Basic Trope: The hero's ally fights for their own reasons and their own agendas.
- Straight: Alice wants to defeat Emperor Evulz to avenge her parents, while Bob wants to defeat Emperor Evulz to set up a new empire in his place. They team up, at least for a while.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice wants to defeat Emperor Evulz to convert his monarchy to a democracy. Bob just wants to usurp the throne.
- They both want the kingdom to themselves, and don't plan on sharing. They duel for the throne once Evulz is down.
- Downplayed: Enemy Mine, in which Alice and Bob don't like each other, but both have the same reasons for fighting Evulz.
- Justified: They're venturing into a hostile environment which is very difficult to brave alone.
- Inverted: Alice and Bob are mortal enemies going in separate paths that seem immoral to one another, but they both have the same ultimate goal in mind: kill Evulz and put Charlie in his place.
- Subverted: They negotiate on a common goal, and stay teammates for the rest of the story.
- Double Subverted: Bob agrees to defeat Evulz to avenge Alice's parents... until they're far enough into their plan that Bob can safely disengage and go back to his original plans.
- Parodied: Alice wants to defeat Emperor Evulz to co-rule his empire and dispel claims that she wants to "team up" with her long-time enemy, Bob. Bob wants to defeat Emperor Evulz to co-rule his empire and dispel claims that he wants to "team up" with his long-time enemy, Alice. They team up to do so. Then they lose focus of their goal and start enjoying each other's company, which makes them the laughingstock of their hometown once they return.
- Zig Zagged: Bob eventually negotiates with Alice, then breaks the agreement - but it turns out, that was only to throw off Evulz... or at least, that's his excuse to turn on Alice again.
- Averted: Despite their similar goal, they do not team up.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "What use is it teaming up with someone who you can't agree with?" "Well, strength is in numbers, after all..."
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: Alice and Bob have very different goals that contradict each other, but Alice pretends to agree on a common goal with him. When they're far enough in, she kills him to make sure her own goal can still be fulfilled.
- Defied: Alice kills Bob instantly when they meet, knowing that she cannot risk the constant paranoia.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: They insist on teaming up, even though their motives are far too different for them to reasonably help one another. Evulz is eventually defeated, but that could have happened much faster had Alice and Bob not tried to form an alliance.
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