History Main / StockShonenRival

This character is usually the PrivilegedRival, TheLancer (a {{trope}} that TheRival has a lot of overlap with), or a former enemy. Unlike the optimistic StockShonenHero, who believes in ThePowerOfFriendship and easily amasses TrueCompanions, the pessimistic Rival will [[IWorkAlone believe in the power of his own strength]]. In terms of power levels, the Rival usually starts off stronger than the hero. As the hero gets stronger and slowly closes the gap, the rival may often pull a FaceHeelTurn as he recognize this. Alternatively, he feels [[RivalTurnedEvil the dark side will increase his power]] which often leads to an one-on-one fight between the two. Often, the Hero's optimism and strong sense of justice will make the Rival question their own reasons for fighting, which may trigger their own CharacterDevelopment arc.

** Gary Oak. Ash's first rival was introduced as this. Gary was arrogant and loved to rub it in Ash's face however eventually toned down. He has his own fan club (of fully grown women at that) that followed him around. Gary has since become a budding Pokemon Professor, much like his grandfather, and has lost his attitude. A good portion of his behavior was actually dub-exclusive. In Japan he was more friendly and respectable for the most part (much like his current personality), while 4kids made him more similar to his game counterpart, Blue Oak.

* Killua from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' fits most of the criteria, but is actually Gon's best friend. Killua has elements of an ArrogantKungFuGuy and is very much a BloodKnight who enjoys fighting. He was raised to be a ProfessionalKiller but wants to quit and have a more normal life. Killua used to be a SociopathicHero and was a {{Tykebomb}} but since meeting Gon has learned to [[DefusingTheTykebomb be less violent]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Sasuke is the another notable example and is a TropeCodifier amongst modern manga, much like Naruto is for the StockShonenHero. As a PrivilegedRival, he unconsciously felt superior to his Naruto until he slowly closed the gap. Amongst his true target being more interested in his rival while dismissing him as nothing which lead to a FaceHeelTurn. Also after his journey as a villain and a final fight with Naruto. He goes back to be a [[HeelFaceTurn good guy]]. Sasuke has black hair in contrast to Naruto's blond, his clothes are usually black or blue, and he's known for using fire and lightning.

* ''Videogame/TheKingOfFighters'': Iori Yagami is one, for the hero Kyo Kusanagi. He comes from the Yasakani clan who themselves are rivals to the Kusanagi clan, and Iori himself seems to be obsessed with nothing but killing Kyo with his own hands. The two share several techniques, as well as flame powers, but Iori's cursed due to his ancestors making a pact with the mystical entity Orochi. Iori sees his rivalry with Kyo in a deep personal level, but Kyo himself doesn't think of Iori beyond a person that he'll fight over and over. Several characters in the story even question Iori's rivalry or make fun of it. On rare occasions, however, Iori is often forced to cooperate with Kyo under BigGood Chizuru Kagura's urging.

** Bakugou is first as Midoriya's childhood friend turned bully. He is very arrogant and initially looked down on the quirkless Midoriya. However he's the HotBlooded one and wears orange in contrast to much more calculating, dark green wearing Midoriya. [[spoiler:Intrerestingly, while he's pretty blatantly set to follow the "RivalTurnedEvil" path a la Sasuke Uchiha below from the get-go (to the point even the people InUniverse point this out), he completely defies it when the villains' organization offers him membership early on.]]

** Todoroki is the son of one of the second-best hero in Japan and is pressured to follow in his father's footsteps, has a DarkAndTroubledPast, possesses tremendous power that Izuku can barely match, and has a broody, loner personality to contrast Izuku's friendlier one. Izuku acts as his WarriorTherapist during their fight, and Todoroki starts to work towards amending his familial issues and becoming more social. He becomes one of Midoriya's closer friends and [[FriendlyRivalry friendly rivals]] in the process.

