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Defeat Means Friendship / Anime & Manga

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Times where Defeat Equals Friendship in Anime & Manga.

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  • In Angel Beats!, Otonashi convinces Angel/Tenshi to join the SSS after they defame her and she loses her authority. This is sort of a subversion; we learn later on that she never intended to be their enemy in the first place.
  • Seiichirou Kitano of Angel Densetsu manages to "defeat" Yuji Takehisa after attempting to stop a presumed suicide attempt. The latter spends the rest of the series as Kitano's completely loyal lackey, though the man himself is totally unaware of it.
  • Misaki from Angelic Layer uses a combination of skill, cuteness and "you're not alone!" speeches to win over every other player. (Add obliviousness, if it's a battle with someone who cheats — apparently, the ability to win anyway is heightened by her honestly thinking that her opponent would never mess with the odds.)
  • Graham Spector of Baccano! concludes that Ladd Russo is his best friend in the whole wide world after the latter takes a high-speed monkey wrench to the side without even a flinch and subsequently owns him. Graham's insane, so that might explain it.
  • It would take less time to list the antagonists in Bakuten Shoot Beyblade that didn't do this than take the time to list those that did. Suffice it to say, by the final arc, there were 30-some good guys. Ditto for its full-series Expy, Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
  • In BirdMen, Kamoda use to be one of the bullies that pestered Karasuma in 3rd Grade. After Karasuma fooled them into locking themselves in a room, Kamoda accepted defeat and decided to become friends with Karasuma instead.
  • Possibly subverted in Black Lagoon: Chang and Balalaika became friends after their (intended) fight to the death turned out a draw.
  • Bleach: Ichigo has befriended several people he's defeated because the fights mostly occurred as a result of misunderstandings:
    • Uryuu and Ganju picked a fight with him because they were angry with Soul Reapers over the deaths of loved ones. Ichigo was able to help them past their anger.
    • Ikkaku and Kenpachi are motivated by the desire for a good fight so a Worthy Opponent instantly earns their respect.
    • Renji and Byakuya did want to save Rukia but were bound by orders. Defeating Renji convinces him that Ichigo has the power to save her, but Byakuya's a tougher nut to crack due to him being bound by two conflicting vows. Ichigo's victory resolves the conflict and earns his Undying Loyalty.
  • In Brave10, this is how you collect Braves, to the point the only Braves Saizo has never had to fight against are Rokuro and Kakei. He and Sasuke fight on first meeting being Iga-Koga ninja rivals, Yukimura recruited Ana by Assassin Outclassin', and Kamanosuke, Seikai, Benmaru, and Jinpachi all join the team after fighting the Braves although often as not it's the Braves who start it. The case that stretches disbelief the most is Hanzo in the sequel, to the point the controversy it causes breaks up the Braves.
  • Buso Renkin: While it doesn't happen immediately, Papillon's defeat at the hands of Kazuki begins his Heel–Face Turn, going from Faux Affably Evil to The Only One Allowed to Defeat You, then becoming an Anti-Villain, before finally becoming one of the protagonist's most important allies and a popular urban legend.
  • Captain Tsubasa: If Tsubasa happens to face a Jerk Jock type of player, chances are he'll become his friend (or at least, a Friendly Rival) by the end of the match. Examples include Wakabayashi, Hyuga and Santana, and that's just during the early arcs of the story.
  • Happens a LOT in A Certain Magical Index, mostly due to Touma being so such an Ideal Hero that he refuses to accept that anyone could have absolutely no good in them. Even lampshaded in New Testament volume ten:
    Accelerator: Hey, what's the matter? I've said my bit and you're still putting up a sad fight, so you've gotta have a reason for ruining what I'm trying to do here, don't you!?
    Touma: A reason, huh? For most of everyone in the world, it's probably true that Othinus is someone that's not really worth saving. And logically, not saving her may be the better option, so you 'might as well' protect your own safety! But even so!! If you can choose between having her or not, it's gotta be more fun to let her join the group!! It may not be logical and it may not be efficient, but this has got to be more enjoyable than throwing her out! That's my reason!!
    Accelerator: You're not even trying to convince me, are you?
    Touma: That's how true motives work[...] If you had a reason that would convince anyone the moment you gave it, it'd be a manufactured argument you created for the sole purpose of convincing people.
  • There's an interesting variant in Claymore. Miria vows not kill any of her former comrades when she leads a revolt against The Organization. She fights and defeats all of them... only to get butchered horribly when they regenerate. Her resolve not to kill inspired every single enemy Claymore to defect to her side and they faked her death.
  • In the Shoujo manga Crown, bad guys come after Mahiro, get their butts kicked by Ren and Jake, and then hang around and help with the housework.
  • In Cynthia the Mission, the Big Bad Cybele does this. All of her subordinates became her loyal and loving followers after she destroyed them in battle. Phantom got his lips torn off. The guy in the glasses got his eyes gouged out. Bridget got her arm torn off. And the boxer guy got his neck slit. Yes, the least crippling injury was a throat cutting. Cybele herself gave Bridget and the boxer medical attention and a prosthetic arm in Bridget's case.
  • In Darwin's Game, protagonist Kaname manages to win over several former enemies into being his friends and allies after defeating them in battle.
  • Senji thought Ganta was dirt in Deadman Wonderland until he was outmaneuvered and defeated by him. Immediately afterwards he offers Ganta a smile and a fist bump.
  • In Digimon Ghost Game, in contrast to previous seasons the protagonists prefer the Talking the Monster to Death approach, which results in this more often than not.
    • Starter Villain Clockmon attempted to kill Hiro twice, but after he's Hoist by His Own Petard and saved by Hiro and his friends, he turns over a new leaf and spreads word of their kindness to other Digimon trapped in the real world.
    • Piximon tried to rob the protagonists by sending them back in time before attempting to Ret-Gone Gammamon, but he just ends up getting his ass handed to him by GulusGammamon. He then tries to attack him in the future, but instead sees something that impresses him enough to declare himself Gammamon's best friend and undo all the damage he caused.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Almost every member in the Z team at one point had the sole goal in life to defeat and/or kill Goku (or "send him to another dimension"), the only exceptions being Chi-Chi (who developed a crush on Goku, and later married him), Gohan and Goten (which are his sons), and Trunks (Vegeta's son, who had already become a Z-fighter by then). Overall, Piccolo (the final villain in early Dragon Ball) and Vegeta (who started out as a villain in the first part of Dragon Ball Z) were the most reluctant, but both became allies in the end, even though they were evil at first. In the case of Vegeta, the other characters are all too ready to forgive him after he had voluntarily became a minion and killed thousands of Innocent Bystanders. Those were revived, but the people he killed on Namek and East City were explicitly left dead, thanks to accidental mis-wishing. Maybe that's why he went straight to Hell after he tried to kill Majin Buu with a suicide attack and already got the punishment he deserved.
