Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis (sometimes spelled arch-enemy, arch-foe, arch-villain or arch-nemesis) is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy (compare nemesis). The reason as to why the particular villain stands out more than the other rogues gallery villains varies, although they may be the hardest enemy to fight, the hero's opposite, the most often recurring villain, always bearing the most dangerous plots or poses the biggest threat, such as global domination in comparison to burglary, was once a friend of the hero, or is the source of constant tragedy, pain and horror to the hero.
It should be noted that just because a villain is a hero's arch-enemy does not necessarily mean that they are their greatest enemy, as there are often other enemies who may be considered more powerful, resourceful, intelligent and/or evil than the archvillain, or perhaps has larger-scale goals. For example in the Superman comics, Darkseid, who threatens the entire universe, is a much greater threat than Lex Luthor who usually just threatens Metropolis and sometimes the world. For these reasons, heroes sometimes team up with their archenemy to take down the greater threat (see below). It should also be noted that it is sometimes possible for a hero to have more than one archenemy(see entries below).
Comic book archenemies
- Apocalypse, archenemy of primarily Cable and secondarily the rest of the X-Men
- Attuma, archenemy of Namor the Sub-Mariner
- Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, archenemy of Dick Tracy.
- Baron Mordo, archenemy of Dr. Strange
- Black Manta, archenemy of Aquaman
- Black Tom Cassidy, archenemy of the X-Men's Banshee
- Blackheart, archenemy of Ghost Rider
- Bullseye and Kingpin, archenemies of Daredevil
- Captain Cold, a fan favorite and archenemy of The Flash
- Cheetah, archenemy of Wonder Woman
- Darkseid, archenemy of Orion, Highfather, and the New Gods of New Genesis
- Deacon Frost, archenemy of Blade
- Deathstroke the Terminator (also known as Slade), archenemy of the Teen Titans
- Doctor Doom, archenemy of the Fantastic Four (and especially Mister Fantastic)
- Doctor Emil Gargunza, archenemy of Miracleman
- Doctor Sivana, archenemy of DC Comics's Captain Marvel
- Egghead, archenemy of Henry Pym, the Ant-Man
- Galactus, archenemy of the Silver Surfer
- Granny Goodness, archemy of Mister Miracle
- Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus and Venom are the archenemies of Spider-Man
- Jigsaw, archenemy of The Punisher
- Joker, archenemy of Batman
- Judge Death, archenemy of Judge Dredd
- Kang, archenemy of the Avengers
- Klaw, archenemy of the Black Panther
- Lex Luthor, archenemy of Superman
- Loki, brother and archenemy of Thor
- Leader, Abomination, and Thunderbolt Ross are the archenemies of the Hulk
- Magneto, archenemy of the X-Men in general and the team's founder, Professor X, in particular
- Mandarin, archenemy of Iron Man
- Ming the Merciless, archenemy of Flash Gordon
- The Mist, archenemy of Starman (Ted Knight)
- Mojo, archenemy of Longshot
- Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash, archenemy of Barry Allen, the second Flash
- Rasputin is the archenemy of Hellboy.
- Red Skull, archenemy of Captain America
- Sabretooth, archenemy of the X-Men's Wolverine
- Sinestro, the mentor and supervillain arch-nemesis of the superhero Green Lantern Hal Jordan, the enitire Green Lantern Corps in general.
- Thanos, archenemy of Marvel Comics's Captain Marvel
- The Mekon, archenemy of Dan Dare
- The Singh Brotherhood, archenemies of The Phantom
- Trigon, the archenemy and father of the Teen Titan's Raven
- Ultra-Humanite, archenemy of the Justice Society of America, and of the Golden Age Superman
- Zoom, archenemy of Wally West, the third Flash
Literary archenemies
- Greb Strakhov, is the archenemy of Mack Bolan, hero of the Executioner novels.
- The Montagues and Capulets (with the exceptions of Romeo and Juliet) are archenemies in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
- Jack is the archenemy of Ralph in Lord of the Flies
- Moby Dick is the archenemy of Captain Ahab in the classic novel, Moby-Dick
- Professor James Moriarty is the archenemy of Detective Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes media.
- Inspector Javert is the archenemy of Jean Valjean in the classic French novel, Les Misérables.
- Lord Voldemort is the arch-nemesis of Harry Potter within the series. Draco Malfoy could also be described as Harry's arch-enemy (or rather arch-rival), and Voldemort could also be seen as Albus Dumbledore's.
