- A New Problem has Roba and Alfe as this like in canon. Roba is sick of Alfe and doesn't seem to care he's missing. But deep down he worries about Alfe even though he's mad at him.
- Child of the Storm has the Avengers and their allies such as Remus, Sirius, Bucky, and Wanda, enjoying a light variant on this trope with each other - they bicker and snark at each other, but they're like peas in a pod.
- Harry and Carol develop into this, with a healthy dose of UST.
- Ron and Hermione are much the same way, though theirs is more Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Harry Dresden and Tony Stark meet, then immediately enter into Snark-to-Snark Combat that both seem to enjoy immensely.
- The Dragon and the Butterfly (Encanto & How to Train Your Dragon): Hiccup and Isabela devolve into this, their bad first impression leading to a semi-reluctant tolerance for Mirabel's sake.
- I Against I, Me Against You (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic & Red vs. Blue): This is a good summary of Twilight and Church's friendship. The other ponies and humans develop similar ones when they start to meet each other in the second act.
- Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations
(Kamen Rider & Metroid): Mitsuzane and Gou, who are also Sitcom Arch Enemies towards one another. Of course, they're both good guys who fought alongside with Samus, and both men are also Jerkasses and tend to rub each other the wrong way; since Gou is a Smug Super Attention Whore and annoys people including Samus and Micchy himself, the former is no-nonsense and has personal insecurities to cope with. This lead to both men getting on each other's nerves even in the most unpleasant situations, which in turn doubles as a Running Gag.Micchy: I thought we're going to lose you...
Gou: [pounds Micchy in the chest] You're such a worrywart!
Micchy: And you're starting to make my ass itch! - Amazing Fantasy (My Hero Academia & Spider-Man): The Earth-2018.688 version of Bakugou and Venom are constantly throwing insults at each other. Venom even mocks Bakugou during his How We Got Here narration and Bakugou constantly refers to Venom as "goop" to his annoyance. Despite this, the two of them look care for one another and pull each other out of danger.
- In Mœbius has Uryu and Ichigo's friendship, same as in Bleach itself. So much so that Madoka is able to tell that Uryu and Ichigo are really good friends just by how Uryu complains about Ichigo's faults without even meeting Ichigo herself.
- The Kamikaze Pirates in Voyages of the Wild Sea Horse snark about and bicker with each other incessantly with no qualms about expressing their annoyance physically, to the point that spontaneous crew-wide brawls are accepted as daily routine. At the same time, they are utterly loyal to each other and will band together in a fury to protect each other from an external threat.
- To Hell and Back (Arrowverse): Oliver and Barry. They bicker like an old married couple, but there's no doubt in anyone's mind how absolutely devoted they are to each other.
- Calvin & Hobbes: The Series remarks on the relationship between its title characters in "The Case of the Rogue Water Balloons":But Calvin and Hobbes were still best friends, and that would never change.
No matter how much one ticked the other off.- Hobbes' segment in "Tales of a Tiger" also has the narrator remark on it:"Hobbes, as we all know, is Calvin's closest friend, and not just because they have to share a bed. Despite a truckload of arguments and disagreements, Calvin and Hobbes are both dependent on each other. Calvin sometimes brings Hobbes back down to Earth when he gets too overconfident and Hobbes needs Calvin to keep his life interesting. Oh, and he also needs Calvin for tuna."
- Hobbes' segment in "Tales of a Tiger" also has the narrator remark on it:
- Famke Smith-Rhodes-Stibbons and Alexandra Mumorovka have this sort of relationship. Both are Alphas in their respective peer groups. Famke is a student Assassin; Lexi is a student Witch. Both have been noted by their tutors as having extraordinary potential. Both are alpha thirteen-year-old girls. They profess to abominate each other, trade insults at every opportunity, and indignantly deny any suggestion that theirs is any sort of stealth friendship. But they've already watched each other's back in a street fight (against student Thieves). Lexi is informally teaching Famke how to use a Cossack sword, and in between insults, they have traded and swapped clothes and braided each other's hair. A responsible adult speculates they actually quite like each other, but it would take serious torture to force an admission of this. Read more in the works of A.A. Pessimal.
