The rival.

Especially the douchebag Machiavellian type rivals that the main character ends up friends or teaming up with after the main character 'proves their worth' to them by being stronger. No character growth outside of now they work with the protagonist.

I really want this trope to be subverted one day, like the douchey rival shows up and everyone is just like "Wow what a dickhead" and just relentlessly bullies him until he goes away.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Especially the douchebag Machiavellian type rivals that the main character ends up friends or teaming up with after the main character ‘proves their worth’ to them by being stronger. No character growth outside of now they work with the protagonist.

    A Rival is someone who wants to achieve the same goal as the mc, but competes with the mc for that goal. Which is the opposite of an antagonist which is someone who works against the mc.

    I think this trope is used a lot because it teaches viewers (mostly children and teenagers) that they can work out their differences and work together to achieve a goal.

    This trope is not unique to Japan, there are some American shows with this btw.

    • Dirt_Owl [comrade/them, they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think it's important to also teach kids that there are some people you shouldn't work together with. That the lesser of two evils is still evil.