History Main / FandomBerserkButton

** '''Never''' bring up the question "If the Eagles could fly them ''out'' of Mordor and they're in Gondor an hour later, why couldn't they have flown them ''in'', saves all that hazardous trekking for weeks." Hardcore LOTR fans ''do not like this''. [[note]]In the books, Eagles could not be summoned at will like in the movies, but were by the author's admission DeusExMachina devices, literally servants of the gods who would only show up because of divine providence, aka OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow. Also, even if they could have rode the eagles there, Sauron's Nazgul would've seen them coming from a mile away and would've attacked them with their own flying Fell Beasts.[[/note]]

** '''Never''' bring up the question "If the Eagles could fly them ''out'' of Mordor and they're in Gondor an hour later, why couldn't they have flown them ''in'', saves all that hazardous trekking for weeks." Hardcore LOTR fans ''do not like this''. [[note]]In the books, Eagles could not be summoned at will like in the movies, but were by the author's admission DeusExMachina devices, literally servants of the gods who would only show up because of divine providence, aka OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow.[[/note]]

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' Clan fans don't like it when you call the Timber Wolf and Summoner their Inner Sphere names [=MadCat=] and Thor. Less you want to be called a "Freebirth Stravag". Also, the following topics have caused a bit of drama on the official fora at one point or another:

[[TropesAreTools This isn't always bad, though]], at least not concerning examples of errors that can lead to an AudienceColoringAdaptation that can tank the reputation of a work.

* Referring to any of the books of the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' as a "[[DoorStopper brick]]" can ''actually get you in trouble with the staff'' in some quarters. But in other places, even on fansites, the staff call them "bricks" too, but used as a term of affection rather than ridicule.

* Franchise/CthulhuMythos: What the Elder Sign looks like - a star or a tree. Problem is that in different stories it is described as either. Mocked in the musical ''A Shoggoth on the Roof'' where in the opening a fight breaks out over this question. 'Star!' -- 'Tree!' -- 'Star!' -- 'Tree!'...

* Any fan of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' will not take kindly to comparisons with ''Literature/BattleRoyale''. Likewise, don't make the mistake of referring to ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'' as ''Hunger Games 2'' and ''Hunger Games 3'', or calling Peeta Mellark ''Peter''! And for the sake of whatever you hold holy, '''don't compare it to ''[[Literature/{{Twilight}} Twilight]]'''''.

In every community for every series, there are common mistakes. Someone could [[SpellMyNameWithAnS use the wrong spelling]] of a character's name, or think that [[IAmNotShazam the title referred to the main character]], or insist on [[UrbanLegendOfZelda spreading a rumor about the plot until everyone believes it]], or pigeon-holing fans into [[AcceptableHobbyTargets negative stereotypes]].

** Unless you have a death wish, '''do not''' bring up the topic of Mink'sroute and whether or not Aoba was suffering from StockholmSyndrome. No matter which side of the argument you're on, [[InternetBackdraft it won't be pretty]]. This has lessened since the release of Re:Connect, which expanded upon Mink's character and motivations, but his route is still very controversial.

[[TropesAreTools This isn't always bad, though]], at least not concerning examples of CriticalResearchFailure that can lead to an AudienceColoringAdaptation that can tank the reputation of a work.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' has Ra's Al Ghul. According to [[WordOfGod Denny O'Neil]], his name was originally meant to be pronounced 'Raesh'. While the phrase "head of the demon" does indeed translate into "ra's al-ghuul" in real Arabic (suggesting the character's name is NOT supposed to consist of a made-up language), the pronunciation [[CriticalResearchFailure does not]] contain the sounds "i" or "sh". In ''Film/BatmanBegins'' it's pronounced 'Rahs', which is much closer to the actual pronunciation. Still, pronouncing it in any way other than 'Raesh' will attract much ire from fans. In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Terry is "corrected" by Talia [[spoiler: actually Ra's]] after pronouncing it "Rahs".

