Enemies to Lovers

Enemies to Lovers is a popular trope in erotic and romantic literature that also appears in fanworks. 
The two characters often have a long history of conflict with each other. They may be the protagonist and antagonist, or they may be side characters. They may be on opposite sides of a struggle, or may have just met under unfortunate circumstances and their personalities clashed. There is often a lot of bickering and UST. 
Works using this trope differ from Enemyslash and Hatesex fics, in that these characters don't actively hate each other or want to harm one another. These relationships are rarely violent or non-con. 
==Overview==
Enemies may be forced to work together to achieve a common goal and come to respect one another, building slowly to a sexual relationship. Their relationship may change as a result of circumstances. Fic authors have used Forced Marriage, Sex Pollen, Amnesia or Soulmates AU to get their pairing together. 
It is sometimes heavily debated exactly how "enemies" is defined in the trope, and what kind of enemies people should be for their romance to still be plausible and enjoyable. There are those who argue that some scenarios are too dark for them to support and some characters too evil to be redeemed, while others are against such limitations. Different opinions among enemies to lovers fans may lead to disagreements.
In pairings where there is no doubt two characters are enemies, the work may not be tagged with this trope; with authors viewing the pairing tag as a content warning in itself, and adding more specific tags related to the other story tropes employed. 
===Enemies to Friends to Lovers===
Although Enemies to Friends to Lovers and Enemies to Lovers can be thought as one and the same, that is not always the case. Sometimes two characters who are enemies, and have UST, pivot quickly into having a sexual (or romantic) relationship, skipping the step of developing a friendship first, for some fans this is satisfactory because they wish to see the pairing together, but for many the friendship component is crucial for them to accept and enjoy the pairing. 
===Rivals to Lovers===
Rivals (to Friends) to Lovers differs from Enemies to Lovers in the severity of the antagonism between the two characters. They will usually dislike each other for less serious reasons, and may feel competitive rather than wishing true harm on the other. Rivals to Lovers works typically involve more fluff as two people learn to get along but do not have to overcome any significant moral disagreements.
The distinction between rival and enemies is sometimes unclear. The "Rivals to Lovers" tag on AO3 is synned with "Enemies to Lovers" tag. Some disagree that the two tropes should be equated and strongly prefer one over the other.
==Fan Comments==
===Appeal of the trope===
===Discussions of the trope===
==Fandoms==
* Avatar: The Last Airbender - Zuko had a canon redemption arc in the series, and this meant that many later works pairing him with characters from Team Avatar often involved elements of the enemies to lovers trope. It is most prevalent in the Zuko/Katara ship as their canonical relationship was the most antagonistic before the two became close friends. Zuko/Aang is the next most common pairing, due to Zuko's obsession with Aang and the two having many a moment that laid the foundations for their later friendship.
* Arrowverse - the Coldflash pairing, in which Captain Cold is one of The Flash's villains. While this is the most popular Hero/Villain ship in the arrowverse, it is not the only one. Some works in those pairings also employ this trope.
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the pairing of Buffy/Spike had a canonical enemies to lovers story arc, that was controversial among fans. Many fans had been exploring this trope in fiction before their relationship became canon, and other fans used fanfiction to fix which they viewed as a poorly managed narrative arc. 
* Death Note - the pairing of L/Light often involves the two attempting to manipulate each other through a disingenuous relationship
* Harry Potter - most often in the pairing of Draco Malfoy with either Harry or Hermione
* Star Wars - the pairing of Reylo ships canon adversaries Rey and Kylo Ren, who are discovered to have a Force Bond.
* The 100 - the pairing of Clexa prior to their short lived romantic relationship in canon, as well as the pairing Bellarke, who often find themselves in conflict. The Kabby pairing had a canonical enemies to lovers story arc
* Pokemon (anime): - The pairing of Ash/Misty is often seen as such, due to the pair arguing constantly in the beginning and slowly forming a friendship.
* Voltron: Legendary Defender - the pairing of Lance McClain/Keith. Usually classified as "Rivals to Lovers." The pairing of Keith/James Griffin experienced a surge in visibility after the fans first saw them together in the season 7 trailer.
* Fire Emblem Fates - Any pairings of the Nohrian royals Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise with Hoshidan royals Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura. The game allows the player to canonize the m/f ships, but Leo/Takumi, Camilla/Hinoka, and Ryoma/Xander are also incredibly popular.
* Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Dimitri/Edelgard is an example of Friends to Enemies via their canon backstory and the events of Crimson Flower and Azure Moon. Fans who ship them together will often concoct AUs in which both of them survive and try to rekindle their old feelings despite all that's passed between them. Rhea/Edelgard is also popular due to Crimson Flower, where the two fight each other directly.
* Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - With the new protagonist Shez taking center stage and Houses protagonist Byleth in an antagonistic role, the ETL potential for Shez/Byleth made it the most popular ship among Three Hopes fans. The fact that Byleth can be recruited to the player's side and become an ally only strengthened this.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* An All Too Jagged Snowflake by Redhead. (The Flash (TV Series), 2015-2016) 
:An often recced and well known Coldflash Soulmates AU. (Not tagged enemies to lovers)
* Rivals series by Reiya. (Yuri!!! on Ice, 2016-2017) 
:As of Feburary 2019, is the second most popular work in the Enemies to Lovers tag.
*Criminals & Forensics by STARSdidathing (frostiron, 2016)
* The Songbird and the Sea by MissterMaia. (BTS, 2017) 
:An extremely popular BTS fanfiction that, as of Feburary 2019, is the most popular work in the Enemies to Lovers tag on AO3
* landscape with a blur of conquerors by disasterisms. (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 2017-2019) 
:A very popular Reylo arranged marriage fic that is often cited as an example of how to employ this trope. (Not tagged enemies to lovers)
* make me feel by star_fruit (peach_tart) (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
===Recs===
* Recs tagged Enemies to Lovers at Fancake
* Recs tagged Enemies to Friends (To Lovers) at Fancake
==Further Reading==
* Do you have any tips for writing enemies to lovers? a Tumblr post by lets-get-fictional. (November 23 2017)
*ENEMIES TO LOVERS & FRIENDS: A Guest Post by J Emery. (December 29 2018)
* , a Tumblr post by raven-maiden. Discusses categorizing and writing an Enemies to Lovers ship. (Jan 10 2019)
* Do folks genuinely not understand the appeal of the enemies to lovers trope, a Tumblr post by robotmango (January 2, 2020)
* Do people really not see the appeal of enemies-to-lovers? by curlspen aka fontofmercy (March 22 2020)
* by yourlibrarian (May 5, 2021)
==Archives & Fannish Links==
* Enemies to Lovers works on Ao3
* Enemies to Friends to Lovers works on Ao3
==References==
Category:Romance Tropes
Category:Social Media Feature