Top 10 Rivalries in Video Games

Video games are built on friendships and rivalries. In this top ten list we provide you with ten of the most engrossing rivalries of the past two decades.

From a police officer in love with a double agent, to a hero confronting his inner demons, we've got a list that's sure to make you think twice about the dynamic relationships video game characters can have with each other. 

10. Mario vs Bowser

Mario and Bowser. Could one exist without the other? Probably not. By this point, the tumultuous duo have sparred in dozens upon dozens of titles: from the scenic vistas of Mario Kart’s race courses to his lava ridden lair in Mario 64, they’ve had numerous showdowns and they’ve all been epic. At one point, a RPG called Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story actually took place inside Bowser—weirder still, the former rivals even worked together for a moment. Don’t worry, though, it was short-lived: after saving the world, they fought, and Mario won.

9. Seifer vs Squall

Final Fantasy VIII opens up in a cacophony of steel hitting steel as two SeeD students cross blades and eventually each other, giving them both matching scars across their faces. Not only serving as the start of the game but as the start of a legendary rivalry, the cutscene draws players into Seifer Almasy and Squall Leonhart’s relationship. The tension is built up even more by making their love interest the same woman: Rinoa Heartilly. Seifer eventually succumbs to the darkness while Squall finds himself a reluctant antihero, forcing them to engage in numerous battles throughout the game’s four disc narrative.

8. Scorpion vs Sub Zero

Scorpion and Sub Zero are both ninjas, and they're among the most prominent characters in the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games. Their story goes back a long way, which saw betrayals and a whole convoluted mess of a story that culminated the deaths of Sub Zero's clan. Their rivalry has even been featured in a live-action web series based on the game. Lately, they've been featured as the two characters first revealed for Mortal Kombat X, the tenth game in the series. 

7. Aya vs Eve

One of the most popular titles of the 1990’s, Parasite Eve introduced Aya Brea and her rival Eve. While watching an opera on Christmas Eve, the entire audience combusts with the exception of Aya and Eve, setting the stage for the ultimate struggle between life and death: evolution. Eve’s goal is to create an ultimate being and they’re rivals because their mitochondria are in a race for survival to prove superiority. Eve continues to serve as Aya’s nemesis in the sequel as well as Third Birthday, where Eve takes over Aya’s body when she shatters Aya’s soul.

6. Phoenix Wright vs Miles Edgeworth

When you think of the early Phoenix Wright games, you probably think of the defense and prosecution’s rivalry. In particular, you think of the iconic characters Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. As the series started, the nubile defense attorney not only had to fight to win seemingly impossible cases, but he also had to deal with Edgeworth’s constant antagonizing and belittling. Luckily, if the latest title in the series is any indication, Edgeworth has moved on and their rivalry has started to blossom into a friendship—even if Edgeworth still enjoys making Wright look like a fool sometimes. Perhaps it’s because his spin-off series didn’t make it stateside as quickly.

5. Handsome Jack vs Vault Hunters

For all of Borderlands 2, the vault hunters are subjected to Handsome Jack’s demeaning—and brutally hilarious—taunts. From talking about his pony Butt Stallion which is made out of diamonds to reminding them of their impending deaths, Jack has a lot to say throughout the game. He unfortunately proves he isn’t just words when he kills one of the original vault hunters, Roland, with a pistol in the later arc of the game. Jack, however, is an intriguing character—so much so that Gearbox made him a central character in Borderlands: The Presequel, explaining how he got to be so damned evil. Perhaps that’s what makes their rivalry so interesting until the final battle is finished.

4. Ada Wong vs Leon Kennedy

In Resident Evil 2, rookie police officer Leon Scott Kennedy falls for a damsel in distress named Ada Wong—then watches her die, right after learning she was actually a double agent working for the enemy. The story could have ended there, but Capcom had other plans and thus begins the star-crossed love story turned rivalry between these two agents. In Resident Evil 4, she comes back in all of her glory explaining her death was a ruse, betraying Leon once more while simultaneously saving his hide more than once. Most recently in Resident Evil 6, she returns again, this time saving Leon’s life before vanishing again.

3. Alliance vs Horde

The foundation of one of the most popular and respected video games series is built from the rivalry between orcs and humans. We’re talking about Blizzard’s Warcraft franchise, of course. For as long as the Alliance and Horde have been fighting, the tensions have never been higher than in the recent World of Warcraft expansions Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor. Thanks to an ill-tempered war chief replacing Thrall, the factions are at each other’s throats recently—Draenor’s story arc temporarily giving them a cause to unite, but for how long? Our bet: not long enough.

2. Jinx vs Caitlyn

One of League of Legends’ early characters, Caitlyn is the sheriff of Piltover and she abides by the law—bringing her own sense of justice to Summoner’s Rift. It makes sense then that Riot decided to flesh out her backstory by adding a rival that also happens to be a marksman. Deranged and highly volatile, Jinx serves as the Joker to Caitlyn’s Batman and wants nothing more than to see the city of tomorrow burn to ashes—a point which Riot helped emphasize in Jinx’s namesake music video turned manifesto, “Get Jinxed.”

1. Link vs Dark Link

Link downs a lot of foes in his journey to save Hyrule or wherever else his travels take him to. But perhaps the most interesting rival he has faced has been Dark Link. After his first appearance in The Adventure of Link, where he serves as the final test before Link can obtain the Triforce of Courage, he’s appeared in subsequent games. Sometimes, the darkest rivalry and greatest source of turmoil comes from within.