Top 10 Greatest Cartoon Rivalries

Put two guys in one room and what’ve you got? Competition. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 10 cartoon rivalries.

For this list, we’re eliminating rivalries between TV cartoon superheroes like Batman and the Joker, because we’ve already got you covered with a list of the Top 10 Cartoon Supervillains. Now, grab your favorite Acme product and let the rivalries begin!

Sterling Archer is the world’s most dangerous secret agent – and probably the most callous. Barry Dylan works for a rival spy agency and bears a grudge against Archer for maiming him. And for sleeping with his girlfriend. You know – spy guy stuff. But the rivalry gets out of hand when Barry opts to go the all-out insane cyborg route. Doesn’t do him much good; Archer’s too cool to fail. Sorry, Barry. Both of you.

On “Adventure Time,” Finn the Human is loyal, honest and brave. The Ice King is…weird, wacked and wicked. And since he can't keep his hands off Princess Bubblegum, he’s definitely on Finn’s hit list. But the two aren’t exactly enemies: they’d get epically bored if the other one wasn’t around to provide a little excitement. And these dudes don’t do boredom very well.

There’s no rivals like business rivals, as SpongeBob SquarePants’ Mr. Krabs and Plankton show. Once good friends, they had a bitter falling out over the krabby patty recipe; now Plankton will stop at nothing to steal back the recipe and destroy Krabs. For his part, Krabs has enormous motivation to keep the recipe: he really, really loves money. In this battle between revenge and greed, money seems to have the upper hand – or claw.

The Trojan War lasted nine years and was fought over the dazzling beauty of Helen of Troy. Popeye and Bluto have been fighting for eight decades over the more subdued charms of Olive Oyl – which goes to show that beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder. Hey, Popeye, here’s a hint: save yourself a little wear and tear and just pop open the old spinach can as soon as Bluto shows up.

When your goal is galactic domination, the last thing you want is some pesky hero getting in your way. Unfortunately for Skeletor, that’s exactly what he got with He-Man – and the over-muscled dude just keeps refusing to step aside and let old skull head take over the universe. He-Man may have other distractions, but when Skeletor rears his ugly head – um, skull – he gets He-Man’s total attention.

Cartman and Kyle’s rivalry is based on Cartman’s unapologetic bigotry. So what if his views insult the Jewish Kyle? Blatantly disrespectful of any other person’s beliefs or feelings, Cartman is an immovable object of racism. He’s also a bully, so Kyle might be better off just ignoring everything Cartman ever says or does. But, naw, that can’t happen. Where’s the fun in that?

Rivalries don’t come much more intense than that of Tom and Jerry. Seriously, can these two agree on anything? The blueprint for countless other odd couples; the secret to their success is that they manage to surprise us while working within a strict formula. Jerry is basically good, but he’s also cheeky, mischievous and over-confident. Tom may be the aggressor, but he’s more interested in winning than in actually hurting Jerry. They’re like teen-age brothers – and you don’t get more competitive – or cartoonish – than that.

Elmer Fudd has been after that “wascally wabbit” Bugs Bunny for 70 years. After all that time, you’d think he could see through the rabbit’s clever disguises. But he never learns – and we couldn’t be happier. The battle between single-minded Elmer and free-spirited Bugs makes for a never-ending supply of laughs.

They may be enormous shape-shifting robots, but they have the same emotions as puny humans. Optimus Prime is all that is courageous and honorable, Megatron is badness personified – er, robotified. It doesn’t help that the two started out as friends – until young Optimus Prime saw that Megatron was on the path to evil. After that, their rivalry was unavoidable – and on a blockbuster scale.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Sylvester & Tweety “Looney Tunes” (1930-69), “Merrie Melodies” (1931-69)
- Kim Possible & Bonnie Rockwaller “Kim Possible” (2002-07)
- Peter Griffin & Ernie the Giant Chicken “Family Guy” (1999-)
- Homer Simpson & Ned Flanders “The Simpsons” (1989-)
- Samurai Jack & The Scotsman “Samurai Jack” (2001-04)

He’s Wile E. Coyote, known semi-scientifically as Obsessive-us Compulsive-ore. He’s the Roadrunner, also called Oblivious Speed Demon-ite. Together, they demonstrate an eternal truth: some people just don’t know when to quit. And in this rivalry, we may want the Roadrunner to escape unharmed – but it’s the Coyote that we identify with. He keeps on trying against impossible odds – and we can’t help admiring that determination.

Do you agree with our list? Which cartoon rivalries are your favorites? For more competitive top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.