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Yamcha and Tien are portrayed this way, constantly shooting barbs at one another, but ultimately fighting together when it counts. Spelled out in episode 60, when they believe that they may die against Perfect Cell:Yamcha: Hey, Tien, if this is really the end, I-
Tien: If you say "I love you", I swear to God-!
Yamcha: Actually, I was going to say you're the biggest asshole I know.
Tien: Oh.
Yamcha: ...you're also my best friend.
Tien: ...so are you, man. - Goku also seems to think that he and Vegeta have this relationship, when in fact Vegeta genuinely can't stand him.
- Courier's Mind: Rise of New Vegas: The series depicts The Courier as an abrasive, temperamental Jerkass who is Enraged by Idiocy and is a Nominal Hero at the best of the times. This puts him at odds with his various followers, most prominently ED-E and Boone, who are quick to call him out on his more questionable decisions and keep him on the straight and narrow. Despite this, The Courier really does like and respect them.
- Springtrap and Deliah: Springtrap develops this with Harry over the course of the comic. Ironically, their relationship is leagues more healthy than Springtrap and Deliah's.
- My Master Ed: Van Hohenheim and Edward often tease and pick fights with each other, the former often snarking while the latter is more prone to yelling. They're also each other's only friend. Once when Ed was particularly downcast, Van aggressively baits him into a shouting match and sparring round.Even when he ended up all covered in dirt and bruises barely an hour later, Van had absolutely no regrets.
- Children of an Elder God (Cthulhu Mythos & Neon Genesis Evangelion): Misato and Ritsuko are this. They tease and mock each other the whole time, but they're good friends. When Ritsuko woke up from her long slumber, she asked about Misato right away.Ritsuko: Hmm. I see you're busy. When you two are done, I need to see Misato."
Misato: I was just trying to find out who his girlfriend is!
Ritsuko: I suppose he had it written on the inside of his underwear or something?
Godzilla / King Kong / MonsterVerse
- Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Vivienne Graham considers Lauren Griffin a "jarhead", and Griffin in turn considers Vivienne a "nerd", but Vivienne still finds she's missed Griffin in the months since her death in Antarctica, and the feeling appears to be mutual on Griffin's end. The author also says on her Tumblr that she likes to think Rodan as she's portrayed him has this kind of relationship with Godzilla and the latter's other Titan allies.
- Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna all become increasingly violent with each other while still being the best of friends. When Sirius's girlfriend comments on Harry's nose "bending the other way now," all he states is that "someone was a little angrier than he expected", to which Hermione claims her ribs state he's already gotten his revenge.
- A Wizard's Fairytale: Aries Kalgarias (formerly Harry Potter) and Druella Macnair. When questioned by an outsider Aries describes the relationship as a "mutually miserable friendship."
- The Ultimate Evil: Uncle can get on Valerie's nerves by being Uncle generally and the feeling is at times mutual, but they still care for each other. It's shown most prominently after Valerie temporarily goes missing, and when Valerie is trying to save Jade from Tarakudo in the sequel. Similarly, Valerie and Nat push each other's buttons and grind their nerves, but they really do care about each other after a bad start.
- The Devil's in the details: In "Giving Thanks", Peter describes Matt and Jessica as saltmates; "[p]eople that are destined to be together in the world just to piss each other off."
- X-Men: The Early Years: Scott, Jean, Hank, Warren, and Bobby are the world's best friends who spend most of their time bickering or harassing each other.
- The Weight of Jade: Wayzz and Plagg. Plagg thinks the turtle miraculous wielder's penchant for academic duties (training to be a guardian) and magical healing makes them boring, while Wayzz thinks that the turtle's duties are more important than the cat's penchant for "breaking things." They're pretty civil otherwise.
- Duran And Kiyohime's Omake Theater: Natsuki and Nao have become this, going on shopping excursions together and snarking at each other all the while.
- Ask King Sombra: Coffee Talk and Sombra. While Sombra may be largely self-centered, and their current relationship may hinging primarily on Coffee Talk blackmailing Sombra into behaving, he does care about Coffee Talk a little, as he immediately went off in search of her after he was revived, getting himself captured by Crystal Wolves in order to find her.