* Riku fits the archetype in the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' game. At the beginning of the game he's the stronger, prettier, aloof best friend who competes with Sora constantly and ends up pulling a FaceHeelTurn out of resentment. He mellows out considerably in later installments of the franchise, but remains Sora's angstier foil.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Seto Kaiba likely shares TropeCodifier status with Vegeta. Conditioned by his DarkAndTroubledPast to consider victory as the measure of one's worth, he became an arrogant, asocial, and utterly ruthless Duel Monsters tycoon. He was Yugi's main rival throughout the series ever since he gave him his first loss, acting as the "{{cliche}} [[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries emotionally void antagonist"]] most of the time, yet [[EnemyMine often working with him]] to oppose a greater threat.

* Killua from ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' fits most of the criteria, but is actually Gon's best friend. Killua has elements of an ArrogantKungFuGuy and is very much a BloodKnight who enjoys fighting. He was raised to be a ProfessionalKiller but wants to quit and have a more normal life. Killua used to be a SociopathicHero and was a {{Tykebomb}} but since meeting Gon has learned to [[DefusingTheTykebomb be less violent]].

* Shaoran Li of ''Anime/CardcaptorSakura'' is a Deconstruction. He starts off as this to Sakura, though as time passes [[NotSoStoic more dents in his stoic antisocial attitude start to appear]]. Midway through the series he actually starts to gain a schoolboy crush on Sakura, with his rivalry towards her slowly fading in favor of him becoming a DoggedNiceGuy.

* Shadow from ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is one of the most well-known cases of this (and is likely some level of a ShoutOut to Vegeta), to the degree where he's heavily mocked for how much DarkerAndEdgier he is compared to other ''Sonic'' characters. Shadow is an AntiHero (though originally treated as an EvilCounterpart to Sonic) and an AntiAntiChrist created to destroy Earth. His mostly black-and-red color scheme contrasts with Sonic's blue. Shadow is [[TheAce one of the strongest characters]] in the franchise and can easily turn into a PersonOfMassDestruction if given enough Chaos Emeralds. While he doesn't have a traditional family due to being an {{Artificial H|uman}}edgehog raised by humans, the closest thing he had to family were murdered in front of him which resulted in his DarkAndTroubledPast and bitter personality. Even when he's happy, he still maintains some level of {{grump|YBear}}iness and he's very serious (CharacterizationMarchesOn aside). Despite his stoic behavior, however, he is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who cares about his friends.
* Asch from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' is angry individual and hates [[spoiler:his clone]] Luke for unwittingly taking his life away from him. While he's technically not a rival, he's more of a WildCard. He loves deriding him with insults.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'': Proto Man is the {{Flawed|Prototype}} SuperPrototype of [[BigGood Dr. Light]] and Mega Man's AloofBigBrother. He is known to have a more independent mind in comparison to other robots of his time, which is implied to be connected to his faulty power core. He left Dr. Light's service long ago and chosen to accept his eventual demise rather than risk losing what makes him who he is. He was first seen as one of Mega Man's enemies in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', but made a HeelFaceTurn near the end, acting as an AloofAlly but still preferring to strike out on his own.

* ''Videogame/TheKingOfFighters'': Iori Yagami is one, for the hero Kyo Kusanagi. He comes from the Yasakani clan who themselves are rivals to the Kusanagi clan, and Iori himself seems to be obsessed with nothing but killing Kyo with his own hands. The two share several techniques, as well as flame powers, but Iori's cursed due to his ancestors making a pact with the mystical entity Orochi. Iori sees his rivalry with Kyo in a deep personal level, but Kyo himself doesn't think of Iori beyond a person that he'll fight over and over. Several characters in the story even question Iori's rivalry or make fun of it. On rare occasions, however, Iori is often forced to cooperate with Kyo under BigGood Chizuru Kagura's urging.

** Silver from ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' [[BloodKnight loves battling]] and is a {{loner|SAreFreaks}} who [[ArrogantKungFuGuy takes pride]] in [[TheSocialDarwinist only powerful Pokemon]]. Silver is more of a JerkAss than any other rival thus far and goes as far as to shoves the protagonist, and [[WouldHitAGirl anyone else]] in his way, several times. He's a SoreLoser who complains that you're weak even after ''he'' loses. It turns out he has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex due to not wanting to be perceived as weak like his dad [[spoiler:Team Rocket's ex-boss, Giovanni]]. Over the course of the game he [[TookALevelInKindness mellows down]] into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Silver's clothes are heavily black and he is an EvilRedhead (at least originally).

