Worthy Opponents

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At the tail end of TNA's 2014 (and Spike TV deal) Eric Young stated that if he had to name a professional wrestler in the world at the time better than Bobby Roode, he wouldn't be able to do it. He then rhetorically asked "Is Eric Young as good Bobby Roode" and basically said "yes". They were competing to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley, whom Roode thought of as this ( but not MVP or Kenny King). Said segment was an homage to a Marvel comic where The Champion of the Universe admitted he couldn't "defeat" The Thing in a match after defeating all of Marvel's other heroes. 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.

The Battle of Borodino during the French Invasion of Russia. Both sides suffered vast casualties but neither achieved a decisive victory. Napoleon's own description of the horror of this "clash of Titans" is particularly apt: "Of the fifty battles I have fought, the most terrible was that before Moscow. The French showed themselves to be worthy victors, and the Russians can rightly call themselves invincible". Medieval knights could well be the Trope Codifier, at least in their own minds and their interminable epics and ballads. It helped that ransoms for captured high-class foes were often a valuable source of income, so treating a downed wealthy foe with respect and letting him live was a sensible move, especially in case you were captured later on. Enemy Ace Hans von Hammer is often portrayed as a Worthy Opponent. He is obviously inspired by the real-life Red Baron, mentioned below. On Psych, master thief Despereaux is impressed when Shawn is the first to figure out that his "robberies" are really just taking stuff so the owners can cash in on the insurance. Seeing Shawn a bit let down by this, Pierre decides to become a thief for real. He and Shawn clash a few more times but also work together as clearly Despereaux appreciates Shawn's smarts and the challenge of beating him. Hector and Achilles of Homer's The Iliad. Hector was an honorable man and considered a worthy foe by many of the Achaean heroes fighting at Troy. Achilles had no such feelings for the man; he spent the early parts of the war pissed at his own leaders and the later parts in nothing less than a homicidal rage toward everyone after Hector killed Patroclus, and spent a lot of time and effort trying to desecrate Hector's corpse. Although he did relent after he'd taken his revenge and cooled down a bit. Achilles actually seemed to think more of Hector's father, Priam, as a worthy opponent (in the overall war) when the latter came to beg for his son's body for proper burial. Achilles agreed to allow Hector the honor he deserved, but Priam's love for his son and his bravery in coming alone to the Greek ships also got to him.

Other examples:

Armisael: You have battled the Father. You have slain more of that which you call Angels than any other. You are the one whom the Angels fear, Pilot Ikari. He is coming to do battle with you, as you are the only one upon the Earth whom he feels is his equal. The Simpsons: For most of the series' run, Bart and Principal Skinner have carried a relationship of cordial rivalry, although this is subverted by the fact Skinner asserts little to no actual authority over the school's students. Before that, there was Grey from Choujin Sentai Jetman, who formed this type of relationship with The Lancer, Gai. Over the course of the show, the two dueled every time they saw each other. This culminated when the two had their final duel (which Gai won), and ended with Gai lighting a cigarette in remembrance of Grey. In the end, they were not so different. While his hatred and contempt for Tyrion son is very evident, he still (ever so grudgingly) is aware of his son's intelligence, perception, and cunning, which is why he was willing to name him Hand in his stead and give him power during crucial times. Later, he names Tyrion the new Master of Coin, which seems like a snipe at the time (and Cersei and Pycelle certainly interpret it as such), but when Tywin's financial problems are later revealed, it's clear that the appointment was really based on his trust in Tyrion's managerial competence. Ghazan from the Red Lotus in Book 3 sees Bolin as this, commending him on learning to bend lava and tells him to do his best in their fight.

Shane McMahon— after the better part of a decade out of the company entirely, Shane returned as the prodigal son for his birthright, and was thrust into a match against 'Taker, with both of their legacies and careers on the line, at WrestleMania XXXII. Shane had a month to prepare, and was 46 at the time, going into the (51 year old) Undertaker's specialty match, Hell In A Cell, in 'Taker's home state. Though Shane was far from Taker's toughest opponent, he still put up a fight, reversing some of 'Taker's moves, and persisting with the Bring It gesture throughout the fight. After taking bumps on the steel stairs, the Spanish Announcers' Table, and leaping from the top of the 20 foot cage, Shane had nothing left in the tank but his pride, and persisted with the Bring It gesture, twice. The Undertaker looked kindly on Shane, in sharp contrast to the "I'll do what I have to do" demeanor before the fight, and calmly patted Shane on the cheek before finally finishing the match.Warhammer: Age of Sigmar: It turns out that many of the servants of Khorne are absolutely delighted that Sigmar created the Stormcast Eternals — basically the Einherjar of Norse Mythology. After thousands of years of slaughtering defenceless weaklings, they've finally got a real fight on their hands.

Rex initially sees Makoto as just a Warm-Up Boss for his later challenges against Espa and Joey. Not only does he change his tune and see Makoto as someone that can keep up with him, He doesn't get to go after his desired challenges against Espa and Joey because Makoto beats him. Kikitik-27: Humbly we are gratified to be recognized by an opponent such as [the Storm-Witch] known to us with certainty credited for murders uncountable which we must respect... SCP-1638 was created by an Antagonist in Mourning to honour a Foundation agent that he considered a worthy opponent after the agent had died. The Rise of Darth Vulcan: Shining Armor begrudgingly admits that the titular villain earned the respect and loyalty of the Diamond Dogs. Amon: I'm impressed. No one has ever gotten the better of me like that. It is almost a shame to purify someone so talented. Almost.Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, despite an extremely bitter rivalry, were very complimentary of the other's skill. After their legendary trilogy of matches, Ali stated that Frazier brought out the best in him as a boxer, and that if he ever got called to a holy war, wanted Frazier fighting right by his side. Doctor Strange teamed up with Doom in his final (and successful) attempt to rescue his mother's soul from Hell. Though it was a reluctant partnership at best (Strange had just beaten Doom for the position of Sorcerer Supreme and tradition mandates that the winner owes the runner-up a favor), they walked away with a grudging respect for each other. 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. Few people manage to hold their own against Lord Tywin Lannister, and he shows a certain respect for each of them in return: Even the Affably Evil villain Dukat also held an unrequited view of Sisko as this, until " Waltz", in which Sisko pushes Dukat to a Heel Realization, with the undesired effect of Dukat embracing his villainy and becoming unambiguously evil.