- Stallions Of Harmony Verse: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle become this. In their first scene together, they mock and belittle each other, and are clearly academic rivals. However when their attempt to sneak out of Canterlot and help save Shining results in Sunset assaulting a Royal Guard, Sunset assures Twilight that she'll take the fall for the assault , while Twilight assures her that they (and Moondancer) are in this together. As the narrative points out, "Friendship is weird."
- In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic comic Trixie Vs, Trixie eventually becomes this with The Ghost of Hearts Warming of all things! (It Makes Sense in Context)
- The central premise of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic Unlikely Allies. Trixie drags Twilight along on an adventure to save Equestria. Along the way they constantly bicker with each other over Twilight's need to compensate for something, Trixie's shady past, whether or not Starswirl the Bearded was the father of magic theory or an overrated joke, and practically everything in between... while sneaking into enemy territory, taking down monsters, and fighting the bad guy together. They are clearly enjoying themselves immensely.
- The Child of Love:
- Misato and Ritsuko are old friends and poke and snark at each other constantly.
- In chapter 2:Ritsuko: He's examining her? What kind of 'examination' is he giving her now?
Misato: Cut that out! I'M SERIOUS HERE!!!
Ritsuko: Hmmm... is the Great Major Katsuragi losing her self-control?
* click*
Ritsuko: She gets upset too easily these days...
- In chapter 2:
- Misato and Ritsuko are old friends and poke and snark at each other constantly.
- HERZ: Asuka and Hikari are friends since they were teenagers, but they enjoy poking fun at each other when they hang out together. Mocking each other’s husband good-naturedly is almost a requirement during their reunions.
- And Nothing But The Truth: Zoro and Sanji were always this in canon, but the fanfic showcases it best, where some of the crew (including the aforementioned duo) are infected with a Truth Serum and leads up to Zoro and Sanji hollering out the following lines... while beating each other to a pulp.Zoro: I RESPECT YOU, SWIRLS!
Sanji: I RESPECT YOU TOO, MOSSHEAD! - Ripples, Waves, Tsunamis: Raijax and Nami, or as they call each other, Bastard and Brat.
- Pokémon Reset Bloodlines: A sidestory with Orange League Gym Leader Luana shows that her Marowak and Alakazam are this. They're rivals to one another and bicker a lot, but work very effectively as a team when they have to.
- Empath: The Luckiest Smurf: Besides the Brainy and Clumsy relationship from the cartoon show, there's Empath and Hefty as well as Hefty and Duncan McSmurf. Despite Hefty's dislike for both Empath and Duncan, he pretty much knows that they care for him and will stick by him like glue.
- Lightning: "Vitriolic" may not be the exact appropriate term for their dynamic, but when Stan learns about Kenny's immortality and regains his memory of Kenny's past deaths, he assures Kenny that, even if they don't show it during Kenny's "regular" deaths, they all genuinely missed him when he spent a year dead after dying of illness.
- Snow Way Out, Rodney torments Mr. J and Mr. J hates Rodney like in canon. But they learn to care more for each other after being lost in the snow together.
- Limpet AU: Piett and Vader develop into this over the course of the Executor's twenty-five year stranding in the Unknown Regions; in "Meet the Skywalkers", Vader realizes that Piett is genuinely his friend, and says that, while he doesn't totally trust him, Piett has more than earned it — the problem is on his end due to residual Kenobi issues. Piett is also one of the very few people who isn't related to him who's willing to snark back at him.
- Star Wars: Lineage:
- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Garen Muln constantly wrestle with one another and drop wry comments about the other's (lack of) intelligence, social graces, etc... yet they have also been best friends since childhood, and would die for the other without a second thought.
- Qui-Gon and Mace Windu are very different people — Mace is on the High Council, while Qui-Gon is Famed In-Story for being a rogue. They snark at and insult one another throughout all of their time together, most notably in Exodus. Should anyone mess with Qui-Gon, however, Mace Windu will be very pissed off. And you do not want Mace Windu pissed off at you.
