Top 10 Rivalries on The Big Bang Theory

Mary Cooper and Beverly Hofstadter are very different people. The latter is a brilliant, emotionally distant, clinically-minded Ph.D, while the former is a sweet, loving, very religious Texas woman. For over seven seasons, we get to know each of the mothers separately, but in the penultimate episode of Season 8, the mothers finally meet each other in person. The meeting is as awkward as you’d expect for two people with such divergent belief systems. Jump cut to Season 10, and the women come together once again for Penny and Leonard’s wedding. But this time, Leonard’s father hits it off with Mary, to Beverly’s very unsubtle dismay. Let’s just say that while their sons might be best friends - they’ll never be.

In Season 4, Raj and Neil deGrasse Tyson appear to be very friendly scientific colleagues. Now, we’re not sure what happened in the eight intervening years, but when Season 12 begins, Raj’s feelings towards Dr. Tyson appear to have changed. When he finds out the local news only had him on because Dr. Tyson wasn’t available, the green envy monster rears its ugly head and Raj says some rather unflattering things about his fellow astrophysicist. This leads to a very funny Twitter feud that Raj is happy to partake in - that is, until Tyson calls him on the phone and scares him straight with a good ol’ “deGrasse kicking.”

Given that her nickname for him was “dumbass,” you probably could’ve guessed that Leslie Winkle and Sheldon’s relationship is more confrontational than cordial. And you would’ve been right. Much of Sheldon’s identity is wrapped up in his extreme intelligence, and although his friends are all geniuses as well, the guys tend to kowtow to Sheldon’s antics and persona. Leslie Winkle, on the other hand, is a genius that Sheldon can’t control or dominate and who loves pushing his buttons, like when she fixes Sheldon’s equation or agrees to join Leonard’s Physics Bowl team just to beat him. Their rivalry lasts for years, but by the end, Leslie is happy to wish dumbass a happy birthday.

While Howard’s mother comes to love Berndette who returns those feelings, the relationship doesn’t start off all hearts and roses. Although to be fair, their rivalry has less to do with their feelings for each other and more to do with their feelings towards Howard. Bernadette wants to live with her boyfriend - and eventually her husband - and Howard’s mom lays down a nice guilt trip in an effort to keep him at her house. Caught in the middle like a good little mama’s boy, Howard goes back and forth a couple times before finally making the permanent move.

Imagine living across the hall from your ex when they start dating an amazing new person. Now imagine being that new person dating someone who lives across the hall from their gorgeous ex. That’s the respective situations that Penny and Priya find themselves in when the latter starts going out with Leonard. For the most part, the two women are cordial to each other, but there’s definitely no chance of them ever becoming besties, that’s for sure. Sheldon also has an adversarial experience with Priya when she uses her lawyerly skills to poke some very frustrating holes in the roommate agreement. But in this case, Sheldon gets the last laugh with his cruel and cunning checkmate.

To say that Sheldon is someone who holds a grudge is an understatement. Sheldon has been keeping an enemies list since he was nine years old. And one of the people on that list is Wil Wheaton. This list comes up when Sheldon learns that Wheaton will be playing in a Mystic Warlords of Ka’a tournament at the comic book store. A tournament Wheaton wins by lying to Sheldon about his dead grandmother. Eventually Sheldon proclaims Wheaton a friend, but that doesn’t end Wil’s rivalries in the gang. He and Amy get into it when he agrees to be a guest on “Fun with Flags” and she gets a little intense with her directing duties.

When we first meet Fermilab specialists Dr. Pemberton and Dr. Campbell, they appear to be allies of Sheldon and Amy. Having proven the latter’s theory of Super-Asymmetry, the Fermilab guys look to have provided Sheldon and Amy a ticket to the Nobel Prize. However, when it’s revealed that Pemberton and Campbell were more lucky than smart, the two parties begin to diverge. When the Fermi-Lab physicists tell Sheldon to drop Amy in order to improve their chances for the Nobel, the rivalry is solidified. In the end, a plagiarism scandal comes between Pemberton and Campbell, leaving Shamy standing alone at the top of the Nobel mountain.

The overarching history of Sheldon and Penny’s relationship is of two people who go from neighbors to the best of friends. However, for one short moment on that timeline they also experience quite an epic rivalry, one that begins with the simple act of touching an onion ring. Penny tampering with Sheldon’s onion rings sets off a string of events that leads to her banishment from the apartment. But she doesn’t take it lying down. This leads to a hilarious escalation of revenge pranks from both parties. It only ends when Sheldon gets a call from his mother.

While they’re both brilliant minds, Sheldon Cooper and Barry Kripke generally don’t like each other, and often find themselves at odds. Like when Kripke pranks Sheldon during an NPR radio interview, leading to a Sheldon brilliant, but ill-timed foam-filled revenge plot. The two have also gone up against each other via their fighting robots. Then there’s the time when Sheldon and Kripke both have their eyes on a recently vacated office at the University, a battle Sheldon eventually wins in a game of basketball, if you can call it that. They’re like Batman and the Joker, if Batman and the Joker were two genius, athletically-challenged nerds.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Hateful Shrew” & “Wrinkled Old Bastard” Sure Aren’t Terms of Endearment

This One Leads to an Actual Physical Altercation

Lots of Family Baggage Almost Keeps Sheldon’s Brother from Coming to His Wedding

Sheldon Meets His Intellectual Match & He Doesn’t Like It

Another Case of a Sheldon Rivalry Ending Because His Mommy Makes Him Apologize

While their relationship is always on the contentious side, Sheldon and Howard aren’t rivals as much as they’re, to quote sheldon, “tertiary friends.” However, there are times when that friendship boils over and goes from contentious to a rivalry. As is the case when Howard decides to take Sheldon’s class at the University, only to have him make every effort to embarrass him rather than learn. But, of course, their greatest battle takes place over a University parking spot, a spot given to Howard that had previously belonged to the non-driving Sheldon, a battle so epic both guys eventually take to using their own naked bodies as weapons in the war.