    • The decent half of Majin Buu ends up living with the heroes, and Goku asks for the pure evil part to be reincarnated as a decent kid just so they can have another match.
    • Krillin specifically lampshades this in the Future Trunks arc, mentioning that all of the Z-Fighters were enemies with Goku at some point but all ended up becoming friends, usually through Enemy Mine scenarios. Later, during the events of the Cell saga, he himself tried to befriend Android 18 so he didn't have to kill her by activating the bomb she had inside but, even after she is freed from Cell's body, she appears to uphold her rejection towards him. This eventually leads to a Double Subversion, since she reconcilies with Krillin and the two form a happy family.
    • Avo and Cado from the JUMP Super Anime Tour special. After being defeated by Gotenks and Goku, the two are seen at the celebratory feast afterwards.
    • Inverted with Tenshinhan. He beats both Kamesennin and Goku and does the typical Heel–Face Turn after his victory, mostly after Kamesennin gives him a good talking-to about why idolizing an assassin sucks and he realizes that he doesn't want to kill Goku, he just wants to fight him square.
    • Spun around in Battle of Gods. Beerus utterly owns Goku at every step, and decides to befriend him for putting up a decent fight.
    • Subverted in the Future Trunks Arc of Dragon Ball Super: Goku defeating Zamasu in a friendly sparring match is what ends up convincing Zamasu that mortals are dangerous on top of being stupid and violent, and kicks his Start of Darkness into high gear.
    • Also Subverted with Frieza every time he's been revived. No matter how many times he's lost to him, he absolutely hates Goku with a passion and will never stop trying to murder him. Even with the fate of the entire universe in the balance, the first thing he does when Goku recruits him for the Tournament of Power is casually punch him in the gut, and he later traps Goku in an energy sphere that nearly erases him from existence. Even after being revived by the end of the Tournament of Power as reward for his efforts, Frieza point-blank stated to the heroes that he won't be changing any time soon. Indeed, by the next time they meet, Frieza tries to murder Goku and Vegeta indirectly by sending Paragus and Broly to fight them.
    • In Dragon Ball Super's Universe Survival Saga, Goku has to put together a team of ten fighters for an inter-universe tournament; rather tellingly, the vast majority of the team (seven out of the ten) were Goku's enemies at some point in the past (the exceptions are Goku, Gohan, and Master Roshi). This ratio stays the same even after Majin Buu has to be replaced at the last minute — Goku goes to Hell and recruits Frieza over the protests of everybody else.
    • Averted in the spin-off manga, Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha!. Yamcha and Chiaotzu manage to set aside their differences by ceasing their fight.
  • Subverted in Dragon Drive, where Reiji's defeat of Daisuke Hagiwara only increased the tensions between them; They eventually do become friends after enduring a long Enemy Mine situation.
  • In Dragon Half, when Mink defeats the necromancer Dead Lie and the four elemental generals, they become quite friendly, treating Mink and her party to a picnic and wishing her luck on her quest.
  • In Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, Dai earns several allies after beating them in one on one combat.
  • In Dr. STONE, Senku and Chrome, the village sorcerer, have a non-physical competition to see who has more magical/scientific skill. Being from the 21st century, Senku easily beats Chrome, who's lived in a stone age society his whole life. Chrome then becomes one of Senku's strongest allies in his quest to rebuild civilization.
  • In Endride, Demetrio occasionally uses his ass-kicking skills to recruit people into his rebel army, whether immediately (as with Mischa) or over the long term (as with Shun and Emilio).
  • Eyeshield 21:
    • Many of the highlighted players from teams defeated by the Deimon Devil Bats (even some of the freakishly destructive ones) in end up as personal trainers for the players they opposed when the Devil Bats are preparing to play in the Christmas Bowl. They genuinely seem to want to be helping out (in other words, they're not there because Hiruma threatened them) and cheer their formal rivals from the stands.
    • Gaou takes this to the next level. If someone he faces proves themselves to be a Worthy Opponent (such as Bamba, Riku and Kurita), Gaou will become a surprisingly loyal friend to them and he will defend them in every sense of the word (including attacking ANYONE who insults them).
  • In Fairy Tail both Gajeel and Juvia join the guild after being defeated. While Juvia falls in love with Grey, Gajeel is approached by the master himself and persuaded to join Fairy Tail.
    • Played with regarding Laxus. Despite being part of the titular guild, Laxus comes off as far more antagonistic than many previous villains, neglecting to assist the protagonists in key conflicts as well as mocking their weakness. This comes to a head in the Fighting Festival Arc where he endangers the entire guild in his takeover attempt. Natsu and Gajeel manage to defeat him, and he becomes much nicer as a result. Yet inverted in that he gets kicked out of the guild (temporarily) after the arc.
    • Also happens with Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney after being beaten by Fairy Tail, with Sting even replacing Ziemma as Saber Tooth's master.
  • Flame of Recca is notorious for this, particularly during the Tournament Arc. People who were trying to kill Team Hokage just hours ago are suddenly eating snacks, playing video games, and sharing stories with our heroes in their hotel room. And one of them creates a fan club for Fuko.
  • Hayato from Future GPX Cyber Formula makes friends with Kaga, Osamu, Shinjyo, Johji and others after a few or more races with them, although he made friends with Kaga and Johji before the race started.
  • This trope is conversed in Episode 100 of Gintama. Gintoki have to help a Shonen Jump editor and a mangaka improve their manga, and take the exemple of Dragon Bozu , the in-universe equivalent of Dragon Ball to explain what he call the "Jump System". Being a Shonen Jump Manga Itself, Gintama can use this trope on occasion.
    • Downplayed in Hijikata and Gintoki's case. They are Sitcom Archnemesis, at the very best Vitriolic Best Buds, will easely break in a fight, and will absolutely deny being friends.
    • Kyuubei started as a antagonist, though not a vilain, and became friend with the group after being defeated.
    • The silver soul arc see the return of Sakata Kintoki, who previously attempted to take over the show, as a ally.
  • In Girls und Panzer, its inverted. After the heroes lose a match to the very British Saint Glorianna Academy, they are befriended by Glorianna's captain.
    • Later lampshaded by the same captain, who points out that Miho has become friends with the commander of every team Ooarai has fought, save for Anzio's Anchovy.