Unsorted
- In The Apprentice, the Student, and the Charlatan, just about all of Nova's friendships are built on mutual sarcasm and insults, but of particular note are his friendships with Aegis, Twilight, and Trixie.
- Evangelion 303: Misato and Ritsuko have this relationship. They often enjoy poking fun at each other.
- Rude Awakening Redux: Bafeel and Seekvaira are often shown to have this type of relationship.
- Star Trek: Phoenix: Despite a rather disastrous first meeting, Twilight and Maia develop a lasting friendship with each other — albeit one where their primary bonding activities are sarcastic sniping interspersed with sparring matches where they try to beat the tar out of each other.
- In Gensokyo 20XX, Yuuka and Eirin are more or less this, as they do spend a bit of time being subtly hostile to each other but are nonetheless on good terms and they do care for each other.
- In 20XXII, we have Kaguya and Mokou. Confirmed that they are roommates.
- In The Ashikabi of Fire, Harry Potter and Homura spend most of their time either cuddling up next to each other or getting into fire-enhanced fist fights. Later Harry, Ron, and Hermione all treat each other like this. Hermione's parents approve of anyone who can stay friends with her after they get into a fistfight.
- In The Ashikabi of Romance by the same author, Harry and Kazehana are described as being the only Ashikabi and Sekirei to actually court before winging. Namely, Kazehana didn't want an Ashikabi and Harry didn't want to be kissed by an older woman so every time she tried, he punched her in the face. Even after Harry wings her, they spend most of their time arguing over various anime with her chasing him around the room/house the entire time.
- In The Ashikabi of Romance
- From Kill la Kill AU, we have Rei and the kids (Ryuko, Nui, Satsuki, and Mako). To quote Nui, in Police Brutality:"Then again, she damn well would be because, even though Ryuu one time messed with her booze, changed the password to her computer and wouldn't tell her what it was, and has been an all-and-out asshole and did just as many assholish things to her, she still cared, even if she does want to kill us sometimes."
- Earlier, we see Ryuuko and her sisters. Naturally, later in the comic, we have their relationship with her being rather strained due to the former delinquent antics, yet they are just as upset with the prospect of being separated as she is.
- Weiss Reacts: Yang and Weiss evolve into this as the series progresses. It's pretty clear that despite the snarking from either side and the trolling from Yang, they will back each other when worst comes to worst. Weiss avenges Yang when she gets taken out during the Antic War, and Yang is one of the first to leap to Weiss' defense when she is kidnapped by Siegmund Schnee and the person who delivers a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to an Ursa that attempts to kill her.
- In The Pride of Sunnydale, Xander and Buffy spend most of their conversations sniping at each other; Xander and Giles tend to sling insults each other's way fairly often as well. Regardless, Xander considers Buffy somewhere between his best friend and girlfriend and thinks of Giles as his father. Contrast with Xander and Angel who constantly insult each other because they can't stand one another.
- In the supercrossover military fanfic The Terminators: Army of Legend, the relationships between Piermont and Spyro, Alex and Sapphire, and Alex and Tiberius eventually evolved into this after initially being a typical case of Headbutting Heroes. Although they might have become friends, the snarkiness between the pairings never seems to have died.
- In The Dark Side of the Mirror Verse, the Mirror Mane Six are this. While they often take shots at each other and belittle each other, they're all quick to get angry when somepony gave Rainbow Crash a black eye because only they get to mess with each other. When Twilight becomes Nightmare Spotlight, the rest come to help save her.
- In Sonic the Hedgehog AU Prison Island Break, Sonic and Shadow are this. Most obviously, Shadow has never had any other friends in the prison but admires Sonic for genuinely standing up to him no matter what. On the other side, Sonic admires Shadow for being one of the few people to not simply succumb to his charisma and raging ego the way everybody else seems to, making him feel like he's earned this friendship.
- In Wonderful (Mazinja), Taylor and Sophia are called “frienemies” by their friends and co-workers. They don't get along but they hang together and often fight together.
- Mild example with Steve and Bucky in Ain't No Grave. They actually get along very well, but something about their friendship brings out both guys' inner child and outer smartass, and they tease each other like a couple of middle-schoolers. (Never mind that both men are technically over ninety.)
