Basic Trope: One of the heroes and one of the villains used to have a friendly relationship before the villain turned evil.
- Straight: When Lance was a kid, he used to be best friends with Eric, who later became Emperor Evulz.
- Exaggerated:
- All of Lance's former friends ended up becoming villains.
- Every hero in the story has a former friend who later became evil, and/or all of the villains are revealed to be former friends of at least one of the heroes.
- Lance and Eric used to be in a romantic relationship before Eric became Emperor Evulz.
- Downplayed:
- We Used to Be Friends
- Eric doesn't necessarily become evil, but he does become a Jerkass and serves as an antagonistic character.
- Lance and Eric were merely acquaintances in their youth.
- Justified:
- Eric Used to Be a Sweet Kid.
- Lance himself was also a bit morally grey as a kid, and made friends with Eric because of this.
- Eric turned evil because Lance betrayed him.
- Inverted:
- Lance and Eric were enemies when they were younger, since Eric used to bully him. Later on, Lance finds out that Emperor Evulz is really his Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up.
- Lance was the one who bullied Eric, later causing his Start of Darkness into Emperor Evulz. Once he learns that Lance is a Reformed Bully, he makes the process of pulling a Heel–Face Turn.
- Subverted: Lance has mistaken Emperor Evulz for his childhood friend, Eric.
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Lance and Emperor Evulz didn't have any kind of history.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: "I heard that Lance and Emperor Evulz were best friends once." "Yeah... before he turned evil."
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Drama: During their first fight Lance tries to reason with his former friend, Evulz brushes it off, thinking he and Lance were never friends and that Lance was just using him, starting a tragic rivalry between the two.Lance: Eric, please… Stop this. You’re my friend. I don’t want to hurt you.
Evulz: No… you were never my friend. You were just using me for your own gain. I am not Eric anymore. I am Emperor Evulz.
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