* Shadow from ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is one of the most well-known cases of this (and is likely some level of a ShoutOut to Vegeta), to the degree where he's heavily mocked for how much DarkerAndEdgier he is compared to other ''Sonic'' characters. Shadow is an AntiHero (though originally treated as an EvilCounterpart to Sonic) and an AntiAntiChrist created to destroy Earth. His mostly black-and-red colour contrasts with Sonic's bright blue. Shadow is [[TheAce one of the strongest characters]] in the franchise and can easily turn into a PersonOfMassDestruction if given enough Chaos Emeralds. While he doesn't have a traditional family due to being an {{Artificial H|uman}}edgehog raised by humans, the closest thing he had to family were murdered in front of him which resulted in his DarkAndTroubledPast and bitter personality. Even when he's happy he still maintains some level of {{grump|YBear}}iness and he's very serious (CharacterizationMarchesOn aside). Despite his stoic behavior he is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who cares about his friends.
* Asch from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' is angry individual and hates [[spoiler:his clone]] Luke for unwittingly taking his life away from him. While he's technically not a rival. He's more of a WildCard. He loves deriding him with insults.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'': Protoman is the {{Flawed|Prototype}} SuperPrototype of [[BigGood Dr. Light]] and Mega Man's AloofBigBrother. He is known to have a more independent mind in comparison to other robots of his time, which is implied to be connected to his faulty power core. He left Dr. Light's service long ago and chosen to accept his eventual demise rather than risk losing what makes him who he is. He was first seen as one of Mega Man's enemies in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', but made a HeelFaceTurn near the end, acting as an AloofAlly but still preferring to strike out on his own.

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'': Subverted with Kageyama. Compared to friendly, energetic, inexperienced Hinata, Kageyama is an acknowledged prodigy who thought himself better than his teammates, has an antisocial personality, and a terrible temper. He decimates Hinata's team in the prologue and Hinata swears revenge upon him. However, when they end up on the same team (rendering their rivalry pretty much moot), he defrosts and learns The Power Of Friendship alongside Hinata, eventually becoming less of rivals and more of close friends with him. Their hair colors and names even contrast.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' while Midoriya is a subdued StockShonenHero he has his rivals:

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* In ''Literature/TheGraceOfKings'', one of the two main protagonists, Mata Zyndu, is the grim honor-obsessed BloodKnight Mata Zyndu, who wants to avenge the slaughter and betrayal of his noble family. The other protagonist, Kuni Garu, is not a StockShonenHero, because he's a clever and somewhat book smart GuileHero. However, he is very cheerful and good and making friendships. While Kuni and Mata start out as friends, as Kuni accumulates greater power, Mata comes to resent him and become a RivalTurnedEvil.

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%%* Ryōga Hibiki from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. To contrast his rival, Ranma Saotome, who's happy go-lucky, larger than life, and carefree, Ryōga is very melancholic, [[TheStoic stoic]], and brooding. For a long time there was nothing Ryōga was concerned with more than ''getting even'' with his [[TheRival rival]], but eventually he comes to see there is more to life than this, once he experiences love. Over time the two of them become more akin to friends and even BashBrothers, although they still remain the rivalry and treat one another as {{Worthy Opponent}}s.

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* Ryōga Hibiki from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. To contrast his rival, Ranma Saotome, who's happy go-lucky, larger than life, and carefree, Ryōga is very melancholic, [[TheStoic stoic]], and brooding. For a long time there was nothing Ryōga was concerned with more than ''getting even'' with his [[TheRival rival]], but eventually he comes to see there is more to life than this, once he experiences love. Over time the two of them become more akin to friends and even BashBrothers, although they still remain the rivalry and treat one another as {{Worthy Opponent}}s.

