The Siblings to Enemies Dynamic

There are many heart breaking character relationship shifts in novels, plays, television and film but siblings (or characters that have a sibling dynamic) becoming enemies, most naturally lends itself to complexity and intrigue. This is more so the case than within romantic relationships because there is always a level of expectation that a falling out between lovers can happen especially in fiction. Siblings, as family, are expected to be on the same side when it matters most. Siblings also tend to bond through growing up together and being a similar age, something even a parent-child relationship lacks. A siblings-to-enemies dynamic being uniquely emotional inevitably comes down to the tragic loss of 'the first person who truly knew you'.

The siblings-to-enemies dynamic has been played with, and adapted, in many transformative and creative ways. All the examples in this list add an extra saddening element for maximum viewer/ reader heartbreak! (Many big spoilers ahead).

Eddie and Mickey (Blood Brothers)

Theatre Things

Separated at birth and growing up within different economic backgrounds, twins Mickey and Eddie meet and get to know each other as children, forming an extremely pure and close bond without knowing they are real siblings.

In adulthood, their love for each other begins to compete with Mickey's resentment towards Eddie's privilege (Eddie is wealthy and even starts a relationship with Linda, the girl both boys liked in school) and Eddie's inability to fully grasp Mickey's hardships (Mickey loses his job, is sent to prison, and becomes seriously depressed). With real life collapsing in on their childhood bond, it is revealed to them that they are twin brothers. The tensions thus escalates to Mickey shooting Eddie and the police shooting Mickey.

Their changing relationship is a vessel in which Willy Russell emphasises the power that class-status has in controlling a person's outcome in life. As twins, the only differences between Eddie and Mickey that altered their fates were where they grew up and how much money their families had.

Arthur and Morgana (Merlin)

Merlin BBC

Merlin introduces Morgana as the King's adopted ward and Prince Arthur as the King's son and heir. Morgana Pendragon and Arthur Pendragon grow up together and forge a sibling-bond, strengthened by their respective complicated relationships with their father, King Uther. Morgana receives a number visions of Arthur in danger and always tries to save him before they become reality.

After many years hiding her magic whilst living with Uther, witnessing his prosecution of those with magic, Morgana is vulnerable. Arthur is preoccupied with his quests and growing love for Guinevere - Morgana feels utterly alone in her suffering. She is thus corrupted by outside forces who convinces her Uther is the enemy. After being betrayed by her close friend Merlin, Morgana finally turns against Camelot, her father, and by extension Arthur who is the heir to all that Uther stands for. Arthur realises too late that he failed to protect Morgana.

Morgana finds out Uther is her biological father and starts a war with Arthur over the throne. They see each other again after many years of war and accuse each other of becoming just like their father.

Jinx and Vi (Arcane)

Arcane Netlfix

A pair of infant orphans, sisters Vi and Jinx (Powder) from Arcane, are a modern Greek tragedy. As young girls, Vi orders her little sister, Powder, to stay behind on a robbery but Powder wants to prove that she is not a 'jinx', as the rest of their thieving friends call her. Powder's subsequent actions lead to the sisters' guardian being killed. Vi tells Powder she truly is a jinx and leaves her devastated in the street.

Powder is taken in by a calculated man called Silco, he raises Powder to become a ruthless weapon by renaming her Jinx and telling her that her sister is dead.

Years later, Vi is freed from prison and looking for her little sister. They are both happy to find each other again as adults, but Vi is warned by others that Jinx is nothing like Powder anymore and she is very dangerous. Vi is shocked to find her sister is her enemy's adopted daughter, but Vi trusts Powder still exists within her somewhere.

Whilst Jinx is tempted to run away with Vi, Silco is in Jinx's other ear. When Vi is winning Jinx over, Silco gets frustrated and pulls a gun on Vi. Amid being torn and overwhelmed, Jinx instinctively shoots Silco to protect her sister. She is distraught at killing her adoptive father who truly did love her. This fully pushes her to accept she is Jinx, not Powder, and vows to carry out her father's plans. Vi watches as Powder completely slips away from her.

Sadly, one sister's efforts to get her sister back dooms the other entirely. The last day of Powder is killing Jinx’s father to keep Vi safe. The true first day of Jinx is avenging her father and starting a war.

Anakin and Ahsoka (Star Wars)

Ahsoka, Star Wars / Disney+

Star Wars stories are built on many types of relationships being pulled apart. Ahsoka is a bubbly padawan assigned to the very independent Anakin who is reluctant to provide Jedi training. Anakin grows to love Ahsoka like a little sister and Ahsoka idolises him. They develop a Force-bond which is rare and only forms when two are deeply connected. This means they can sense the other instinctively and feel their emotions.

Ahsoka leaves the Jedi Order when she is accused of crimes she did not commit. She is not present when Anakin turns and the dark side begin massacring Jedi. Ahsoka feels Anakin's fall to the dark side through their Force-bond. She misses him terribly and feels guilty that she has to stay in exile and can't save him from the agony she senses he is in.

