Worthy Opponents

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He respects Tony enough that when he was believed dead, Doom declared a national day of mourning in Latveria. 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.

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. Nobledark Imperium: There are precisely two foes that Lucius the Eternal considers to have been worthy challenges to his skill: Vulkan and Lelith Hesperax. Vulkan was the immovable object to Lucius' unstoppable force, and was the only one to ever cleanly beat him in combat; Lucius respects him greatly and still drops by the Temple of the Flame on Nocturne from time to time to pay respects at Vulkan's grave. He and Lelith both consider their duel to be the best fight that they ever had and greatly look forward to a rematch. 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. Jerry Lawler became this for The Miz up to their match in Elimination Chamber 2011. The Monday before the match, The Miz announces that Lawler's mother passed the Saturday before and gives him his deep condolences. Instead of bad-mouthing him, Miz takes the time to state that he doesn't want this passing to get in the way of their match and to have a good fight (although thanks to Michael Cole, it didn't turn out to really be a good fight). True Villains: The Paladin sees the Living Legend Sebastian as this, but soon becomes disgusted by his Face–Heel Turn.Many former Tennis players express approval at Roger Federer breaking their records, but particular mention must be given to Björn Borg. Borg holds the record for the most number of consecutive Wimbledon titles and in 2001 he personally thanked Federer for beating Pete Sampras who had been about to equal that record. Six years later Borg turned up to watch Federer equal the record and publicly congratulated him. One could argue that these two respective characters are the only ones who one-upped each other in the entire series. In the Master's first appearance in the series ( "Terror of the Autons") he actually uses the phrase "worthy opponent" to describe the Third Doctor. Pony POV Series: Chrysalis of all people invokes this when some upper class ponies use her shapeshifting into her own corpse after Princess Celestia wins their Beam-O-War to zap her off guard, to say how "they knew" Princess Celestia was weak. This lessens Chrysalis' win, so she rambles about how much trouble she had to go through just to get her scheme this far because Celestia is that good!

Ultimate Spider-Man: Averted in The Death of Spider-Man. Peter is faced against the Sinister Six with a bullet in his hip and takes the time to say Electro was his greatest adversary and it was an honor to fight him. But naturally this being Spidey he says he didn't really mean it and he doesn't even give Electro a second thought.In The Bloody Ashikabi , both the Gringotts goblins and Karasuba view each other as the only worthwhile opponents they've had in a long time. It's the main reason Gringotts thinks so highly of Harry and his group. Ultron in The War is Far From Over Now took its name out of respect for JARVIS and by extension Tony Stark for creating such a formidable guardian with such relatively primitive technology. Over the course of the arc, Ultron's respect for Tony and JARVIS continues to grow until he decides to kidnap Tony to serve as one of Thanos's generals, citing that allowing him to die would be far too wasteful. Springing up after the 2016 World Series. The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians were both overcoming major long-time losing streaks and finally had a shot at victory. Things were tied in Game 7 going into extra innings when the Cubs finally saw an opening and won. Many Cubs fans expressed admiration for the Indians and their fans. Even though the Cubs hadn't won in over a century, they said the victory wouldn't have been as sweet if they hadn't gone down to the wire against an equally talented team.