On a more general level, this is a requirement for a Kismesis (i.e. Hate-romance) in Troll culture. One must both hate the enemy and respect them for a proper Kismesissitude. In the fourth game, Apollo Justice gets his own Worthy Opponent, Klavier Gavin. While Klavier insults Apollo and refers to him as "Herr Forehead" quite a bit, Klavier never intentionally hides anything from Apollo, never tries to screw him over, and willingly helps Apollo as much as his duties as a prosecutor allow him to. Said segment was an homage to a Marvel comic where The Champion of the Universe admitted he couldn't "defeat" The Thing in a match after defeating all of Marvel's other heroes.

SCP-1638 was created by an Antagonist in Mourning to honour a Foundation agent that he considered a worthy opponent after the agent had died. Rasslor: Incredible. I could crush your body, I could smash your bones, but I could NEVER break your spirit. Lex Luthor: "Superman certainly is fair in this interview! Even though he despises me, he gives me full credit for saving his life!... He's a worthy opponent for my genius. Perhaps I should spare him!" Enemy Ace Hans von Hammer is often portrayed as a Worthy Opponent. He is obviously inspired by the real-life Red Baron, mentioned below.Jerry Lawler became this for The Miz up to their match in Elimination Chamber 2011. The Monday before the match, The Miz announces that Lawler's mother passed the Saturday before and gives him his deep condolences. Instead of bad-mouthing him, Miz takes the time to state that he doesn't want this passing to get in the way of their match and to have a good fight (although thanks to Michael Cole, it didn't turn out to really be a good fight). Subverted in Criminal Minds in the "Masterpiece" episode. Jason Alexander's character, Henry Grace, fancies himself a fellow genius at the same level as Spencer Reid, and hopes to enter into a Worthy Opponent relationship with him. Instead, Hotch makes sure Reid stays away from Grace, and Reid, impervious to the seduction of having a Worthy Opponent, sets about solving the case. Which he does, with a flourish. Speaking of tennis, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras played against each other 34 times before they retired, with Sampras winning 20. Especially during Agassi's late career revival, journalists freely admitted Agassi gave it his all every time they faced off. If he lost, it was nothing he did wrong, it was a matter of the better player winning. Even after retiring, Agassi and Sampras remain close friends.

Taker also has recognized several wrestlers for their unmitigated courage in facing him, especially if they are far below his weight class: Expect to hear Combat Compliments. A character who thinks this way is likely to have Faith in the Foe. This can lead to The Only One Allowed to Defeat You, depending on the mindset of the character making this statement. See also Friendly Enemy and Evil Counterpart. Can overlap with Enemies Equals Greatness. The idea of this trope is deliberately designed to sail over the head of the Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy as they can only think about beating their foes and being the best with zero regard for the battle itself (the realization that, yes, you can respect your opponent/the battle you shared and still be a great fighter is the key turning point in their Character Development). This is very common with a Mirror Character. In the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The two teams are rivals in the AFC North, and they really cannot stand each other — their rivalry is said to be one of the most bitter in the NFL. However, both teams are also willing to admit that the other is generally a very tough team to beat and that Ravens/Steelers games are always hard fought. Some even say that the rivalry helps to keep both teams at the top of their game, and that's why both teams have been among the NFL's most consistently successful franchises since the mid 2000s. And oddly, the longer the rivalry endures, the less bitter it gets — although the teams still can't stand each other, they both take great pride in how the Ravens/Steelers rivalry is considered hands down the best rivalry in the NFL, and the Cincinnati Bengals have, for various reasons, become the more hated enemy of both teams. As his time on the circuits was coming to a close, CM Punk requested Matt Sydal and Delirious be his final two opponents in IWA Mid-South.After putting on a match that Dave Meltzer called the greatest in pro wrestling history at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 11 in 2017, Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega exemplified this trope. Omega called the victorious Okada the best wrestler in Japan and possibly the world, while Okada called Omega the greatest foreign wrestler in NJPW history. Amon: I'm impressed. No one has ever gotten the better of me like that. It is almost a shame to purify someone so talented. Almost. At the tail end of TNA's 2014 (and Spike TV deal) Eric Young stated that if he had to name a professional wrestler in the world at the time better than Bobby Roode, he wouldn't be able to do it. He then rhetorically asked "Is Eric Young as good Bobby Roode" and basically said "yes". They were competing to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley, whom Roode thought of as this ( but not MVP or Kenny King).

Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Wehrmacht commanders, of all people, respected Patton even more than his colleagues. Mainly because he was using their blitzkrieg tactics against them and winning. Hitler called Patton "the crazy cowboy general." note Hitler, being a Karl May fan, deeply admired anything coming from the Old West Erwin Rommel certainly returned his archenemy's remarks to him, saying that he executed "the most astonishing achievement in mobile warfare." General Alfred Jodl compared him to General Heinz Guderian, who conquered France, Poland, and parts of the USSR. Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, who fought, delayed, and harassed Patton at Sicily, noted that "Patton had developed tank warfare into an art, and understood how to handle tanks brilliantly in the field. I feel compelled, therefore, to compare him with Generalfeldmarschall Rommel, who likewise had mastered the art of tank warfare. Both of them had a kind of second sight in regard to this type of warfare." German officer Fritz Bayerlein said that, unlike the cautious British General Montgomery, "I do not think that General Patton would let us get away so easily." and in an interview conducted for Stars and Stripes (American Military newspaper) just after his capture, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt stated simply of Patton, "He is your best." Indeed, German command's high opinion of Patton was so well known that (much to the General's annoyance) Allied Command placed him in charge of the (fake) First United States Army Group during a deception campaign leading up to D-Day, since they knew that the Germans were paying close attention to anything Patton was doing so involving him directly would greatly risk exposing the real D-Day plans. In one story, "The Warrior and the Dragon" , Able got into a fight with SCP-682. Able came very, very close to killing the thing, too. When he inevitably resurrected inside SCP-076, he claimed it was the best fight he had in ages, and wanted to celebrate with his team over a pizza. on 11 December: "A dragonheart empowerment. How very rare. You've got quite an arsenal on your side, Miranda." The Joker, to an even greater degree. He sees Batman, not only as a worthy opponent, but as "the only human being that can keep up with him." The feeling is ( usually) not mutual, by the way. While Batman refuses to kill the Joker because of his one rule, he just sees the Joker for the murderous psychopath he is and accords him no praise. Nikita Koloff started out as a standard Foreign Wrestling Heel, then became a Worthy Opponent to Magnum T.A.; when Magnum's career was ended by a car accident in 1986, Nikita became an Antagonist in Mourning, which eventually led to a Heel–Face Turn.Hauptmann Hans Dietrich of The Rat Patrol. Though he was rarely able to stop the Allied commando unit, he was smart and always honorable. An inversion occurs during the Fuchsia Tag Tournament: Red, who was the first opponent to defeat Ash, learns that he has the ability to give his Pokémon temporary power boosts, but refuses to do so because he considers it cheating, and views Red in this light when he learns of his Victory Sight ability and how he's always constantly using it. Red on the other hand views Ash's attitude as a display of arrogance and disrespect for his opponents for not giving out his all. The two begin to see each other as un worthy opponents from then on, though later events lead them to understand the other's point of view to a certain degree. In the Family Guy episode "Emission Impossible", Stewie and Bertram refer to each other as worthy adversaries.

Jesus Christ respects Astorath for his honor and his Pet the Dog tendencies, even though the two are archenemies on opposing sides. And although he hates Maledict on principle, he privately respects Satan's intelligence and cunning.In the third case, Dane Gustavia is deeply disappointed that Jeff Master was the one suspected of the murder, since they deeply respected Master as a fellow pastry chef and considered him a worthy opponent. They were actually trying to frame someone else, but an accident caused the victim's body to be discovered early in a place that made Master look suspicious. In C0DA, Jubal and Talos / Lorkhan trade verbal blows during Jubal's bachelor party. After a stern talking-to from Kyne and a few drinks, the two make up and Jubal admits this (in a way) toward Talos /Lorkhan. Later, Lorkhan officiates Jubal's wedding to the daughter of Almalexia. In Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race, Terra sees Bass as this since they share the same power source, but Mega Man is beneath his notice.