Shonen Rival Traits
Basic Traits
A character must at least meet 6 of the basic traits to be classified as a Shonen Rival:
- Heroic/Anti-Heroic/Anti-Villainous: While there are some exceptions, to be a Shonen Rival, a character is usually anti-heroic.
- Honorable: Even including villainous Shonen Rivals, a Shonen Rival often shows honor.
- Tragic Past: A Shonen Rival usually have tragic backstories that give depth into their personality.
- Intelligent: Most of the time, as a sharp contrast to Shonen Heroes, a Shonen Rival show intelligence.
- Naturally Talented: A Shonen Rival shows a lot of skill and power at one field from the moment of their first appearance than the hero.
- Arrogant/Jerkish: A Shonen Rival tend to be highly arrogant and prideful and often act rude to others.
- Pursues a Big-End Goal: As a way to make them similar to Shonen Heroes, Shonen Rivals have their own goals, sometimes shared with the hero but for different reasons.
- Cynical: In contrast to Shonen Heroes who are idealistic and see the good in everyone, Shonen Rivals are skeptical of people's intentions.
- Pessimistic: Unlike the optimistic Shonen Hero, a Shonen Rival is often pessimistic.
- Stoical: A Shonen Rival rarely expresses their emotions openly.
- Irritable: A Shonen Rival is easy to annoy.
- Persistent: Like a Shonen Hero, a Shonen Rival refuses to give up, no matter what obstacle stands in their way.
Bonus Traits
- Believes in the Power of Individual Strength: Unlike Shonen Heroes who believe in the Power of Friendship, Shonen Rivals believes only the power of their own strength.
- Redemption Arc: A commodity among Shonen Rivals is a redemption arc where they make up with the protagonists.
- Is A Serious Threat/Villain: Shonen Rivals can start as villains or major threats to the protagonists but eventually redeem themselves but still keep a rivalry with the protagonists.
- Short-Tempered: Shonen Rivals, like Shonen Heroes, sometimes lose their cool, most of the time they even lose their cool even faster than the protagonists.
- Spiky Hair/Pompadour/Unnatural Hairstyle - As another way to connect them together, Shonen Rivals can have spiky hair.
- Unnatural Hair Color - See above.
- Born into Privilege - Shonen Rivals are often born into privileged families.
- Perpetual Frowner: Shonen Rivals are rarely seen smiling, resorting to frowning on frequent basis.
- Is a Chick/Dude Magnet: Unlike Shonen Heroes, Shonen Rivals can naturally attract multiple men/women with ease.
- Celibate: Shonen Rivals have no interest in pursuing romance.
- Is a Blood Knight: Much like Shonen Heroes, Shonen Rivals enjoy participating in fights.
- Is a Mentor: Shonen Rivals acts a guidance to other characters, mainly to Shonen Heroes.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Shonen Rivals pretend to be arrogant/egotistical to hide their self-esteem issues.
- Vengeful: Shonen Rivals have a tendency to seek vengeance against someone for causing trauma or another bad thing toward them.
- Wears Blue/Red/Black: A Shonen Rival's appearance/outfit consists at least one of the three colors: Blue, Red and Black.
- Is a Delinquent: A Shonen Rival has a reputation of getting into trouble by committing crimes.
- Is a Token Evil Teammate: A Shonen Rival is shown to be the least moralistic member of a team of heroes.
- Calls Out Attacks: A Shonen Rival calls out their attacking moves before using them against their opponents.
- (NOTE: Bold and italicize the attacks the characters shout out.)
- Is Related to a Shonen Hero: A Shonen Rival is in the same family as a Shonen Hero, whether it is biologically or through adoption.
- Has Respect for a Shonen Hero: A Shonen Rival deeply respects about the Shonen Hero, even though they have a hard time showing it.
- Is an Edgelord: In contrast to a Shonen Hero who is a cool yet light-hearted Mascot with Attitude, a Shonen Rival has a rather edgy attitude, coming off as brooding, dark and mysterious.
- Is a Tsundere: A Shonen Rival displays a tough exterior but actually cares for their friends and/or has romantic feelings for someone.
Categories
Special Categories That Can Fit
- Faux Affably Evil: Due to how common Shonen Rivals are villains they may be Faux Affably Evil.
- Near Pure Good: Same as Pure Good. Good examples for this are Piccolo and Gray Fullbuster.
- Pure Good: While it is hard for Shonen Rivals to be Pure Good, they can still qualify if they meet the criteria for both. Good examples for this is Shoto Todoroki.
- Light-Novel Heroes: If a Light-Novel Hero decides to go against a Shonen Hero, then they can be added here.
- Seinen Heroes: Same as Light-Novel Heroes.
- Shojo Heroes: Same with Seinen Heroes.
- Shonen Heroes: Same as Shojo Heroes.
- The Ultimate Good: While this is rare, if a rival surpasses a hero in terms of admirability, then they can qualify.
Caution Categories
- Fake Tragic: Unless they have ultimately redeemed themselves from their villainous ways, heroes who have genuine tragedies but have severe corrupting factors that go far past it (e.g. heinousness, criminal acts, sociopathy, grey-zoned acts) can never count as a Shonen Rival.
Categories that Can NEVER Fit
- All Villainous Archetypes: A Shonen Rival should never be a full-fledge villain.
- Hate Sinks: If a rival is a villain, they have to be three-dimensional and likeable compared to other villains.
- Near Pure Evil: Too much of full-scale villains to count.
- Pure Evil: Same reasons as NPE's.
- Pathetic Pinheads: If a Shonen Rival is villainous and unintelligent, they must either be portrayed as likeable in that regard (eg. Being played for laughs).
- Rapists: Same reason as why they cannot be Shonen Heroes.
- The Ultimate Evil: It is ultimately difficult for a Shonen Rival to be TUE as many of them are either failing to the heinous standards or often pawns of Near Pure Evil or Pure Evil villains who are a much better fit for the TUE label.