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Good comicbook antagonists are not just about the hate or the colorful schemes, they can also challenge heroes in different levels, even going as far as to compete with them for similar goals. Instead of being one-sided these polar opposites recognize each other and have some respect for what they mean or stand for.

Since this is a great concept, why not play in rivalries? I thought about some of the most emblematic ones that came to mind (they are different from one another, so maybe you'll find they aren't really rivalries, that's fine, use this thread at your leisure).

Anyways, my picks:

Magneto and Professor X.
Loki and Thor.
Doctor Doom and Reed Richards.
Hercules and Ares.
Sinestro and Hal Jordan.


I wish I had more DC examples in mind but my mind since to be dry

The only antagonists in that list is Magneto/Xavier. Doom and Reed is entirely one-sided since Doom just hates on Reed, Hercules and Ares are gods and cannot be compared or whatsoever, Loki and Thor are just a sibling rivalry gone cosmic and while superior to Hal/Sinestro have a workplace dispute and are not really antagonists so to speak.

A lot of these guys aren't truly villains, at least in recent memory. Loki and Thor work together, Ares was a bona fide Avenger and Magneto was part of the X men

Originally posted by riv6672
The only antagonists in that list is Magneto/Xavier. Doom and Reed is entirely one-sided since Doom just hates on Reed, Hercules and Ares are gods and cannot be compared or whatsoever, Loki and Thor are just a sibling rivalry gone cosmic and while superior to Hal/Sinestro have a workplace dispute and are not really antagonists so to speak.

Doom hates Reed, but he also sees him as one of the smartest men he knows, deep down he considers him the only one able to keep up with him and give him a challenge

Herc/Ares and Loki/Thor, per your own words, are a sibling rivalry, totally a rivalry

You just described Hal/Sinestro like a dispute, which is the origin of the very word "antagonist"

But I guess it's my fault for telling you to nitpick me on the OP

Antagonists are people a group of people or institutions that represent the opposition against which the protagonist must contend.
As originally envisioned this is Magneto and the Brotherhood and Xavier and the School for Gifted Youngsters. So, they count.

The operative word in workplace rivalry is rivalry. It comes from the Latin, riv6672.

LOL Hal/Sinestro as "workplace dispute"! Makes it sound like Sinestro was pissed off with Hal because he borrowed his pencil sharpener and forgot to return it!

Originally posted by wuleecat
LOL Hal/Sinestro as "workplace dispute"! Makes it sound like Sinestro was pissed off with Hal because he borrowed his pencil sharpener and forgot to return it!
How ELSE do you think Sinestro gets his mustache so pointy???

Originally posted by riv6672
Antagonists are people a group of people or institutions that represent the opposition against which the protagonist must contend.
As originally envisioned this is Magneto and the Brotherhood and Xavier and the School for Gifted Youngsters. So, they count.

The operative word in workplace rivalry is rivalry. It comes from the Latin, riv6672.

Here my friend, I found a very technical an obscure site that refutes your tight definition of an antagonist: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antagonist

They even use the world "rivalry" on it.

But what do I know right? English is not my first language, obviously you win

Originally posted by riv6672
How ELSE do you think Sinestro gets his mustache so pointy???

Originally posted by Bentley
But what do I know right? English is not my first language, obviously you win
Well since you're putting words in my mouth to make it seem i'm trying to put you down, i guess i do win?

Originally posted by riv6672
Well since you're putting words in my mouth to make it seem i'm trying to put you down, i guess i do win?

Easiest win ever!

Can't you accept victory without kicking a man while he's down? ahah

There you go putting words in my mouth again. Or rather my foot in your ribs.

I honestly wouldn't consider Xavier and Magneto to fit the bill, really. Not always anyway. Their relationship veers wildly from trying to kill each other to homosexual tension at times, so it's hard to classify them properly, imo.

Though you covered that in the op, so...

You really get homosexual tension from those two?
I always got more of a dirty old man vibe from them. Both have gone after way younger women...

You know, I can't go around pretending I give a sh_t about X-men characters

Originally posted by DarkSaint85
A lot of these guys aren't truly villains, at least in recent memory. Loki and Thor work together, Ares was a bona fide Avenger and Magneto was part of the X men

Again, what's a true villain in this day and age? The kids want to see Sabretooth leading the Avengers and Carnage dating Mary Jane, we cannot disappoint the kids.

Edit:

Originally posted by riv6672
You really get homosexual tension from those two?
I always got more if a dirty old man vibe from them. Both have gone after way younger women...

Now Frank Miller has to write those two.

Originally posted by riv6672
You really get homosexual tension from those two?
I always got more of a dirty old man vibe from them. Both have gone after way younger women...

It goes both ways. It veers between them, etc.

Haha you said they go both ways!

abhi and carver

What about Batman and the Joker? I always thought they had something of a yin/yang psychology going, almost a sense of ... mutual "ownership"? Eg...

"Nobody kills the Bat but me!"
-- Mr. J

Wolverine and Sabertooth fits this thread to a tee.

Daredevil/Punisher
Batman/Bane
Batgirl Cass/Lady Shiva

Originally posted by carver9
Wolverine and Sabertooth fits this thread to a tee.
Carter is right for once!

Venom vs Spidey

I'd go with

Magneto and Professor X.
Doctor Doom and Reed Richards.
Loki and Thor.
Sinestro and Hal Jordan.
Hercules and Ares.

Zoom/Flash?

Starlin-era Thanos/Captain Marvel was an awesome rivalry, made even stronger by the fact that at the end Thanos seems almost sorry his greatest foe won't be around any more so he helps ease him into death with a final brawl before they both hold hands with Death and wander into the afterlife. Brilliant

Originally posted by carver9
Wolverine and Sabertooth fits this thread to a tee.

I thought about them too

Originally posted by Bentley
I thought about them too

Can't get any worse than those two. Sabertooth visits every yr on Logan bday to kill a loved one. Joined the Xmen to kill everyone close to him. Slaughtered Psylocke right in front of his eyes. Every girl he has dated, Creed kills them. He isn't just a villain that is there to try and kill Logan. He wants Logan alive so that he can kill everyone that is close to him. Basically wants him to suffer for eternity. Can't think of anyone that has a villain like the way Sabertooth is to Logan.