk, must find a way of surviving on a Scottish riverbank in late winter. It turns out they have more of a history than that...
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Roleplay]]
106	* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist Kagetsu I]] begins working with the Grand Alliance against Arawn Losstarot when the Alliance saves Kagetsu's wife Marya from Arawn's stronghold. Likewise a group of [[ReligionOfEvil clerics of Mardük]] and [[WorthyOpponent Samachi]] work with the Alliance against the [[TheLegionsOfHell Northern Horde]] during the battle of Vanna despite their animosity which stems all the way from the Great War.
107	* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', Shameeca Mitchell and Heath Trennoby enlist the aid of AntiVillain Bobby Jacks in order to mount a rescue from [[JerkAss all around asshole]] Lenny Priestly. Admittedly Shameeca hadn't met Bobby before this point, but she was well aware that he was a killer.
108	* In Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG, several classical LEGO villains, most notably [[DastardlyWhiplash Sam Sinister]], [[ChaoticEvil The Brickster]], and [[TakeOverTheWorld Evil Ogel]] ended up joining the team to combat the threat of mutant dinosaurs.
109	* In Chapter One of Blog/OffThePageAndIntoLife, Gail and Terrence have hated one another since childhood, in no small part thanks to their mutual interest in Henry. However, when [[ManipulativeBitch Madame]] [[TheFaceless Blue]] begins spreading lies about them, they agree to work together to get rid of her. Gail even lampshades it, [[NotSoDifferentRemark remarking]] that they're not that different, and probably would've taken over the world by now if they didn't hate each other so much.
110	* The one thing that will unite the Pro-Godmodder, Neutrals, and Anti-Godmodders in ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'' is some giant boss that wants to kill everyone.
111	** The most notable example is during the second game's Arrival/[[RealityBreakingParadox Glitch]] event, when the Godmodder and the rest of the [=AGs=] willingly signed a ceasefire treaty proposed by Lothyra to fight the Counteroperation. However, this was later {{Averted}} during [[spoiler: Trial 3, when the Godmodder explicitly rejected a similar treaty proposed by Lothyra to fight off the [[Literature/CodexAlera Vord]] invasion.]]
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Theatre]]
115	* ''Theatre/CinderellaLloydWebber'': After one of Cinderella's stepsisters, Adele, becomes engaged to the prince, the other stepsister, Marie, [[spoiler:encourages Cinderella to sabotage the wedding]] despite being antagonistic to her for the first half of the show. Marie says that [[spoiler:she hates Stepmother like Cinderella does and doesn't want to remain second fiddle to Adele.]]
116	* Played with in ''{{Theatre/Coriolanus}}''. After the title character is banished from his native Rome, he teams up with his former nemesis Aufidius in order to help Aufidius conquer Rome. [[spoiler:It doesn't work out for either of them.]]
117	* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': As per history, Hamilton endorses his longtime political foe Thomas Jefferson for President against their common rival Aaron Burr. The show makes a point of hammering home Hamilton's reasons for this -- as much as he dislikes Jefferson's ideals, at least Jefferson ''has'' ideals.
118	-->'''Hamilton''': I have never agreed with Jefferson once\
119	We have fought on like seventy-five different fronts\
120	but when all is said and all is done\
121	Jefferson has beliefs -- Burr has ''none''.
122	* ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' play series: In ''[[https://vimeo.com/265916463 Gilded Cages]]'', Mrs. Hawking briefly goes to see Lord Brockton, the blackmailer she ruined in the first play, for information on who might be behind a recent plot. In an interesting take on the trope, Brockton happily shares all he knows— not because he wants to help, but because he believes that the person Mrs. Hawking is after will defeat her, and there's nothing he wants more than to see her fall as revenge for her exposing him.
123	* In ''Reds and Blues'', the two families of feuding Liverpool and Everton supporters (and the audience, who are likely to be similarly split) briefly join together when a Manchester United fan shows up.
124	* In ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'', several men are rivals for the hand of the fair Bianca, but her father won't let any of them marry her unless her shrewish older sister, Katarina, is married off first. Realizing that there's no point in fighting each other if they don't have a chance, the suitors decide to work together to get Katarina a husband.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
128	* Only the beginning of ''Ride/GodzillaVsEvangelionTheReal4D'' is about [[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Shinji, Rei, and Asuka]] taking on [[Film/ShinGodzilla Godzilla]]. The real conflict is [[spoiler:Godzilla and the Children fighting King Ghidorah]].