[[folder: Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheGraceOfKings'', one of the two main protagonists, Mata Zyndu, is the grim honor-obsessed BloodKnight Mata Zyndu, who wants to avenge the slaughter and betrayal of his noble family. The other protagonist, Kuni Garu, is not a StockShonenHero, because he's a clever and somewhat book smart GuileHero. However, he is very cheerful and good and making friendships. While Kuni and Mata start out as friends, as Kuni accumulates greater power, Mata comes to resent him and become a RivalTurnedEvil.
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** Blue from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' is this. Blue's original shirt was purple, however the remakes changed it to a black shirt. His starter is always the one with a type advantage over the players and he generally acts selfish and like a JerkAss. He also always seems to be a step ahead of you in getting all the badges and even beats the Elite Four before you. But in the end Red defeats him of course. Blue is also described in [[AllThereInTheManual the original manual]] as being an ex-friend of Red's who pre-game TookALevelInJerkAss and started a rivalry between the two. Blue's original shirt was purple however the remakes gave him a black shirt instead.

* Riku fits the archetype in the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' game. At the beginning of the game he's the stronger, prettier, aloof best friend who competes with Sora constantly and ends up pulling a Heel Face Turn out of resentment. He mellows out considerably in later installments of the franchise, but remains Sora's angstier foil.

** Paul is an {{expy}} of the below-mentioned Silver of ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', and it shows. He is an overconfident trainer who [[ArrogantKungFuGuy openly boasts about]] how superior a trainer he is compared to others. He [[IneffectualLoner doesn't care]] for socializing or making friends, just training. Paul has [[TrainingFromHell very harsh training methods]] but most of his Pokemon are loyal to him and he treats them well enough. Chimchar was the exception. He verbally abused it and forced it past its limits in order to harness the Blaze ability. [[spoiler:This spurred Chimchar to deflect to Ash after Paul released it for [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness disappointing him]]]].

An encompassing trope that's usually some combination of an {{AntiHero}}, ArrogantKungFuGuy, InstantExpert, {{Jerkass}} --> JerkWithAHeartOfGold, BloodKnight, HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, InferioritySuperiorityComplex, ReformedButNotTamed, {{Revenge}}, ByronicHero, GrumpyBear, PerpetualFrowner with the occasionally Smirk. In some cases may also be a CharClone. He also tends to be a ChickMagnet and MrFanservice. It may also include visual tropes such as a BlueIsHeroic ([[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Sort of]]), EvilWearsBlack, TallDarkAndHandsome, or RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver. He tends to have [[AnIcePerson ice]], [[PlayingWithFire fire]], or [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] powers and more often tends to wield a blade of some sort. His [[{{Foil}} dynamic]] with the hero tends to be the [[RedOniBlueOni the blue to the Hero's red]], ShadowArchetype.

This character is usually the PrivilegedRival, TheLancer (a {{trope}} that TheRival has a lot of overlap with), or a former enemy. Unlike the optimistic StockShonenHero, who believes in ThePowerOfFriendship and easily amasses TrueCompanions, the pessimistic Rival will [[IWorkAlone believe in the power of his own strength]]. In terms of power levels, the Rival usually starts off stronger than the hero. As the hero gets stronger and slowly closes the gap, the rival may often pull a HeelFaceTurn as he recognize this. Alternatively, he feels [[RivalTurnedEvil the dark side will increase his power]] which often leads to an one-on-one fight between the two. Often, the Hero's optimism and strong sense of justice will make the Rival question their own reasons for fighting, which may trigger their own CharacterDevelopment arc.

** Blue from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' is this. His starter is always the one with a type advantage over the players and he generally acts selfish and like a JerkAss. He also always seems to be a step ahead of you in getting all the badges and even beats the Elite Four before you. But in the end Red defeats him of course. Blue is also described as being an ex-friend of Red's who TookALevelInJerkAss and started a rivalry between the two.
** Silver from ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' [[BloodKnight loves battling]] and is a {{loner|SAreFreaks}} who [[ArrogantKungFuGuy takes pride]] in [[TheSocialDarwinist only powerful Pokemon]]. Silver is more of a JerkAss than any other rival thus far and goes as far as to shoves the protagonist, and [[WouldHitAGirl anyone else]] in his way, several times. He's a SoreLoser who complains that you're weak even after ''he'' lost. It turns out he has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex due to not wanting to be perceived as weak like his dad [[spoiler:Team Rocket's ex-boss, Giovanni]]. Over the course of the game he [[TookALevelInKindness mellows down]] into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Silver's clothes are heavily black and he is an EvilRedhead (at least originally).