- Sauron is the archenemy in The Lord of the Rings.
- Randall Flagg (and his various incarnations) is arguably the archenemy in many of Stephen King's works.
- Derek Leech is the archenemy of Sally Rhodes (and, to an extent, also Richard Jeperson) in Kim Newman's works.
- The Auditors of Reality are the archenemy of Death and Susan in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.
- Emmanuel Goldstein is the archenemy of Big Brother in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Film and television archenemies
- Rene Belloq is the archenemy of Indiana Jones in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, and prequel materials from the franchise.
- The humanoid-Cylon known as Leoben Conoy, from the re-imagined series of Battlestar Galactica, has had frequent antagonistic encounters with Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, and could be seen as her archenemy.
- Darth Vader is the archenemy of Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy.
- Dr. Evil is the archenemy of Austin Powers.
- Adam Copeland AKA Edge, is the archenemy of former best friend, Matt Hardy, Version 1.0
- Emperor Palpatine is the archenemy of Yoda in the Star Wars films.
- Both the One-Armed Man and Lieutenant Phillip Gerard were archenemies of Dr. Richard Kimble in the various film and television incarnations of The Fugitive.
- Alfonse Giardella was the archenemy of Andy Sipowicz.
- Goldar in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers could be seen as the archenemy of both Jason Lee Scott and Tommy Oliver.
- Hans and Simon Gruber were the archenemies of John McClane.
- James Bond from the 007 series had three archenemies: Auric Goldfinger, Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the steel-toothed assassin Jaws; an institutional archenemy was the Soviet counterespionage agency SMERSH.
- King Ghidorah is the archenemy of Godzilla.
- Commander Kolya of the Genii is the archenemy of Lt. Colonel John Sheppard in the science-fiction adventure series Stargate Atlantis.
- FBI Agent Alexander Mahone, from the Fox Network's serial drama Prison Break, is the archenemy of series protagonist Michael Scofield.
- In Doctor Who, the Doctor has two archenemies: the Daleks, a race mutated beings encased in metal tank-like devices who believe that all non-Daleks must be "exterminated"; and the Master, a fellow renegade Time Lord who, unlike the Doctor, desires domination over the universe.
- Kane and The Big Show are the archenemies of The Undertaker. Occasionally, though, Kane and Undertaker will join forces against bigger threats, and dominate the tag-team division in the WWE. The Big Show has also carried an alliance and held the tag-team titles with The Undertaker.
- Buffy Summers had different archenemies at different times on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, with at least one per season (see Big Bad)
- Murdoc is the archenemy of Macgyver.
- Nina Myers, from the Fox Network's serial drama 24, is the archenemy of Jack Bauer.
- Newman is the archenemy of Jerry Seinfeld in the TV show Seinfeld, constantly turning bad matters to worse for him.
- Paul Millander, a serial killer with an expert knowledge of forensic pathology, is the archenemy of forensic investigator Gil Grissom.
- Randy Orton and Ric Flair are the archenemies of the hardcore legend, Mick Foley.
- The Rock, Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, and "Y2J" Chris Jericho are the archenemies of Stone Cold Steve Austin, epecially The Rock and McMahon. From time to time, Eric Bischoff and Chris Jericho have tried to bring out the worse in Steve Austin.
- Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, from the Fox Network's serial drama Prison Break, is the archenemy of John Abruzzi
- The Sith are the archenemy of the Jedi in the Star Wars universe.
- The Troublesome Trucks are the archenemies of Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and Toby in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
- The law firm of Wolfram and Hart is the archenemy of Angel in his TV series.
- Walter Peck is the archenemy of Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters
Cartoon and videogame archenemies
Listed in Alphabetical Order
- Admiral Zhao and Zuko were the arch-enemies of Aang and his friends in Avatar: The Last Airbender's Book One while Azula and Long Feng were Book Two's archenemies.
- Akagi is the archenemy of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
- Aku is the archenemy of Samurai Jack.
- Andross and the Star Wolf team are the archenemies of the Star Fox team.
- Archie is the archenemy of Pokémon Sapphire.
- Bowser is the archenemy of Mario in the Nintendo video-game series.
- Big Boss and Liquid Snake are both archenemies of Solid Snake of the Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series
- Black Doom is the archenemy of Shadow the Hedgehog.
