Some of My Favourite Videogame Rivalries

One of my favourite things to experience in both fiction and real life is the bond of friendship forming and growing between individuals. Be it in the heart of an epic battle or figuring out why the oven is making that weird sound, there’s just something about that camaraderie that I adore. However, sometimes these ironclad relationships start off as anything but, which is why I decided to look into some of my favourite rivalries in videogames for National Best Friends Day!

Brotherly Brutality — Dante and Vergil

Look, I know this one is like having Nobuo Uematsu in a list of favourite videogame composers, but this brotherly duo is iconic for a reason! This also has absolutely nothing to do with me recently having played through the fifth entry in the Devil May Cry franchise, I promise. Anyway, for the uninitiated, Dante and Vergil are twin brothers born to a human mother and a demon father, both thus endowed with inhuman strength and ability.

Separated at a young age, the two half-breeds grow into two very separate people with conflicting views, often clashing in pursuit of their goals and ideals. In fact, the two are each other's opposite to such an extent that they colour coded themselves to the respective Red and Blue oni they very much are.

Siblings with opposing views fighting is nothing new in itself, however, and there is a bit more to this dysfunctional relationship. For most of the interactions these two swordsmen have, they are quite literally trying their best to either one-up or straight-up kill one another, making it seem a very shallow whole. However, looking closer at the two in Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, or simply playing to the end of Devil May Cry 5, it’s plain to see how much the brothers Sparda actually care for each other. Seeing the two goofing off and sparring like the best of friends is just so silly and wholesome, I can’t help but smile.

Life Advice at Blade Tip — Raiden and Sam

From brotherly love to mutual respect, a very familiar duo to the aforementioned half-demons are Raiden and Jetstream Sam from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Both skilled swordsmen in their own right, their relationship (if you can call it that) gets off to a rocky start when Sam disarms Raiden in the most literal way early on in the game. Funnily enough, the unhinged samurai (the evil one) is mostly in absentia until the final stretch of the game, so one could think he’s pretty forgettable, right?

Well, that's just the thing. Sam is possibly the most memorable character in the game… with the possible exception of the Terminator Senator. When Raiden meets his erstwhile enemy, the two do what one does when armed with katanas: start slashing faster than the eye can see! As they clash, it becomes clear how similar they are, how much fun Sam is having, and how his actions thus far don’t really seem like the person we’re duelling to the death with. The two exchange barbs and strikes apace, with the ravenous rōnin poking holes in Raiden’s resolve, and body, at every turn. It’s a difficult fight and does end up with Raiden slaying his foe, which also reveals the fact that Mr. Jetstream was actually mostly human, abstaining from the cybernetic enhancements the other characters stick on like fashionable hats.

Though it’s pretty quickly glossed over, I really liked this little detail, as it acts as a mirror of sorts. Raiden, as a character, was basically forced into his robotic frame, so seeing another fighter on par with him without that edge must sting. If that existential dread wasn't enough, Sam also returns at the last moment to save our mechanical main character, even if the method is a bit bizarre, even for Metal Gear.

Grinning Gods and Sour Spirits — Zagreus and Thanatos

Going from clanging blades to more traditional competition, sometimes rivalries can be a bit one-sided, such as in the case of Hades' protagonist, Zagreus, and the personification of death, Thanatos.

On his quest to exit his father's titular realm, Zaggy boy can run into his buddy in any of the numerous arenas. Once encountered, Zagreus challenges death into a competition to see who can slay more foes in a set time. If you win or tie, the deadly deity gives you a health upgrade and saunters off, often scoffing at the whole ordeal. The banter between the two is also delightful, with our hero’s quips and cheer greeted with brusque replies.

There's something so wholesome about how excited Zagreus is to compare his strength against his childhood friend. Even when met with Thanatos’ icy demeanour, Zagreus just smirks like the golden retriever he is. Sure, there may be more between the two, as their relationship does indeed go very deep, but being the romantically malfunctioned lad I am, I choose to stay blind.

Friendship Spoken Via Punch — Kiryu and Majima

Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima; if you've played the Yakuza series, I probably need not say more. However, in case you don't enjoy tens of hours spent grinding UFO Catchers interrupted by organised crime, these two grizzled fighters, entrepreneurs, and leaders are possibly the epitome of ride-or-die rivalry.

Starting off as Majima’s one-sided obsession with the Dragon of Dojima in Yakuza, the brawling duo have formed an interesting relationship as the franchise progressed. While they're pretty much family by the end of the Yakuza series (before it adopted its Japanese title of Like A Dragon), Majima is always keeping Kiryu on his toes; if it seems the living legend is getting too soft, he can expect a visit from good old Goro. But if one is in danger, you can bet that the other will blaze a trail of battle to come to the rescue. Friendship goals, indeed.

Bonds Built on Broken Bones — That One Orc

So far, I've focused on inter-characters within the stories of games; however there's one franchise that managed to actually form a positive rivalry between me, the player, and an NPC: Middle-Earth: Shadow of series. While the Nemesis system mostly produced interesting short stories starring your very own Mordor Orcs, there were cases where a singular enemy just kept coming back again and again.

In my case, that orc was an Olog called Ur-Kalmar the Butcher, a greenhorn grunt that followed along on Talion’s quest start to finish. I called him Squiddy. He rose to power as I slew the leader of a local branch of baddies, resting his club on my head quite forcefully as I dragged myself, half-dead, from the aforementioned melee. Being a bit miffed, I tracked him down to exact my revenge, inadvertently sparking our enmity.

We traded blows often after this fateful beginning, with Squiddy gaining prestigious skills at monster slaying, a blazing hate for Talion, and a running speed to match any Caragor. While I did lose quite a bit, I did also give as much as I received, with the poor lad being more bandage than Olog at the end. He even ended up helping me a few times, as his unannounced entry onto the field gave me the chance to skedaddle, or simply pit two groups against each other.

I had a few favourite Nemeses as I played, but there was something different whenever Mr Butcher showed up! Turning up more frequently than any other, I'm absolutely sure we had some kind of bond that transcended the bounds of Talion's one-man war. I never managed to recruit him, however, and our relationship soured a bit after I broke his mind just a teeny bit… sorry Squiddy.

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And there you have it, five examples of my favourite rivalries in games. Do you have any iconic duos I missed? Are there any tropes you absolutely love? Let us know in the comments, and have a happy Best Friends Day!