Enemy to Caretaker

Enemy to Caretaker is a trope already known and used, but only in recent years has it gained greater prominence and its own name. It has a few different interpretations, but they all focus on a villain who for some reason becomes the hero's guardian. Some of these works can evolve into romantic relationships or friendships between the villain and the hero, or just a father and son relationship – with or without real adoption.
Many Harry Potter fanfics used this trope, showing a Lord Voldemort who discovers Dumbledore's plans and starts to protect Harry after realizing the similarity between the two. In the Percy Jackson fandom, we have a character who is a villain and over the course of the story become a janitor.
It has received a large number of appointments in AO3 in recent years, especially in the period of the COVID pandemic, when a significant number of fanworks were created by users who were at home for reasons of quarantine or social distancing.
Some prompt lists were found in Tumblr, as well as a reference in Whumptober from 2020, Day 7.
The Batfamily fandom had a particular surgence in the 2020s, especially in association with Titans Tower AU fics.
==Prompts==
*Enemies to caretaker because everyone else in whumpee’s life is just so terrible/doesn’t realize that whumpee is not ok.
*A hero seeks refuge with his enemy, as he has no one else to turn to and the villain accepts to give him shelter.
*The caretaker tries to pretend that they don’t care about the whumpee, but every so often they sneak worried looks towards the whumpee’s direction. The whumpee notices this at one point but convinces themselves that their brain is just playing tricks on them.
*It’s revealed that they were on the same side all along.
*The enemy is dependent on the whumpee to survive or escape a bad situation and can’t afford to lose them.
*The enemy works for a bigger bad and is responsible for maintaining their prisoner.
*“Only I am allowed to defeat you!” It could even be offensive that anyone else hurt their whumpee.
*There are wounds on the whumpee that don’t fit the whumper’s designs or aesthetic.
*There are certain afflictions that even the enemy can’t abide.
*The whumpee is sick in captivity.
*The whumpee’s problems remind the enemy of themselves or their loved ones.
*Enemy has got what they needed from the whumpee, and there are no hard feelings, so they deserve to be patched up.
*The whumpee will be sent back to their team with a message, and they need to be able to walk.
*The enemy wants the whumpee to bond with them and cares for them so they will feel closer.
*The whumpee realises the enemy cares for them better than their so-called allies ever did.
==Fan overview==
===On Tumblr===
===On Reddit===
On September 26, 2021 the user sparkypants_ made a post on subreddit r/FanFiction, in order to know what would be enemy to caretaker, answers below:
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*Whumptober 2020 - 7 - Enemy to Caretaker by Aiden Ravelle, Batman finds an injured Joker – Batman
*We Bleed The Same by Yessica-N, Corteo found Nero two weeks after Angelo died, doing something he never thought he'd do. (Whumptober day 7 - Enemy to caretaker) – 91 Days
*somebody to die for by BadWolfKaily, For whumptober day #7. Prompt No 7. I'VE GOT YOU Support Carrying Enemy to Caretaker Villanelle has an emotional breakdown, Eve is there to support her through it. – Killing Eve
===Fanart===
*Dabi and Shouto - Day 7 of Whumptober by xionthedragonart
*Lucifer and Sam Winchester - Day 7 of Whumptober by lantaniel
==Archives, Communities & Resources==
*Enemy to Caretaker tag at AO3
*Jason and Tim Enemy-to-Caretaker a Batman AO3 Collection
*Enemy to Caretaker tag at Tumblr
==References==
Category:Batman Fandom Glossary