Foe Yay/Headscratchers

• Most of this trope Just Bugs Me. It seems fans see subtext in almost any hate-relationship, or if a character is shown to dislike another a lot... ooh, that MUST mean they actually like them!
  • Welcome to the Internet. You must be new.
• Does Foe Yay count for Jealousy or Envy of the Villain by the hero, or is it purely romantic/sexual subtext?
  • Depends on what you mean--do you mean "can Foe Yay also be jealousy or envy" or "can Foe Yay come from jealousy or envy"? To answer the former, Foe Yay is mainly a shipping trope, though there might be some jealousy involved. To answer the latter, yes it can. Look at Iago from Othello--many scholars have debated that Iago's motivation stemmed from romantic jealousy that he couldn't have Othello. Therefore, he decides to ruin Othello's life by convincing him that his best friend is sleeping with his wife, which is killing two birds with one stone--or, in this case, killing two "rivals" with one stone.
  • Shakespeare spells it out, actually - and it's a complete subversion: Iago is a racist bigot who thinks Othello has been sleeping with his wife. Seems that particular phobia is Older Than Steam....
• This troper has seen this used occasionally on Hatedoms; one particularly baffling case was somebody accusing the Hatedom of the Irate Gamer as harboring Foe Yay towards him for being "incredibly dedicated to talking about him for something they supposedly hate". Not only does this not make any sense, in this context, it's a thought-terminating cliche of the highest order.
  • Agree. Hate does not mean love.
• The hell's up with this page? most of the examples have no subtext at all, it just is something the adder finds arousing.
  • Welcome to the Internet. You must be new.