      Darjeeling: (to Miho) "You're a strange person. You make friends with all the people you fight."
    • In the later released OVA it is shown that Anchovy did befriend them too. In their over eagerness to cheer Ooarai they partied too hard the night before the final match and missed it.
  • Grenadier goes slightly overboard with this trope. In one episode we see the main characters beat a gang of bloodthirsty thieves with a known murderer as their boss, and the evil mechanic genius that helps them. Next episode, the whole ex-criminal gang is helping repair the damage they've done, and the boss (who has in the past killed the innocent family of a child over petty extortion) serves as benevolent comic relief. The evil genius is helping with defense, and is incredibly happy over being complimented for his work. The damage they had done was to a place called "The Pleasure Palace". While the insta-redemption might be a bit "Huh?"-worthy, it's honestly not that odd for a bunch of guys who have just had some sense beaten into them to realize "Hey, helping out a lot of really hot women works out a lot better than threatening them!"
  • Played straight with some villains-of-the-week (such as Bucci) in GUN×SWORD. Subverted in that this is what The Claw wants, or claims to want, with all of his enemies. In the latter case, the desire to make friends with everyone comes across as a sign of extremism at best, and insanity at worst.
  • Near the end of Adachi Mitsuru's H2, Hiro receives encouraging letters from various defeated players and teams. Even Hirota, the series' jerk, writes "You're an eyesore. Lose already.".
  • Hajime no Ippo: Ippo often becomes friendly with the opponent even before fighting them (Sendo, Date, Volg) and resulting fight just seems to seal the deal, so to speak. Itagaki is another example.
  • In Harlem Beat, almost all rival teams become this with Johnan team.
  • Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto: Though they didn't fight outright except for Acchan during graduation, each antagonist tries to make Sakamoto do something that would knock him down a peg. Instead, some problem would occur that the antagonist needed Sakamoto to solve, or Sakamoto would do something so far out of left field that he ended up looking even cooler than before. In witnessing this, the antagonist would become friends with Sakamoto, or at least admit that Sakamoto is all he seems to be.
  • This shows up as a recurring theme in Hayate × Blade, probably because the premise of having pairs fight each other means that one half of a team can get into trouble with somebody else, getting their partner involved in the process. Other than the Momotaro-gumi, a Four-Girl Ensemble that came about after the members had fought each other to the point of bloodshed (a nosebleed, that is); examples also include Mizuchi, who becomes a lot more likable after her defeat at Ayana's hands.
  • Subverted in Hellsing. At first it seems that Iscariot, who lost almost everyone during the war, have formed a somewhat friendly relationship with the Hellsing organization afterward. It turns out that they're really just waiting until they've properly rebuilt themselves to launch their next crusade.
  • Since it is based on history, the countries of Hetalia: Axis Powers sometimes fight wars against each other, only to become allies later.
    • Some examples with Italy: Italy and Austria, who fought at least two times against each other, but Italy is never angry with Austria because of that, and Austria, despite sometimes being very stern to Italy, doesn't seem to hate him truly. Germany is a borderline case since he and Italy should fight, but Italy surrendered as soon as he saw Germany and they are friends later. Also, Italy's and Turkey's relationship seems to be good in the present, but Turkey mentions they fought against each other. Holy Roman Empire and Italy also become friends despite the fact that Holy Roman Empire defeated Italy.
    • With England and America, and also with England and France, this is a Zig Zagged Trope. They fought, and are Allies now, but they still tend to bicker a lot.
  • In Holyland, Iwado, Shougo, Taka and Tsuchiya after their defeat by Yuu.
  • Hunter × Hunter: Meruem, the Chimera Ant King, was one of the most powerful beings in existence, being able to take the strongest attacks from the strongest man on earth without taking even the slightest of damage. He was also so smart he could master any game and defeat world champions in under 10 games with them, swiftly murdering said champion after he completely defeats them.... Then he meets Komugi, a player of a fictional board game called Gungi who he was completely unable to beat, playing dozens of games with her and never once seeing her use her full skills. She first becomes the only person able to annoy him without being swiftly killed, then someonenote  he cares about, to him outright falling in love with her.
  • Infinite Stratos played with this trope at least twice, with the end result being the opponent ending up with Ichika's Unwanted Harem:
    • First inverted with Cecilia: she defeated him when his IS ran out of shield energy, then turned all dere-dere on him the next day.
    • Later on played straight with Laura: she reappears the next day after their match, kissing him in front of the class, then later declares him as her "wife".
  • A longstanding tradition in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
    • Phantom Blood: The first real friend that Jonathan Joestar makes is Robert E. O. Speedwagon, who tried to mug him. Jonathan even managed to earn Dio Brando's respect and admiration after destroying the latter's body. Dio even berates one of his minions for mocking Jonathan. Too bad Dio took it to Yandere levels, to the point of killing Jonathan and claiming his body for himself.
    • Battle Tendency: Joseph becomes Vitriolic Best Buds with Caesar Zeppeli after a brief bout. Joseph later earns Wammu's unyielding respect after fatally defeating him in battle.
    • Stardust Crusaders: Jotaro defeats Kakyoin and soon after, Avdol defeats Polnareff, with both joining the group after Jotaro uses his Stand to free them from Dio's mind control.
    • Diamond is Unbreakable: This is especially prevalent as nearly all of Josuke's large group of friends are people who tried to kill him the first time they met. Out of all the JoJos, Josuke is most dedicated to Thou Shall Not Kill and prefers to befriend his opponents, with only a few being subjected to true punishment as they're just too evil for redemption.
    • Golden Wind: Giorno Giovanna pulls this on Bruno Bucciarati, a Mafioso who was sent to kill him. He even talks Bucciarati into rebelling against The Don in order to shut down The Mafia's drug trade.
    • Stone Ocean: After Jolyne defeats her cellmate Gwess she shows significantly more respect towards her but Jolyne doesn't particularly consider her a friend. Played straight with Foo Fighters, who Jolyne spares the life of after their fight leading to it swearing loyalty to her and joining her inner circle. While both had body counts of innocent people prior to their reforms, the difference is that Jolyne is able to forgive F.F. since she's a non-human who didn't understand good and evil and was being manipulated by the Big Bad.
    • Steel Ball Run: Johnny manages to convince Hot Pants in their brief fight that he and Gyro weren't the ones who stole her cow meat, after-which she assists them at various times as an occasional ally.
    • JoJolion: After Josuke beats Daiya in her own game, she immediately develops a crush on him. Later, Kei becomes his ally after he managed to get through to her by clearing up the misunderstanding that she assumed he'd hurt her mother.
