The rival.
Especially the douchebag Machiavellian type rivals that the main character ends up friends or teaming up with after the main character ‘proves their worth’ to them by being stronger. No character growth outside of now they work with the protagonist.
I really want this trope to be subverted one day, like the douchey rival shows up and everyone is just like “Wow what a dickhead” and just relentlessly bullies him until he goes away.
I mean you have a superpowered derelict father/husband and ubermensch with a god complex teaming up with an arch-capitalist corporation to galavant across time and space to do a colonialism and steal artifacts, but did you know he talks like a farmer, hee-yuck.
:joker-troll: