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Basic Trope: A stock rival who is the hero's equal and foil; often a stoic, aloof Jerkass.

  • Straight: Kyoya "Kyoken" Katame is stoic, aloof, unfriendly, pessimistic, and arrogant in contrast to Hiroshi "Hiro" Wakamono who is nice, optimistic, helpful, energetic, and humble.
  • Exaggerated: Whereas Hiro is nice and forgiving to everyone, even his enemies, Kyoya is the bloodthirsty, narcissistic, sociopathic asshole who cares only about himself and wants to kill the hero just because he doesn't like him.
  • Downplayed: Kyoya is a Jerkass with a Hidden Heart of Gold, unlike Hiro, who is a Nice Guy.
  • Justified:
    • Kyoya grew up in a broken home, violent community, or otherwise sobering circumstances, causing him to view the world through Jade-Colored Glasses and despise Hiro's optimism because Hiro hasn't suffered as he has.
    • Kyoya was betrayed in the past or lost someone he loved, so he acts mean to others to keep them away and avoid getting hurt again.
    • Kyoya has suffered as collateral damage of Hiro's antics, and to make it much more infuriating Hiro had no idea of what Kyoya was talking about when confronted about it, even with all of the evidence Kyoya presented. Obviously Kyoya wasn't going to take it lying down.
  • Inverted: Hiro, the main protagonist, is rude, arrogant, and standoffish, while Kyoya, his arch-rival, is nice, humble, and helpful.
  • Subverted:
    • Kyoya is a Tsundere or Kuudere who has a crush on Hiro.
    • Kyoya is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who thinks being nice to/around Hiro will make him look weak.
    • Kyoya is described by other characters as an arrogant jerk who stole the Demon Diamond. But when he finally appears on screen, he's much kinder and gentler than his reputation suggests. He also reveals that he stole the artifact to destroy it before it tempts anyone else into villainy.
  • Double Subverted:
    • Even then, there's things about Hiro that Kyoya hates with enough passion to make him give Hiro a knuckle sandwich every once in a while.
    • Kyoya just can't shake his reputation. He decides that if everyone insists on being a Jerkass to him, then it's only fair for him to respond in kind.
  • Parodied: Kyoya makes his introduction by facing Hiro with a stoic frown on his face and tells him he came to fight him because he is annoyed by his reliance of his friends, his friendship speeches, and that he's an idiot who doesn't know what 2+2 is.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted:
    • Both rivals have the same personalities.
    • Kyoya is a rival who doesn't have any common traits of a shonen rival.
  • Enforced: The writer is inspired by various anime rivals and decides to make Kyoya into this type.
  • Lampshaded: "You're the blue to my red, you don't smile much, you're very calm and composed, you're cynical, your morals are shady, you think you're better than everyone, you hate the idea of friendship, and you're a jerk. Yep. You're my arch-rival."
  • Invoked: Hiro goes out of his way to inconvenience Kyoya a little bit as collateral damage of his antics, hoping that Kyoya will get pissed off about it and come gunning for him because he needed a strong rival.
  • Exploited: Maou manages to toss Kyoya and Hiro at each other by playing off their collective paranoia — Kyoya's that Hiro will surpass him and Hiro's that Kyoya will do something evil because Loners Are Freaks that way.
  • Defied:
    • Kyoya is the hero of his own story, so he decides to make himself a Stock Shōnen Hero.
    • Kyoya decides to be a whole lot less of an asshole immediately. This decision stops him from ever having to endure the part of the story where he has to learn the value of friendship from getting his teeth kicked in by the Big Bad.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: "Kyoya reminds me of Vegeta."
  • Deconstructed: Being a loner, a jerk and having shady morals equals an ignoble death and crappy existence that could have been avoided if he had been, if not full-on friends with anybody, then at least willing to pause the confrontational schtick and ask for help more often. Strength in numbers, you know?
  • Reconstructed: Of course, that's exactly what someone like Hiro, the Stock Shōnen Hero, is there to help with, whether they want it or not.

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