    • The JoJoLands: Upon realizing CharmingMan does not come from an organization, Paco convinces Jodio to spare him, and once he reveals his motive of wanting to find out what happened to his brother, the team allows him to join.
  • Just about every major friend and acquaintance of Nanami in Kamisama Kiss became so through this trope. Even Tomoe, the deuteragonist of the series, since she forces him into a magical contract with her very much against his will.
  • Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
    • Downplayed with Iino, who joins the student council after losing to Shirogane when he was running for reelection, as it takes a long time (several months in-universe and two years in real life) before the two of them are really considered friends.
    • Invoked in the backstory. Fujiwara challenged Kaguya to a game back in middle school with the condition that she'd have to be her friend if she won.
  • Kengan Ashura
    • Lihito befriends Ohma after losing to him, and befriends Gensai Kuroki after their match.
    • Adam Dudley becomes Cosmo's best friend after being defeated by him in the first round of the match, and even decides to stay in Japan to train under Cosmo's master.
    • In Volume 0, it's shown that Chairman Metsudo earned his title after befriending the elite assassin Erioh Kure who was sent to kill him (not necessarily by beating him, but by holding out long enough for his contract to be cancelled), with the two of them then rising to the top through the Kengan matches.
  • All but a few members of the Shinpaku Alliance in Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple were members of rival gang Ragnarok before being beaten by Kenichi and being either convinced or blackmailed by Niijima to join Shinpaku.
  • The title character of Kinnikuman generally befriended supermen he defeated in battle, such as final bosses Robin Mask and Warsman.
  • From Liar Game, the only times that Nao does lie is to help out those in the game. And once she advances to the next round, she gives her winnings to them, so they could pay off their debts. Once she does, they see that her honest character isn't faked and they become friends/allies with her to help her advance. Best example would be Fukunaga and Akagi.
    • Also subverted spectacularly with Yokoya who walked away with a huge sum of cash and his own teammates in debt. All of his teammates were not pleased at all. In fact, Fukunaga who wasn't even on his team and had his debts all paid in full, returned to the revival game so he could "rip every last yen outta that damn bastard".
  • Lyrical Nanoha:
    • It is wryly noted that this is how Nanoha seems to make all of her friends, both Muggles and other mages. So much so that fans use the word "befriend" as a synonym for "beat the crap out of". Before anyone is deemed worthy of her affection, (s)he first has to miraculously survive one of her massively aggressive onslaughts, which Fate experiences first-hand. In fact, our current page image of Nanoha's final fight with Fate, leading to their friendship.
    • The current title of most befriended goes to Vivio, who took the title from Fate when she received five Starlight Breakers at the same time and managed to remain conscious and stand on her own afterwards. A considerable feat since Fate couldn't even claim that when Nanoha struck her with one. Nanoha officially adopts Vivio as her daughter afterwards.
    • This trope explains why Nanoha isn't as close to Chrono as to the rest of her friends. She never blew him up! Het Option Yuuno is around, but has less and less presence each season. In the original Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever continuity, Chrono does in fact get blown up by Nanoha, and becomes romantically involved with her afterwards.
    • The first time Nanoha met Fate, the latter "befriended" her nearly into the hospital. Is it any wonder she fell in Love at First Punch?
    • It's lampshaded in the third Megami sound stage, where Hayate, in response to Erio and Caro becoming friends with Lutecia (whom they had defeated in the final battle), and the reformed Numbers cyborgs, notes that children have an amazing capacity for forgiveness. Similarly, in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, Vivio acknowledges that while she is friends with Lutecia and the Numbers now, they were involved in her kidnapping from Section 6 four years ago.
    • Referenced in episode 12 of Kämpfer when Seppuku Bunny (voiced by Nanoha's voice actress) threatens to befriend several other characters just before they're about to fight.
    • Nanoha has finally explained the whole "befriending" process herself in the movie manga when she thinks back to how she became friends with Arisa only after they fought.
    • Jokingly brought up in The Movie sound stages, the full excerpt is on the Ascended Meme page.
    • Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force: Defied by the Hückebein family. No matter how bruised they are they refuse to sit down and talk with Nanoha or anyone else. Instead they are aggressive to the point of being irreconcilable. Even in defeat, they would rather run away than demonstrate any willingness to a truce.
    • In general, the series likes to mix Anti Villains with truly irredeemable ones. Always Chaotic Evil villains like Precia Testarossa, NachtWal, Jail Scaglietti and Quattro or Hades Vandein are destroyed or imprisoned (often with the help of their former subordinates), but would not undergo a Heel–Face Turn themselves.
    • Inverted in ViVid Strike! where the final straw that broke Fuka and Rinne's friendship was Rinne beating Fuka in a fight. Though it gets played straight at the end.

    M-Z 
  • Magical Project S: After Pixy Misa is beaten in the "journey to the mind" episode she befriends and fights alongside Sammy.
  • Local gang leader Anego in Magical Witch Punie-chan becomes pretty chummy with Punie after being defeated.
  • The girls from Magic Knight Rayearth managed to convince the summoner Ascot to stop fighting them after defeating his beasts and teaching him the value of friendship. The fact that he had killed Presea, which really upset them at the time, was conveniently forgotten.
    • Presea's death only occurs in the anime. In the manga, it's his idea of letting his beasts use the unconscious Hikaru and Fuu as toys that really upsets Umi, especially when he calls them stupid for trying to protect Umi.
    • They also managed to convince Caldina to back off through their passion and commitment to their cause — Caldina may be a mercenary, but she wasn't that much of a fan of Zagato's pointless-seeming quest to destroy Cephiro.
  • As a good shonen protagonist, Mash from Mashle: Magic and Muscles tends to make friends with his enemies after the fight is over. It helps he is very forgiving and simple-minded.
  • Mazinger Z: The first thing Boss did (in ALL versions) when he met Kouji was punching him and picking a fight with him. It did not work well for Boss. At all. Kouji won always, whether it was a fist fight or a bike-riding contest, making Boss severely unhappy. And angrier. However, Boss came to grudgingly respect Kouji thanks to it, and thus they eventually became friends -even although a tad vitriolic half of time-. Actually, in one of their first arguments, in spite of Boss was angry, Kouji himself laughed it off and told he was sure of they would become good friends.
  • Medaka Box, being a Deconstructor Fleet of Shounen tropes, plays with this one too. Medaka actually can't befriend people without somehow defeating and "fixing" them first. As Ajimu points out, Medaka values her enemies more than her allies. In Chapter 118, Medaka deliberately provokes Zenkichi further after Ajimu convinced him to fight against Medaka by beating the crap out of him and mocking him afterwards. Medaka tells Kikaijima that she hopes Zenkichi will become a Worthy Opponent that she can defeat and "befriend", and mentions that she should have set him up to be her enemy from the very beginning.