- The Brotherhood of Nod and their leader Kane are the archenemies of the Global Defense Initiative in the Command and Conquer series of video games.
- Char Aznable is the archenemy of Amuro Ray in the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime.
- Clayton is the archenemy of Tarzan
- Cobra Commander is the archenemy of G.I. Joe.
- The Covenant are the archenemies of the Master Chief in the Halo series.
- Danielle Atron is the archenemy of Alex Mack in The Secret World of Alex Mack.
- Dark Kat, Doctor Viper, and the Metallikats are the archenemies of the Swat Kats.
- David Xanatos and Demona are the archenemies of Goliath and the Manhattan Clan in Gargoyles
- The Delightful Children from Down the Lane and Father are the archenemies of Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Codename: Kids Next Door.
- Derek Powers is the archenemy of Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond
- Doctor Blight, Verminous Skumm, Hoggish Greedly, Looten Plunder, Sly Sludge and Duke Nukem are the archenemies of Kwame, Wheeler, Linka, Gi, Ma-Ti and Captain Planet in Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
- Doctor Drakken is the archenemy of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable in Disney's Kim Possible.
- Doctor Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Robotnik) is the archenemy of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Chaotix, Shadow and Rouge in Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog video game franchise.
- Doctor Neo Cortex is the archenemy of Crash Bandicoot in the Crash Bandicoot video game series.
- Don Karnage and the Air Pirates are the archenemies of Baloo, Kit Cloudkicker and Rebecca Cunningham in TaleSpin.
- Eggman Nega is the archenemy of Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat.
- The Evil Emperor Zurg is the archenemy of Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear
- "Endless" Mike Hellstrom is the archenemy of Big Pete in The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Likewise, Pitstain is the archenemy of Little Pete.
- Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam are the archenemies of Bugs Bunny.
- Fat Cat and Professor Norton Nimnul are the archenemies Chip, Dale, Gadget, Monterey and Zipper in Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers.
- Ganondorf is the archenemy of Link in the Legend of Zelda video-game series and, with Vaati, is also the only Zelda character to have survived to the next game, (Link and most other Zelda characters are either descendants or ancestors from previous games).
- Geese Howard is a best Villain is a Nemesis of Brothers Bogards in Fatal Fury Series
- Giovanni is the archenemy of most of Pokémon games.
- Gruntilda Winkybunion is the archenemy of Banjo and his sarcastic pal, Kazooie.
- The "Hands of Blue" men were the archenemy of River Tam and the rest of the cast in the series Firefly
- Jack Spicer, Wuya, Chase Young and Hannibal Roy Bean are all archenemies of Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo in Xiaolin Showdown.
- King K. Rool is the archenemy of Donkey Kong in many of Nintendo's Donkey Kong games, including every game in Rare's Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land trilogies.
- King Dedede is the nemesis of Kirby
- Lazlo, Raj and Clam from Camp Lazlo have three archenemies: Scoutmaster Lumpus, Edward and Ms. Mucus
- Lord Recluse is the archenemy of The Statesman in City of Heroes.
- Lyon is a surprise villain and the archenemy of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
- Maxie is the archenemy of Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Emerald.
- Mandy Luxe is the school archenemy of Sam, Clover and Alex in Totally Spies!.
- Marvin the Martian is the archenemy of Daffy Duck as Duck Dodgers.
- M.Bison (aka Vega) can be considered Ken's nemesis in the Street Fighter series of games.
- Megatron is the archenemy of Optimus Prime in the Transformers Universe.
- Melissa O' Malley is Juniper Lee's school archenemy in The Life and Times of Juniper Lee.
- Mozenrath is the archnemesis of Aladdin in the Aladdin TV series.
- Mojo Jojo is the archenemy of The Powerpuff Girls.
- Mr.Burns is the archenemy of Homer Simpson.
- Negaduck, Quackerjack, Liquidator, Bushroot and Megavolt are the archenemies of Darkwing Duck.
- Orochimaru is the archenemy of Naruto.
- Pete is the archenemy of Mickey Mouse.
- Plankton is the archenemy of Spongebob Squarepants and Eugene H. Krabs. Squilliam Fancyson is the archenemy of Squidward Tentacles.
- Principal McVicker and Coach Buzzcut are the archenemies of Beavis and Butt-head.
- The Reds, from the popular webseries Red vs Blue, are the archnenemies of the Blues, and vice versa. Also in that series, the AI O'Malley is the archenemy of Tex, and by extension this makes O'Malley an enemy of Church and the rest of the Blues (on occasion the Blues and Reds have worked together to defeat him).
- Rez is the archenemy of Gex
- Ridley and all Space Pirates are the arch enemies of Samus Aran in the Metroid video game series.
- Sagat is the archenemy of Ryu in the Street Fighter Series.
- Seifer Almasy is the archenemy of Squall Leonhart in the video game Final Fantasy VIII
- Sephiroth is the archenemy of Cloud Strife in the video game Final Fantasy VII and its sequel Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.
- The Shredder is the archenemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Sideshow Bob is the archenemy of Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and Krusty the Clown.
- Silas Greenback is the archenemy of Danger Mouse.
- Skeletor is the archenemy of He-Man in the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- Skullmaster is the archenemy of Max in the animated series Mighty Max.
- Snowball is the archenemy of Pinky and the Brain (and especially Brain)
- Sonsai X and his subordinates (most notably Berge Katse of Galactor), archenemies of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
- Specter is the archenemy of Spike, Jimmy, Casi, Natalie, Hakese, Kei and Yumi in the Ape Escape series
- Sylvester the Cat is the archenemy of Tweety Bird and Speedy Gonzales in the Looney Tunes
- Syndrome, archenemy of the Incredible Family (and especially Mr. Incredible)
- The Destroyers gang are the Arch Enemies of the Gang The Warriors in Rockstar's 2005 videogame The Warriors
- Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents has three archenemies: Vicky, Mr. Crocker and Francis.
- Timmy Turner's Dad's Archenemy is Dinkleberg (at least in his own mind).
- Tommy and Robotboy has seven archenemies: Dr.Kamikazi, Constantine, Donnie, Bjorn Bjornson,Bjornbot, Kurt and Kurt's Dad
- Unicron is the archenemy of Primus in the Transformers universe.
- Venger is the archenemy of the protagonists in the Dungeons & Dragons animated series.
- Vilgax and Kevin 11 are the archenemies of Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson, Max Tennyson, and Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson in Ben 10.
- Vlad Plasmius is the archenemy of Danny Phantom.
- Wile E. Coyote is the archenemy of Road Runner in the Looney Tunes Road Runner cartoons.
Examples of heroes joining forces with their arch enemies to fight a more powerful threat
- The Autobots and the Decepticons would put aside their difference to battle Unicron.
- Professor X's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants against the likes of Apocalypse and Onslaught. The film versions of the X-Men and the Brotherhood also joined forces to stop William Stryker in X2.
- In Justice League Unlimited, Superman's Justice League and Lex Luthor's Secret Society join forces against Darkseid. Superman, Luthor and Darkseid have also all worked together in the comics against universal threats such as Imperiex or Dominus.
- Teen Titans - The animated Titans and Slade joining forces to battle Trigon
- Mario and Bowser against Smithy in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and Cackletta in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
- Raiden joined forces with Quan Chi and Shang Tsung in 2004s Mortal Kombat Deception to combat Onaga the Dragon King
- Doctor Doom has often temporarily allied with the superheroes of the Marvel Universe against major threats such as Thanos and Onslaught.
- Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius have joined to battle Pariah Dark and Dark Danny
- Dr. Robotnik frequently joins forces with Sonic the Hedgehog and the others to battle threats such as Metal Sonic and Mephiles the Dark.
- In the Doctor Who serial Terror of the Autons the Doctor and the Master joined forces to defeat the Nestene Consciousness (admittedly, after the Master had summoned it to Earth). The Master also helped the Doctor against the Valeyard in The Trial of a Time Lord.
- In the movie "Street Fighter 2: The Movie Uncut, Uncensored, Unleashed", towards the end, Ryu and Ken team up to defeat M.Bison.
- In Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest; Captain Barbossa, the archenemy of Captain Jack Sparrow, teams up with Will, Elizabeth and others to look for Captain Jack Sparrow
- In Crash Twinsanity; Crash Bandicoot and his arch-enemy Dr. Neo Cortex team up to take on the Evil Twins
- The Star Fox team and the Star Wolf team against the Aparoids and the Anglars.
- The Master Chief, chief soldier for the human race, and The Arbiter, chief soldier for the Covenant, unite to fight against The Flood in Halo 2. After events in Halo 2 led to factions of the Covenant going to war against one another, it's possible they will team up to fight the Prophets and their army in Halo 3, and it's very likely[citation needed] that they will team up against the Flood again.
