Bruce Santee had this opinion of Jon Davis, to the point that after beating him in Vintage Wrestling via roll up, Santee felt bad for him and requested a rematch at the earliest opportunity using the excuse no one paid to see roll ups and their match should end with one of them laid out.

In The Bloody Ashikabi , both the Gringotts goblins and Karasuba view each other as the only worthwhile opponents they've had in a long time. It's the main reason Gringotts thinks so highly of Harry and his group.

Wordle Helper

If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it." — Erwin Rommel 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. Sam: Yeah. Not only did he get us to wash the dishes, we each paid for both meals. I gave him a big tip. In The Tim Tebow CFL Chronicles, Tebow outright calls the Atlantic Schooners "worthy opponents" since they came closer than any other team to stopping the Argonauts' drive.

The Fate/Zero and Lupin III fanfic Just an Unorthodox Thief, this trope is both apparent frequently and weaponized by Assassin/Lupin. The most apparent use of it is between Assassin/Lupin and Zenigata as usual and weaponized against honor-bound Servants like Lancer. 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!" Charles Xavier and Magneto, despite wildly differing views on mutants and their role in normal society, get on fairly well. When Genosha got blown up, Xavier even went to help Mags clean up. In The Antithesis, Yahweh, the leader of Heaven, and Lucifer, the leader of Hell, become friendly enemies when a Civil War between the angels and demons tragically force them to oppose one another. Previously, both had worked together as scientists in Heaven's main corporation for Technology and Science, 'The Plexus', and though now friendly enemies, they still strive for the same objective: peace between Heaven and Hell.also] on 13 December: "Let's see if you accounted for this... Excellent, I expected nothing less from you, Miranda." It is extremely common throughout the original series (and its movies) for the opponent to be a Worthy Opponent of Kirk or, at the very least, have a very healthy respect for him (albeit one full of hatred). Most notable of these was Khan Noonien Singh, originally a Worthy Opponent of Kirk — as well as the only one who was also an actual Earth-man (vs. simply a metaphor); in " Space Seed", the two Worthy Opponents parted in mutual respect and honor, with Kirk dropping all charges against Khan and granting him his original wish of a new world to command. Advice and Trust: Asuka regards Shinji as hers: he is nearly as good as her, and he can challenge her in the battlefield, forcing her to improve her piloting and fighting skills and perform better. After getting together she looks forward to make him fight hard to keep up with her, and when he feels glum because he seems unable to match her, she cheers him up and encourages him to keep chasing her. Shortly after, when Cyclops moved the X-Men to Utopia and demonstrated his bona fides as the leader of mutantkind, Magneto came to Utopia and dropped to his knees, saying, "I come not to bury Caesar, but to praise him" (an intentional Inversion of the Mark Antony speech from Julius Caesar). Thereafter, he served loyally on Scott's 'Extinction Team', busted him out of prison after Avengers vs. X-Men, and followed him until his death. In the Family Guy episode "Emission Impossible", Stewie and Bertram refer to each other as worthy adversaries.

on 13 December: "My undead dragon is distracted and my battlecasters' magic is deflected. Very good, Miranda." Julius Caesar (2003): Caesar considers Vercingetorix to be his; he even visits him before his execution to say farewell and states he feels more kinship with him than he does the mob howling for his enemy's blood.Tyrion: I admired her... she wanted to have me executed but I admired her. She was a strong woman and she was fierce when it came to protecting her children. He respects Tony enough that when he was believed dead, Doom declared a national day of mourning in Latveria. The Champion of the Universe declared The Thing to be a worthy foe after Thing refused to give up despite being hopelessly outmatched and even managed to give him an injury. Ulysses S. Grant was similarly well respected by Lee, who, after the war, never, ever tolerated an unkind word about Grant in his presence. Joseph Johnston was similarly disposed towards his rival. Considering that the rival in question was the oft-villainized William T. Sherman, that's saying something. Johnston even served as a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral in 1891, and refused to cover up despite poor health and the bone-chilling cold. Because of this, he caught pneumonia and died shortly afterwards. When a friend advised him to at least put on his hat (hats aren't worn at military funerals as a sign of respect), he refused, saying that, "If I were in his place and he were standing here Also from the Civil War: General Robert E. Lee was well respected by many members of the Union, including Abraham Lincoln. Before the Civil War, Lincoln had requested that Lee be the commander of the Union Army. The only thing that kept him from joining was because he had been born in the confederate state of Virginia, and couldn't bring himself to fight against the place he was born.

Exalted: Infernal Exalted can burn off Limit by adopting an enemy as one of these and taking steps to haul them into conflict. The Act of Villainy in question is even referred to as "Best Enemy Recognition", and was developed for the Yozi Szoreny, who would periodically spare his Solar opponents because he didn't want to lose such interesting foes.Steven Universe: Jasper seems to have this approach towards Rose Quartz, albeit in a rather abrasive manner given her first line on the topic is about "beating [Rose] into the ground". She does confess to respecting Rose's tactics, and seems to have a specific inclination towards only fighting things that fit her personal standards of worthiness. This respect does not extend to the other Crystal Gems, as she initially refuses to fight "a defective Pearl, an overcooked runt, and a Fusion" personally, and later talks Garnet down before their duel on her ship for being a Fusion of two "weak" Gems trying to be strong. Her repeated defeats at their hands don't improve her stance on them, as she insists that the only reason she keeps losing is because they keep using Fusion against her (which, to her credit, is exactly what led to each of her defeats and her attempt to abuse it herself ends up costing her). Rose seems to have her respect for being the only Crystal Gem capable of fighting her by herself without using "cheap tactics" to get stronger. New Gods: While a terrible parent to all of his children, Darkseid actually respects his son Orion despite actively opposing him and everything he stands for; unlike his loyal son Kalibak who isn't that bright and somewhat incompetent, Orion is a highly competent warrior. This is entirely one-sided, though, as Orion despises Darkseid and his biological relatives, though this doesn't stop Kalibak from being immensly jealous of Orion. In "Bullets", Watson mentions the rumors among his readers that Holmes harbors romantic feelings for Irene Adler (Holmes points out that it's Irene Norton, and that she and her beloved husband were together till death did them part.) When Watson inquires about her photo, Holmes asks if Watson having General Gordon's photo means he is in love with him. Watson answers in the negative, and Holmes finishes by saying that there's nothing wrong with a British gentleman having a heroine rather than a hero.