  • The entire Shuffle Alliance in Mobile Fighter G Gundam is assembled in this fashion (except Sai Saici, who fought Domon to a draw rather than being beaten). Main rival Chibodee Crocket goes back and forth between violently beating the hero and having breakfast with him at least three times.
  • In both the anime Mob Psycho 100 and its source manga, the character of Hanazawa Teruki exemplifies this trope. He starts off contemptuous of the hero and his A God I Am Not attitude, but when Shigeo (aka Mob) utterly humiliates Teruki in a fight Teruki does a complete Heel–Face Turn and becomes Mob's friend and ally.
  • In Chapter 5/Episode 3 of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Mikoshiba mentioned he is now friends with Kashima because of this trope. Specifically, he was decidedly defeated by Kashima in everything.
  • Inverted in Moriarty the Patriot. Sherlock's friendship is William's defeat.
  • Inverted in My Hero Academia. Shoto Todoroki goes from mostly ignoring Izuku to challenging him as a rival during the Sports Festival arc. In the process he reveals a little about his motives and background, and when it comes time for their match, Izuku ends up spending more time shouting him into a better headspace than actually trying to defeat him. Todoroki is able to win because Izuku gets through to him, and afterward they become close friends.
  • Various antagonists in Naruto — Neji and Gaara most obviously, to the point where one fan artist referred to a "We Got Some Sense Beaten Into Us By Naruto Club" (members include the above plus Inari, Konohamaru and Tsunade...) Seen here.
    • Naruto is a Warrior Therapist, so it isn't just that he defeats them.
    • Kurama the Nine-Tails was without question a Jerkass to his host Naruto. But after their deciding struggle (which the latter won), Naruto soon expresses a desire to do something about all that hatred and form a relationship like the one Bee has with his chakra beast. Kurama, who'd been treated as nothing more than a monster to be caged for years, was certainly surprised to hear this, and ends up slowly upgrading himself to true partner status.
    • Averted with Ino and Sakura, who renew their friendship after fighting to a draw. The nature of their rivalry suggests that a clear victor would have been detrimental to reconciliation. Then again, technically, they both lost, since as a result of the draw, both failed that attempt at the Chunin exam.
    • Sasuke and Naruto are something of an inversion, since Sasuke was ready to admit that yes, they are best friends, though this wasn't necessarily a good thing since Itachi told him, even advised him, that killing his best friend would unlock a new power, a power he'd need if he wanted his revenge. When it came to it Sasuke (barely) defeated Naruto, but chose not to kill him because he still thought of him as his friend, and he didn't want to achieve power by following Itachi's ways. Since then, every time Sasuke was about to get better and abandon his vengeful power-seeker ways, some evil villain came along and deliberately put a stop to it by giving him another reason to dive off the deep end. Once all the bad guys were finally taken care of, he and Naruto had it out — and ended up blowing each others' arms off. It was technically a tie, but Sasuke conceded defeat after one last heart-to-heart.
  • In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Kotaro becomes The Rival after Negi defeats him during the Kyoto arc. Chisame and Chachamaru also become relatively good friends after their massive hacking battle during the Mahora Festival arc. Later, Jack Rakan is revealed to have had one of these with Nagi in a situation surprisingly similar to the thing with Kotaro.
    • Rakan appears to be a subversion. His version of this trope sounds more like "Draw Means Friendship". Just take a look at his fights. He fought Nagi to a draw, Friendship, he fought Vrixas Nagasha, the ancient dragon, to a standstill and they were on good terms since then, his fight with Kage-chan never reached a conclusion so it can be considered a draw, after the fight they went drinking and became friends. Though Kage-chan might be a subversion because Negi and Kotaro speculate that he was in cahoots with Jack from the start, especially when it's clear that he held back against Negi in their first fight.
    • Appears to be the same deal about to happen with Luna (Shiori) ... though it might more be Best Her to Bed Her.
    • Seems like this is about to happen again, since as of Chapter 292 Negi wants to be best friends with Fate. And it seems to be mutual, too, in a way. As of Chapter 328, It finally happened, with an epic friendly beatdown, though Fate is still Tsundere about it.
  • In the ecchi romance ninja manga Ninja Girls, this is how the rivals in the Love Triangle for Raizo's affections become friends... during a friendly game of kemari that turns violent. If they weren't Stripperiffic you could almost mistake this as an occurrence in a typical male oriented sports manga, as they fall down laughing, and handclasping.
  • One Piece:
    • Interestingly inverted where Mr. 2 Bon Clay makes friends with the Straw Hat Pirates and then they find out they are enemies. Though Bon Clay considers them still friends, he still fights them (he's just doing his job, after all). After his boss is defeated though, he sacrifices his freedom and is imprisoned to help the pirates escape.
    • Subverted during the fight between Sanji and Mr. 2 Bon Clay, in which Sanji wins. Bon Clay tells him to finish him off and instead...Sanji offers his hand to apparently help him up. Bon Clay is touched (his inner thoughts say stuff about 'enemies becoming friends!' or something like that), and then Sanji promptly knocks him out and retrieves Usopp's goggles from him.
    • Commonly, a defeated villain (again, usually a minion) gets a mini title-arc where they sometimes become more humane, and sometimes even end up helping the hero later on, like with Hachi, formerly The Dragon to the series' first Big Bad.
    • Minor villain Duval is an example. He decides he likes the Straw Hats and pledges loyalty to them as soon as he's defeated...though it might have something to do with Sanji giving him reconstructive facial surgery with his feet, turning him from Gonk to Bishōnen.
    • Mr 3, originally introduced as a Smug Snake who gets beaten by Luffy, ends up allying with him during the Impel Down and Marineford arcs.
    • The Whitebeard Pirates. When these guys kick your ass, they don't just become your friends. They become your family. Whether you want to or not.
    • This happens with Bellamy in a very long roundabout way. When Bellamy was first introduced, he was another irredeemably evil villain who Luffy had no problem delivering a One-Hit Kill to. After meeting Bellamy two years later, though, Bellamy has actually learned from his mistakes, and no longer laughs at the dreams of others, including Luffy. Luffy then cheers Bellamy on as he fights, and although he doesn't hesitate to attempt to assassinate Luffy under Doflamingo's order (though is stopped by Delinger before he has the chance), Luffy later refers to Bellamy as his friend. Eventually his Berserk Button is pressed (Doflamingo treating Bellamy, his subordinate who looked up to him, like garbage), and Luffy goes all-out to save him from Doflamingo.