- In the machinima series Red vs. Blue, the Blues occasionally join forces with the Reds against the AI O'Malley.
- In Rurouni Kenshin, both Himura Kenshin and Saitou Hajime were arch-enemies during the Bakumatsu. Ten years down the road, they formed a tenuous alliance to battle the greater threat of Shishio Makoto.
- Venom and Spider-Man against Carnage on several occasions, including Carnage's debut issues and Maximum Carnage.
- In an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz Lightyear and the Evil Emperor Zurg join forces against an evil alien race.
- In Buffy The Vampire Slayer, towards the end of season 2, Buffy teams up with Spike to stop Angelus.
- Harry Osborn A.K.A. The New Goblin helped his best friend, Peter Parker AKA Spiderman, against Venom and Sandman near the end of the movie, Spiderman 3.
- Kane and Undertaker against the likes of Ken Kennedy, MVP, Steve Austin, Triple H, Booker T or "king Booker", and Finlay.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock against Kane and The Undertaker.
Heroes who do not have archenemies
The following are examples of heroes have no archenemies:
- Captain Underpants
- Ethan Hunt, from the Mission: Impossible trilogy
- John Rambo
- Alex Rider
- Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh
- Scooby Doo and Shaggy
- Ultraman and his many brethren
Religious archenemies
An archenemy is used, in religion, often as the evil incarnate that plagues or tortures the god or gods. In Judaism, the archenemy is Satan and Anti-Semitism, most notably Hitler, the holocaust and the Diaspora. In sects of Christianity, the archenemy may be considered Satan, the Antichrist, the people who crucified Jesus or, in a few sects, the disciple Judas Iscariot. In Hinduism, the gods' archenemy is evil in general, although each individual person's archenemy is their karma. In Buddhism, the archenemy is generally desire and suffering. Scientology considers psychology and psychiatry to be a major enemy. The Purple Oyster is the archenemy of the Invisible Pink Unicorn.
Debatable Archenemies
Although most people would consider the Joker to be Batman's archenemy, Joe Chill was the first and most influential enemy of Bruce Wayne. Also, the villain Hush has scared Batman noticeably more than any other foe[citation needed], even Bane, who has even broken Batman's back.
Godzilla's archenemy could be considered King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla or Destroyah Gigan or Biollante. (Both Destroyah and Mechagodzilla have killed Godzilla, though due to radiation from the air or from Rodan sidekick of Godzilla, he has always been revived.) Also Gigan, Mechagodzilla, Biollante, and Destroyah have caused Godzilla to bleed even though he can acclerate the healing of his wounds.
Spider-Man's archenemy has, for a long time, been considered the Green Goblin, who killed Gwen Stacy and discovered Spider-Man's secret identity. However, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, and Venom have all left Spider-Man running and hiding out of fear[citation needed], although due to being excluded from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the supervillain Sandman has fallen out of the spotlight[citation needed] (although he is shown on the trailer of Spider-Man 3, a strong indication of his next appearance). The Green Goblin 2- Harry Osborn has brought moral confusion and psychological abuse upon the web-slinger.
It could also be noted, however, that many debatable archenemies could in fact be regarded as an example of the "more powerful threat" listed above.
Shared origin
An often used plot device is that the archenemy is revealed to share a common origin or history with the protagonist, prior to them becoming enemies.
- Darth Vader was a Jedi, apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi and the father of Luke Skywalker.
- The Master and the Doctor are both Time Lords.
- Emmanuel Goldstein and Big Brother were both top officials in the Party.
- The Purple Oyster was a follower of the Invisible Pink Unicorn.
- Magneto and Professor X were friends before they revealed their mutant powers to each other.
Likewise, in Christianity, Satan is normally considered to be a renegade Archangel.
Pronunciation
The correct way to pronounce 'archenemy' is (artch-en-im-ee). However, there is a second pronunciation, which, although it is incorrect, is somewhat fluent[citation needed]. This incorrect pronunciation is (ark-in-e-mee). The Japanese use this pronunciation of "arch" (アーク Āku) in borrowed English words (アークエネミー Ākuenemī). アーチ (Āchi) would refer to an arch bridge or an archdam. The proper pronunciation would be アーチエネミー (Āchienemī) in katakana.