- This Bites! has its fair share of this dynamic:
- Cross and Soundbite are this. While not as bad as Zoro and Sanji, they're both snarky, and Soundbite's pranking tendencies often get on the human's nerves, as do Cross's insults. Point of reference for how much they really care: Cross was ready to tear Miss All Sunday apart when she stole him (who, as a point of reference, is not only a future crewmate but also a powerful assassin who he had pretty much no chance of surviving a fight with in a haze of rage), and Soundbite's concern for Cross when he fell ill was as clear as day.
- According to Vivi, there is an Alabastan term for this, called "Kismet". She paraphrases it as 'two souls determined to hatefuck each other in the personality'. She uses the term to describe Zoro and Sanji's relationship, which Cross admits is fitting. She then goes on to say that Cross and Taishigi must both have Kismet.
- The Star vs the Forces of Evil fan fiction A Habit Hard to Break gives us Marco Diaz and Kar'Margorach (the name given in this story to Marco's sentient demonic tentacle arm, brought back from the canon episode Monster Arm, and eventually turned good guy). With Kar being vitriolic to Marco more often than vice-versa. Still, both get their moments.Kar: I just want you to know that I fucking despise you. You're a self-righteous little shit, and when you aren't acting like a brain-dead idiot, you're only thinking with your dick. I can't believe, out of all the assholes I could be stuck to, it had to be you. How the hell you managed to awaken my inner soft-side is beyond me. I remember when I was happy being a vicious curse that that sought non-discriminatory genocide and bowels. But you and your girly pep talks changed all that. Now, I'm a demon curse with feelings. A fucking curse with feelings! Now I care about all the mistakes I've made in the past. I care about others, about you. I know I'm not always the nicest or the most useful, and I hate myself because I know you deserve better than me. So next time you sigh as we rehash the same conversation from a few months ago, about how bad I think I am, just remember that it's your own fucking fault!
Marco: So, basically, you’re saying...
Kar: ...Thank you - The More Things Change has Ranma and Ryouga, who try to kill each other at least once a day but they are good friends. Or so Akane thinks.Akari winced as she saw the two fighters hit each other savagely. "Oh! I hope they don't kill each other!"
"Those two? No, they won't. You'll never get them to admit it, but they're good friends," said Akane. "Really they are. Nobody's going to be killed."
Ukyou rolled her eyes. - In To Intervene, Tony Stark's two best lawyers (Lewis Trenton and Lisa Murrow) have been bitter rivals since law school and find nothing more entertaining than poking holes in each other's arguments. Not only is each the godparent of the other's child, but their desire to prove each other wrong means they write up the most airtight contracts in the world.
- In Transformers Meta, Barricade and Soundwave are this.
- The Doki Doki Literature Club Loops gives us Natsuki and Yuri, going off their baseline interactions and spiralling out from there. They are perfectly willing to tear into each other verbally (and sometimes physically) to an extreme degree but have also shown that they are equally extreme when it comes to saving each other from terrible situations, and they do have plenty of friendly moments culminating in them eventually hooking up.Monika: ...these two are way weirder as friends then they are as individuals.
- In The Portal, Thomas/Blizzard and Alex/Static share this relationship. Static does take a few opportunities to mock Blizzard and his girlfriend, Storm. However, when Static hears that Blizzard has been injured by Zobek, he insists on rushing to his aid.
- In Here We Go Again!, Kincaid and Wilkes. The two have been together since tank school. They also routinely throw insults at each other.
- Skyhold Academy Yearbook has Varric and Dorian, who mock each other relentlessly and take every opportunity to do so. They are nevertheless extremely close friends - in later installments they like to call each other "the brother I never wanted" - and if either of them needs anything, the other is the first to respond.
- For the Glory of Irk:
- Zim and Dib have settled into this since Zim gave up on conquering Earth. They still argue and butt heads, but in a friendly way, not as archenemies.
- Vero and Xia. He genuinely likes her but also enjoys riling her up, and while she claims to despise him, it's clear she cares about him.
- In The Awakening of a Magus, Snape and Draco are both naturally this for Harry and his old friends. Appearances must be kept up, after all.