    • A quicker, more straightforward example can be seen between Bellamy and Bartolomeo, who defends Bellamy from Dellinger claiming that, because they struck blows, they are now friends.
    • During the Dressrosa arc, Luffy "fixes" Don Chinjao's head that his grandfather Monkey D. Garp bent in a fight with him. Sure enough, Don Chinjao becomes his ally later on.
  • Outlaw Star:
    • Gene Starwind earns Suzuka's allegiance this way, though it's been theorized she was really just tired with the life of a hired assassin. This incident is especially interesting because Gene ends the fight by disrobing her.
    • Aisha initially pursued Gene and company because they got her busted down from military rank in the Ctarl Ctarl when he humiliated her command of a warship. She tries to pick a fight with him more than once, but she just can't get her act together (foiled by severe hunger, Gene runs away from her, no moon on the planet she's on to let her metamorph into a werecat, can't pay off her food bills, or for that matter, property damage bills, etc.). However, they eventually come to good terms after she helps them out of a few circumstantial scrapes and Gene promises to pay her back in turn.
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Many of the Pokémon the characters capture only agree to join them after they prove themselves by beating and catching the Pokémon in a battle. Main character Ash Ketchum had to earn the obedience of Pokémon like Bulbasaur, Snorunt, Treecko, and many more this way, even after he'd already befriended them. In XY, Serena needed to do this to Pancham as well.
    • And then there are the Pokémon who are just plain hostile and only become friendly after the characters have beaten and captured them. Ash only befriended Pidgeotto, Krabby, Muk, Taillow, Corphish, and several other Pokémon after he'd beaten them up and caught them in a Poké Ball.
    • Many of the human relationships are this way too. At first, Ash couldn't stand Gary or Paul, but once he'd fought them in the Pokémon League he formed a new friendship, or at least mutual respect, with the both of them. More generally, the To Be a Master nature of the series means that many non-evil characters are after the same goals as Ash, and while they compete against one another there's no real hatred between the majority of trainers.
    • Subverted in some cases. For instance, after being tormented the entire episode by a wild Rotom in an abandoned hotel, Ash and Dawn eventually use their combined powers to defeat it, and then are concerned for its safety when it seems down for the count. The Rotom wakes up and looks ashamed, and Ash conjectures that Rotom was just lonely and wanted someone to play with. Rotom nods in agreement... then shocks all of them before darting away, cackling madly.
  • In The Prince of Tennis, the Seigaku and Fudomine teams become rather acquainted after the first team wins the matches against the latter. Something similar happens with the Rokkaku and Hyoutei teams, to different degrees.
  • In Ranma ½:
    • After Ranma defeats Shampoo as a male, she becomes his fiancée by tribal law. Later Ranma defeats Ukyo and they go back to being friends (in her case, an Unlucky Childhood Friend). Before both fights the girls were out for revenge, and after the fight they more-or-less became friends (or clingy unrequited love interest) with him. Other than that though, none of Ranma's many rivals have ever become friends and always get madder at him after defeat.
    • In Ryoga and Mousse's cases, battling common foes and saving each other's lives have made them True Companions, however. But not friends.
    • Shampoo is a bit complicated, as she only wants to marry him because village law says she has to, and for her first few appearances she remains a villain who uses dirty tricks to try to force Ranma to marry her. Eventually she cools off, but it takes time.
  • Reborn! (2004):
    • Gokudera Hayato declared his undying devotion to Sawada Tsuna after the latter defeated the former by going into "Dying Will" mode. Gokudera was about to die from setting off his own dynamite, and Tsuna saved his life.
    • After being defeated by defeated Gokudera, Gamma seems to be going this way
    • In a way, this happens to two of the major Big Bads from two of the arcs. Namely, Rokudo Mukuro and Xanxus (though both are very reluctant and stubborn about admitting it).
    • In the manga arcs the Simon Famiglia and even present day Byakuran end up fighting back-to-back with the heroes.
  • Downplayed in Episode 16 of Romeo × Juliet between Hermione Romeo's Fiancee and Juliet Romeo's lover. Upon learning she truly loves Romeo, Hermione comes to accept Romeo and Juliet's love she backs down, returns to Neo Verona and decides to not reveal her location to Montague but instead protect her (though hiding her intention by acting like a snob and insisting it's because she does not want Romeo to find out she was so unladylike).
  • Rosario + Vampire. Notice how every girl in the harem wanted to kill Tsukune and/or Moka before Moka kicks the living daylights out of them. Except for Yukari. She was just being a harmless prankster who managed to be more annoying than dangerous.
  • Rurouni Kenshin:
    • Sagara Sanosuke. It helped that Kenshin monologued at Sanosuke for a couple of pages, and admitted that the revolution Kenshin helped push through was superficial and still had a long way to go before true equality happened. Sano realized that they were fighting for the same cause and therefore gave up, letting himself pass out from the injuries he'd sustained in the battle.
    • All the characters Kenshin defeats either end up on his side, such as Aoshi, Saito, Chou, Anji, Kujiranami, and eventually even Enishi,, or die/never show up again.
  • Occurs several times in the Sailor Moon anime. If an enemy's been betrayed or is repentant then Usagi will heal or accept them as allies. Usagi is perfectly willing to kill, but most of the larger enemies short of the Big Bad are Self-Disposing Villains. This trope is averted in the manga. The Guardians/Soldiers frequently kill their opponents as enemies in war.
  • Seen more or less often in Saint Seiya, where the Bronze Saints and Saori manage to make several of their enemies realize they should join their cause after Seiya and Co. defeat them in battle.
  • One arc of Sakigake!! Otokojuku featured a bunch of transfer students from the closest thing to Otokojuku anywhere else in the world — the prep school for the Annapolis naval academy. Principal Edajima organized a series of "friendly" boxing matches between select new students and old students, ostensibly as a bonding exercise. In reality, the gloves used in the matches were metal and covered in spikes. The American students all lost their matches, but became the best of pals with their adversaries (and the Japanese students in general); when time came for the new arrivals to head home, unofficial class leaders Momotaro Tsurugi and Kieth Jackson both state that they cherished their time together.
  • In Samurai Pizza Cats Bad Bird is the arch rival of Speedy until he is fully defeated in the final ep. After Speedy gives a speech telling him it's not too late to change, Bad Bird sees the light, becomes Good Bird, and helps Speedy destroy a comet heading for Tokyo.