Years later, she comes face to face with Darth Vader. The realisation that Vader is Anakin devastates Ahsoka. She is forced to fight her former brother figure.

As a grown woman long after the death of Darth Vader, an emotionally lost and troubled Ahsoka is pushed into the World-Between-Worlds, a metaphysical realm where she sees Anakin's ghost. Seeking closure, the pair are taken through Ahsoka's past. They take the form of their younger selves on the battlefield from when Ahsoka was Anakin's padawan. Ahsoka is painfully reminded how their child-soldier upbringing set them on opposite paths and ripped them from one another forever.

Alicent and Rhaenyra (House of the Dragon)

House of the Dragon HBO

Being taken for granted by their families as young girls, Rhaenyra Targaryan and Alicent Hightower are extremely close growing up. They especially bond over losing both their mothers. It is tragic then, that gender and motherhood are the ways in which their family Houses drive a wedge between them.

Alicent is forced to marry and bear children to Rhaenyra's elderly father, the King, at just eighteen years old. Rhaenyra views this as a betrayal before she is old enough to understand her friend is a victim. Resentment grows over the years because they each possess what the other is denied by the men in their lives - Rhaenyra wants to be Queen like Alicent and Alicent wants freedom like Rhaenyra. Try hard as they might to reconcile, by the time they are ready to come back together, the political tensions between their Houses are too high.

Although initially supporting Rhaenyra's claim to the throne and saving her from being killed when the Hightowers take control, it becomes all too clear that Alicent's own son is deeply vulnerable when the King dies. Aegon is a threat to Rhaenyra, especially because Westeros is more likely to rally behind a male heir. Alicent knows he, and the rest of her children, will be killed (probably by Daemon Targaryan) if Rhaenyra becomes Queen. Alicent chooses to protect her children by supporting Aegon's claim.

Both Alicent and Rhaenyra lose their children to the war and are sadly, unable to come back from this.

Ferdinand and the Duchess (The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster)

The Duchess of Malfi (2014) at The Globe

Unlike the others on this list, these siblings do not start out with a nice bond. Ferdinand is unhealthily obsessed with his twin sister, the Duchess. Yet from the Duchess's perspective, herself and her twin's relationship goes from content and normal to treacherous.

When the Duchess decides to marry, Ferdinand does not approve. She defies his orders to stay chaste. His reasons for caring so much are unclear, whilst there are definitely some incestuous tones to his erratic panic about his sister's love life, Ferdinand has a fixation with his own purity. The idea of his twin sister marrying a lower-class man and by association (he believes) damaging his own pure blood in the process, sends him spinning.

After having three children to her husband, Antonio, the Duchess refuses to name their father to keep him safe from Ferdinand.

Ferdinand spies on, imprisons, and tortures the Duchess. Over much personal deliberating torment, he reluctantly decides to have her executed. However, murdering his own twin sister really does finally send him over the edge and he has a psychotic breakdown. He dies in a fight.

Kendall and Shiv (Succession)

Succession HBO

Succession is a show all about siblings becoming enemies over and over again, but there is a particular kind of heartbreak when it comes to Kendall and Shiv. They are both the more intelligent siblings and are arguably the most competitive with each other as a result. They find a quiet kinship in this. When Kendall is at his lowest it is Shiv he runs to, she hugs him and he feels safe to open up to her and no one else. Equally, Shiv savours the moments Kendall is her big brother, particularly when he defends her from disrespectful comments because Shiv is so used to being the only one to defend herself.

However, when Kendall is scared or feels he is losing, he resorts to a child-like state and becomes devastatingly misogynistic to Shiv when he doesn't know how else to overtake her. Shiv reacts to this - or sometimes ignites it - by being very cold and shunning. It is a vicious and sad cycle that competition for their father's approval puts them in.

Their strange but deep relationship is excruciatingly severed in the finale. Shiv refuses to vote Kendall as CEO of their family's media empire because she knows he isn't fit to lead (and the criminal secret as to why) but also because she can't let him win. Her vote would have gotten Kendall the position. Kendall breaks down - physically and recklessly lashing out at his pregnant sister.

Last thoughts...

All of these characters stand out in their stories as memorable and are applauded for being well written. I don't think this can be separated from the fact that they are involved in a siblings-to-enemies journey. The dynamic directly challenges the characters and pushes them to make hard and irreversible choices that change themselves and their sibling, the first and sometimes only person they love (or loved). In splitting from that person who knows them best to protect themself or their own interests, characters paradoxically create a parting with a piece of themselves, losing who they once were forever.

We root for siblings to reconcile because the complexity of love and hate that is inextricably woven into the narratives of these relationships engage us emotionally. They're heart breaking! But - there is no denying the dynamic always provides mesmerising depth to a story.