This character is usually the PrivilegedRival, TheLancer (a {{trope}} that TheRival has a lot of overlap with), or a former enemy. Unlike the optimistic StockShonenHero, who believes in ThePowerOfFriendship and easily amasses TrueCompanions, the pessimistic Rival will [[IWorkAlone believe in the power of his own strength]]. In terms of power levels, the Rival usually starts off stronger than the hero. As the hero gets stronger and slowly closes the gap, the rival may often pull a FaceHeelTurn as he recognize this. Alternatively, he feels [[RivalTurnedEvil the dark side will increase his power]] which often leads to an one-on-one fight between the two. Often, the Hero's optimism and strong sense of justice will make the Rival question their own reasons for fighting, which may trigger their own CharacterDevelopment arc.

* Ryōga Hibiki from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. To contrast his rival, Ranma Saotome, who's happy go-lucky, larger than life, carefree style, Ryōga is very melancholic, [[TheStoic stoic]], and brooding. For a long time there was nothing Ryōga was concerned with more than ''getting even'' with his [[TheRival rival]], but eventually he comes to see there is more to life than this, once he experiences love. Over time the two of them become more akin to friends and even BashBrothers, although they still remain the rivalry and treat one another as {{Worthy Opponent}}s.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall''. Vegeta is one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s. He started as a ArcVillain and after he was defeated by Goku and co. He would then make it his life purpose to surpass Goku and later pulls a [[HazyFeelTurn gives into evil]] in an attempt to defeat Goku. He would later regret his actions and pull a true HeelFaceTurn.

* Shaoran Li of ''Anime/CardcaptorSakura'' is a Deconstruction. He starts off as this to Sakura, though as time passes [[NotSoStoic more dents in his stoic antisocial attitude start to appear]]. Midway through the series he actually starts to gain a schoolboy crush on Sakura, with his rivalry towards her slowly fading in favour of him becoming a DoggedNiceGuy.

Most series as of late tend to have a character who the StockShonenHero could play off. Insert the StockShonenRival. This character is usually introduced as a {{foil}} for the hero to contrast. While TheHero is carefree and, a NiceGuy, the rival is standoffish and a {{Jerkass}}.

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[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Zuko from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' plays this despite the fact that Aang is not much of a StockShonenHero (he has many traits in common with archetype, but in many other ways inverts the cliche). Considering the heavy {{animesque}} nature of the series, Zuko fits quite a bit, his character arc resembling the rival's arc in all but name. Introduced as an older, more aloof antagonist who wants to capture Aang, over the course of the series he learns to become less angry and [[TookALevelInKindness more nice]]. He is a [[PlayingWithFire firebender]] who normally wears red clothes and has black hair, later adding [[BifurcatedWeapon dual swords]] to his arsenal. Zuko is the prince of the Fire Nation and son of the Fire Lord, however he was [[TheExile exiled]] and now desires to capture the Avatar so he can return home with honor. He has a DarkAndTroubledPast due to having an emotionally distant and {{abusive|parents}} dad, a cruel and unloving little sister, his mother [[MissingMom running off]], and being a WhiteSheep in his BigScrewedUpFamily. Despite his angry demeanor who spends most of the series being a PerpetualFrowner, it is really a JerkassFacade that wears off over the series. [[spoiler:He becomes TheAtoner after his HeelFaceTurn and joins Aang and his friends.]]

* ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'': Subverted with Kageyama. Compared to friendly, energetic, inexperienced [[StockShonenHero Hinata]], Kageyama is an acknowledged prodigy who thought himself better than his teammates, has an antisocial personality, and a terrible temper. He decimates Hinata's team in the prologue and Hinata swears revenge upon him. However, when they end up on the same team (rendering their rivalry pretty much moot), he [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosts]] and learns ThePowerOfFriendship alongside Hinata, eventually becoming less of rivals and more of close friends with him. Their [[HairContrastDuo hair colors]] and [[MeaningfulNames names]] even contrast.