  • Lampshaded in the final episode of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei where a character declares himself to be an enemy of Itoshki specifically because of the assumption that Defeat Means Friendship. Harumi Fujiyoshi then points out that it tends to mean something else too...
  • Invoked (badly) in Scryed. One of the antagonists attempts to use his "script-writing" powers to rewrite reality where Kazuma joins HOLY. He botches it when Kazuma instead takes his defeat personally and punches the altered reality back into shape.
  • Happens several times in Shaman King. Ren, Ryu, Faust and Lyserg all attempt to kill Yoh and/or Manta before joining Yoh's posse, often executing bizarre Heel Face Turns.
  • Averted in Shootfighter Tekken. Kiichi defeats Kiba handily after a long and grueling fight, but Kiba still thinks he's just some punk kid. After telling him what a damn fool he was for being merciful, Kiba probably continues to be a massive asshole of a teacher.
  • Soul Eater:
    • Inverted when Maka fights Crona, as Maka is able to befriend Crona after matching his/her wavelength, ending the fight without either being beaten. So in this case, it was "defeat" by friendship. Even the ending sequence changes to reflect it.
    • Was perhaps the expected outcome of Black Star's encounters with Mifune, and indeed turned out that way in the anime. In the manga, however defeat means death. In a large, obstinate amount of Honor Before Reason, Black Star ends up killing Mifune because neither could conceive of an alternative to fighting to the death, even though Mifune was fighting to protect Angela and it turned out the DWMA weren't going to do anything to her.
    • Death the Kid, Liz and Patty's backstory is that Liz and Patty tried to mug him. All we see is flashbacks, but this was most likely the outcome. According to ch 78 this is not the entire story — Kid, being a naive rich guy with symmetry on the brain, came to find the pair known as the 'Demons of Brooklyn' to have them as his Weapons. They agree originally because they want his money, and only later come to realize they genuinely like being with the boy. The Defeat's there but the Friendship took time.
    • Black Star tries a new job as Warrior Therapist when he faces Crona. It doesn't work, for if anything Crona's mental state is worse, and no amount of Kung Fu Strength was enough to snap them out of it.
    • Maka ends up eventually succeeding at this with Crona in the manga's penultimate chapter.
  • A strange semi-example in a bit of Star Wars Manga — yes, there is Star Wars manga (although it's non-canon, meaning it didn't happen) — happened when Darth Vader slaughters a group of hidden Jedi, sparing the last one — a very young boy named Tao — because the kid's anger and horror is so strong that it hints at serious Dark Side potential. He takes the boy as a secret apprentice (rather creepier than Starkiller), and though Vader killed Tao's family and razed his world, Tao somehow can't really hate Vader. Even when the Emperor finds out and has Vader kill him — really, he was Only Mostly Dead, and Tao was able to save his master from something else before dying happy, since Vader took him back to his razed homeworld to be buried.... The whole thing comes off as shotacon-ish fanfiction that stops just short of actual sex. Still, after having his people killed and being curb-stomped by the Dark Lord, Tao randomly became very loyal, and Vader for his part went a little soft.
  • Not only used multiple times, but practically trumpeted as an ideal in martial arts in Sumomomo Momomo. Momoko even has a flashback where her father tells her that such clashes, and chats over drinks afterwards, result in the best friendships (and the best-tasting drinks). It's shown via quick flashbacks that the Arranged Marriage that drives the plot came about after Momoko's and Koushi's fathers played this trope straight.
  • A key plot point in Super Dimension Fortress Macross / Robotech for the elite female Zentraedi warrior Miriya, who ends up marrying Max. The broadcast of their wedding then gives Breetai, the enemy commander, much food for thought...
  • It takes a few years, but Viral from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is brought over to the side of the good guys after being defeated over and over again and his Beastmen comrades are all killed, because he develops a grudging rivalry with Simon, who in turn recognizes him as one of the best pilots in the world who has less sense to quit than he does. Simon selects Viral to be the Gurren Lagann's secondary pilot when the Anti-Spirals invade.
  • More or less the running theme of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Rimuru generally recruits new citizens by fending off their attempted attack, then giving them names to make them more powerful. This happens with the Direwolves, Ogres ("Kijin" post-naming-powerup), and to some extent the Lizardmen (only their rebellious prince tries to attack Rimuru's clan). Played for Laughs with the Goblins, the first group of followers, who are so terrified by Rimuru's "aura" that they surrender immediately.
  • Present and accounted for in Tokyo Ghoul.
    • Nishiki starts out trying to kill Kaneki during a territorial dispute, and is left mortally wounded. The next time he appears, he ends up becoming Kaneki's ally and later a good friend, after Kaneki helps rescue his girlfriend.
    • After being defeated by Kaneki and Touka, Tsukiyama changes tactics and tries to get on his good side. While he starts out simply biding time until he can kill Kaneki, he slowly begins to genuinely care.
    • After beating them within an inch of their lives, Yoshimura recruited first Koma and then Irimi to work for him at his coffee shop. They've been his loyal subordinates ever since.
    • Revealed to be how Naki ended up working for Yamori. This tradition seems to continue with their gang, with several members joining after getting beaten.
    • In the sequel, this has essentially occurred with Arima and Sasaki. After nearly killing him, Arima ended up taking the amnesiac Half-Ghoul under his wing and became a surrogate father figure. While Sasaki views him as a Living Emotional Crutch, it isn't clear what Arima thinks about their relationship.
  • Tomodachi Game:
  • The Toriko villain Joa weaponizes this. He sees a person's thoughts as equivalent to their taste, so his Taste Change technique allows him to brainwash them into joining his side.
  • Tower of God: Khun and Bam trick Rak, who wants to kill them, into joining their team, and they become True Companions. Bam cuts up Hwaryun's face and takes out an eye and they travel together for five or six years. Ja Wangnan tricks Viole into joining his team and they become friends.
  • Sixknight becomes an ally of the Autobots after his defeat at the hands of Ginrai in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce.
  • Actively invoked in Negima's sequel, UQ Holder!. When assassin Kuroumaru tries to kill Touta, after winning the ensuing battle, Touta forces Kuroumaru to sign a 'best friends' contract.
  • Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru. Satsuki, being able to see the corpses of those who will die within the next 24 hours, learns that her classmate Akira's father is going to be battered to death. Turns out that Akira herself was going to do the deed, leading to You Know Too Much after Satsuki warns her; zig-zagged in that Satsuki doesn't win the ensuing fight and nearly gets strangled to death, but Akira backs off on her own accord, horrified by what she was about to do. From that point on, the two become inseparable, with Akira becoming Satsuki's closest confidant and aiding her in preventing other deaths.
