LogFAQs > #925082599

Today's trope is Enemy Mine. Here is the link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnemyMine

A shorter form of the Sanskrit proverb "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Another phrase used to describe this is "War makes for strange bedfellows." This results in a scenario where foes must work together to achieve a common goal. Note that this is different from Villain Team-Up or Legion of Doom: although all three involve two parties working together to achieve a common goal, this trope usually involves two rivals that have opposing views (such as being good vs being evil) while the latter two involves characters that share similar views (such as both of them are evil), though they don't necessarily like each other.

This type of team-up usually starts with the villain coming to the hero's aid, usually saying that a certain threat is a danger to them both, or "No one kills you but me!" when they save the hero from certain doom. May arise from a Mexican Standoff. After the team-up, the villain will usually let the hero live for now because they were so useful, so everything can return to status quo.

Frequently, if it is a goodie-baddie partnership, the baddie will look for opportunities to pull something that gets them a profit (or, in the case of really bad baddies, allows them to stab the goodie in the back). If the villain doesn't betray the hero right away, but there is still animosity between them while they are working together, then you have Teeth-Clenched Teamwork. If the Status Quo is not maintained there could be a creep towards Friendly Enemy status. Can become a HeelFace Revolving Door if it happens more than once.

TL,DR: Sworn enemies must work together to face a common threat.

Nominations:
The X-Men and Brotherhood (X-Men)
Crash Bandicoot and Dr Cortex (Crash Twinsanity)
Chell and GLADOS (Portal 2)