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Toys]]
132	* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'':
133	** In one of the books, [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Krahka]], who had previously fought the Toa Metru and then temporarily worked for [[FemmeFatale Roodaka]] against them, [[HeelFaceTurn switched sides]] at the last minute to [[TakingYouWithMe trap]] the [[ScaryScorpions Zivon]] in the [[PocketDimension Zone of Darkness]] along with her and the [[{{Kaiju}} Tahtorak]].
134	** In another book, [[BigBad Makuta Teridax]] and Vakama make a truce while they try to find the Mask of Time before the Dark Hunters do. When they do eventually run into The Shadowed One, the leader of the Dark Hunters, Vakama informs him [[CannibalismSuperpower what Teridax did]] to the two Dark Hunters he came there to find.
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Web Video]]
138	* ''Series/DoctorWho TheAbridgedSeries'' lampshades it in part two of ''Logopolis Abridged.''
139	-->'''Master''': You know, Doctor, I believe TV Tropes calls this situation "EnemyMine". It seems we must join forces to face this common threat.
140	-->'''Doctor''': -sigh- The fangirls are going to have a field day with this...
141	* About halfway through the play-through of the Bowser's Enchanted Inferno episode of LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV, the other three players realize that Steeler has all three of the bonus stars, and team up against him in minigames. Steeler did not approve.
142	* A common premise to many WebVideo/{{Jreg}} videos is [[DirtyCommunists different]] [[BombThrowingAnarchists extremist]] [[PrivatelyOwnedSociety political]] [[ThoseWackyNazis ideologies]] joining forces to fight centrists.
143	* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Second Chance", even nations who naturally detest one-another are willing to join their forces to fight a common foe. As the Galactic Commonwealth continues to grow in power, it becomes the main target of these alliances.
144	* ''WebVideo/ThePerfectCastlevaniaTimeline'': Implied in ''Chapter VIII: The Dark Lord Returns'', when the narrator notes that the militaries of the world banded together to stop Dracula in 1999. This means that countries notorious for being geopolitical enemies such as North Korea and South Korea, China and Taiwan, and India and Pakistan were willing to put aside their differences to ensure that humanity lived to see another day.
145	* WebVideo/ObscurusLupa talks about this in one of her reviews in relation to the gay marriage debate. She notes that, whatever your views on the subject, it's pretty likely that both sides will be united in finding ''Film/BenAndArthur'' offensive.
146	* In the ''WebVideo/{{Oxventure}}'', this has happened a few times:
147	** In "Quiet Riot", the surviving KnightTemplar paladins offer to help the Guild in a blind panic after the noise of their fighting [[spoiler:wakes up a captive owlbear]]. They accept, but [[OffTheRails it turns out to not be necessary]].
148	** In "Rolling in the Deep", Prudence and the rest of the Guild are collectively forced to work alongside her late mentor's old order -- who hate her for [[spoiler:killing him (though he was abusive)]] -- to clear out his old cave.
149	** In "Exhibition Impossible", [[spoiler:Captain Panniers resurfaces and proposes a deal with Corazon to retrieve the last of the cursed coins that have rendered their mutual old crew as undead revenants.]] By that point, however, [[spoiler:Panniers]] is fairly enlightened and considerably more mellow, [[DownplayedTrope having no desire for revenge any more]], meaning the "enemy" bit is a stretch.
150	* In {{WebVideo/UALA}}, Hero and Stacks join together to fight off Heiki and his fellow villains after Hero tries to stop Heiki from having Stacks killed.
151	* The dive into the KoreanPopMusic fandom by WebVideo/ColeyDoesThings shows how much bickering and sniping at each other various subsections of the fandom take at each other via personifications of each, but at the end when a non-fan bursts into the room and pleads for their help in combating racist material appearing online they all agree to put aside their feuds in order to go off and fight back.
152	* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'': Both Travis and Cooper have a strained at best, negative at worst relationship with Carson, and this can even be seen while they are building the ACC base, with Cooper nearly ''killing'' Carson out of annoyance. Despite this, they work together out of a common disgust for the Salmon cult.
153	[[/folder]]

Context Main / EnemyMine