  • This is a recurring theme in Variable Geo, most notably where Jun Kubota and Erina Goldsmith are concerned:
  • This occurs in Yakitate!! Japan multiple times:
    • Kanmuri. He was never a particularly bad guy, he just happened to be working for Yukino, as she was funding his research. After he loses to Azuma in the Newcomer's Competition, Yukino destroys his research, so to pay her back, Kanmuri joins the team and is a crucial part of the Yakitate!! 25 team.
    • Suwabara, who joins the team after Azuma beats him in the semifinals of the same tournament. He is part of the trio in the Monaco Cup arc.
    • This trope also goes the other way. After Monica beats Suwabara in the Monaco cup, they become an item.
  • Vinland Saga:
    • In the Invasion of England arc, Askeladd and Thorfinn gain a tenous ally in Thorkell the Tall after Thorfinn beats the latter in a duel. Downplayed in that it was a combination of the duel and Canute promising an even bigger fight in the future that ultimately turned the tide.
    • Subverted in the Baltic War arc, when Thorfinn defeats Garm in a duel and tells him that he never wanted to fight him in a Duel to the Death and would prefer it if they'd just be friends instead. Garm's response is to simply look befuddled and say that the two of them are already friends, because in his worldview people trying to duel each other to the death is what friends do.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • Ryuji Otogi (Duke Devlin in the anime's English dub) begins his appearance in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga as a gamer raised to defeat Yugi Mutou in order to take revenge for his father's loss against Yugi's grandfather (Mr. Otogi, who wanted to take possession of the Millennium Puzzle, challenged Sugoroku Mutou to the Devil's Board Game, a demonic Shadow Game, which made his father's face monstrous upon losing) as well as to take possession of the Millennium Puzzle in order to become the King of Games. Despite his upbringing, Ryuji shows a side of honor and kindness during his game against Yugi and his opinion of Yugi starts to slowly change during the battle, recognizing his skill. Despite Ryuji trying to reason with his father that the revenge games were going too far, Yugi was almost killed as Ryuji's store burned afterwards. Ryuuji performs a Heel–Face Turn when he realizes that he doesn't hate the Mutou family as much as his father does during the prior game, and becomes a Sixth Ranger to Yugi's Five-Man Band of friends.
    • Ryuji's story is different in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. Nursing a tremendous grudge against Yugi Muto for destroying his chance at success (by ruining Pegasus's reputation, and a potential publishing deal). After a single defeat at the game he designed, however, Ryuji does a 180 and becomes part of Yugi's inner circle of friends. Ever since, fans of the English series have called such drastic turnarounds "pulling a Devlin".
    • MANY other important characters in the show follow this trope ranging from Mai and Mokuba to villains like Pegasus and Marik. Seto Kaiba is unusual in that although he is repeatedly beaten by Yugi and has had the invitation of friendship extended to him by the group more than once, he only admits to respecting Yugi but never would call him his friend.
    • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX exploits this with the Society of Light, who "recruits" their members by beating them at Duel Monsters. Interestingly, a good deal of the main characters that fall into the Society's sway were trying to use this trope to snap their friends out. Unfortunately, when it came to characters that were part of the main cast, the only one who ever succeeded was Jaden.
    • Every season seems to have adversaries who convert the important characters by beating them and then the Good Guys Turned Bad are turned good again when a main character beats them in a duel or the Big Bads die or become good after losing a game. This is partially explained by the fact that according to the show, the universe was created by card games.
    • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds naturally. The earliest example – and, remarkably, one that doesn't involve supernatural things – is Bolt Tanner (Jin Himuro in the original), who goes from being a delinquent to one of Yusei's best friends after one Duel (in which Yusei won without launching a single attack).
    • In happens in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL a lot too. Shark becomes a frequent ally of Yuma after losing to him, third-party villain Tron reforms after being defeated, and even the Big Bad of the first season, Dr. Faker, sees the error of his ways after losing a duel.
    • Since Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V is a huge Internal Deconstruction of the entire franchise, this trope gets deconstructed, averted, exploited, invoked, and in a few cases Reconstruction. The reconstructions can be counted on one hand, but they occur because:
    • Literally everyone in the entire first two seasons of Yu Gi Oh Go Rush, how extreme do they go with this you ask? Picture this, in an arc climax late in season 2, save for the current villain, everyone Yudias and co ever dueled all hold hands in a huge literal circle of friendship to support each other in the climactic duel. This includes all the previous antagonistic characters. Then once the duel is over the villain has an Alas, Poor Villain moment as Yudias is sad for being unable to save him then in the climax of the next arc, he temporarily returns to help Yudias thanks to Monster Reborn.
  • Inverted in Yugo The Negotiator. Yugo always get his ass handed to him, but he manages to get all cooperation he needs from them in the end, being the stubborn person he is. As a negotiator, it helps that he is also always looking for the best outcome for all sides involved.
  • Yui Kamio Lets Loose: All the delinquent girls who Kiito removes the Mushi from end up in his friend group and assist in fighting other girl bosses. At least one of them seems to have a little crush.
  • YuYu Hakusho:
    • Downplayed with Hiei. After his defeat during Yusuke's first case as Spirit Detective, he subsequently becomes one of Yusuke's comrades (and later friends), but is initially only helping him because he was assigned the task for parole.
    • Karasu and Bui in the Dark Tournament are only working with the Toguro Brothers for the chance to get stronger and then turn around and kill them, but until then, they are good teammates. The younger Toguro is not only fully aware of this fact, he welcomes it because it keeps them motivated. The elder Toguro, on the other hand, is simply unkillable and thus has no reason to care.
    • Rinku, Jin, Toya, Kuwabara, reluctantly both Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki, Murota, Mitarai, slightly Amanuma, and Sayaka in the pre-resurrection arc, although in the anime she was merely a Spirit-World inspector. Suzuki even went so far as to provide Kuwabara and Kurama with weapons that they would have been defeated without, although this was because, as he put it, he disliked them but he hated Toguro. Yomi became friendlier after the Demon Tournament arc, although he was by no means a friend or ally, as well as Mukuro and Raizen's old friends. Ruka got out of the force-field for hire and switched to doing a radio show with Koto and Juri after nearly being incinerated by Hiei.
  • The second episode of Zombie Land Saga shows Saki being very antagonistic toward Sakura... right up until Sakura starts Battle Rapping with her and calls her out in front of an entire audience. That impresses Saki so much that she jumps onboard with the Idol Singer plot and actually starts leading the group in the next episode.

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