* ComicBook/AntMan:
** Want to piss off Marvel Comics fans, especially ComicBook/AntMan fans? Call Hank Pym [[NeverLiveItDown a wifebeater]]. Given how grossly such a statement oversimplifies the incident in question and the fact that neither the writers nor the haters ever shut up about it, this is rather understandable.

* Mistaking a CGI Creator/{{Disney}} film like ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' or ''Disney/{{Bolt}}'' for a Disney-Creator/{{Pixar}} film is not wise around animation fans. In particular, ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}'' is a {{spinoff}} created by Disney Toon Studios (mostly known for their direct-to-video sequels, prequels, and midquels) and is ''not'' a Pixar movie - but it doesn't stop many people from mistakenly blaming Pixar for it.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' is ''not'' a Disney movie ([[NamesTheSame though there is a red-headed Disney]] ''[[NamesTheSame character]]'' [[NamesTheSame named]] [[Disney/{{Cinderella}} Anastasia]]).

** Some fans of Tolkien are grumpy about spelling his surname "Tolkein" or pronouncing it [[NoPronunciationGuide "Tol-kin", "Tol-kyen" or "Tolky-yen"]] rather than "Tol-Keen". And even spelling "Middle-earth" as "Middle-Earth" in extreme cases.

** D&D has demons and devils. Many, many fans commonly mistake the two (which isn't really helped by the fact that the earliest editions just had demons, but no devils) and nearly just as many are really anal about fans who can't get it right. And when you throw in the fact that the most common kind of both demons and devils have more specific names (Tanar'ri and Baatezu respectively), it all just gets very messy, very fast. Plus other kinds like obyrith and archdevils that more [[SeriousBusiness pure-blooded]] fans know about. Part of this comes from the fact that, in many versions of the game, demons and devils DO have objective differences based on Alignment: while both are always Evil, Demons are characterized as always Chaotic, Devils are always Lawful. This extends to other celestial beings like Angels, Archons, Devas, Asuras, etc., where it is less defined.

* Saying that ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is set in 1870 is a good way to get a long talk about the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune of Paris, and CriticalResearchFailure in general.

* It's Ole Miss and LSU, not "Mississippi" or "Louisiana State". If you want to be excessively formal while talking about the educational institutions themselves, you can say "'''University of''' Mississippi" and "Louisiana State '''University'''", but in any other context - ''especially'' [[SeriousBusiness sports]] - you use the nicknames.

** Unless you have a death wish, '''do not''' bring up the topic of [[JerkassWoobie Min]][[BaseBreakingCharacter k's]] route and whether or not Aoba was suffering from StockholmSyndrome. No matter which side of the argument you're on, [[InternetBackdraft it won't be pretty]]. This has lessened since the release of Re:Connect, which expanded upon Mink's character and motivations, but his route is still very controversial.

** Do yourself a favor and peruse the site (which, admittedly, is [[ArchivePanic very large]]) for a while before putting up new SCP entries; while certain community standards are arguably too high or too picky, anything that's flagrantly awful just as a piece of "creative writing", never mind the tone of the site, will typically get long, line-by-line breakdowns of [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech everything you did wrong]]. Repeat offenses (or shotgunning multiple horrid entries at once) may or may not get you kicked off the site, depending on your personal attitude. For really [[SchmuckBait entertaining discussions]], however, just try to say how SCP-173 [[OlderThanTheyThink is a rip-off]] of the [[Series/DoctorWho Weeping Angels]], or why your impossibly amazing self-insert humanoid SCP/Researcher deserves to be all over the site, or how this new thing would really actually easily be able to kill [[NighInvulnerable SCP-682]]. Enjoy your time as a [[CannonFodder D-class]].

[[folder:History]]
* Confusing any of the major Central-and-South American empires with [[{{Mayincatec}} one another]] will probably result in a history aficionado doing their best impression of the infamous "tearing the still-beating heart from the chest" blood ritual on you.
* When talking about Scottish history to a learned person, do not bring up ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' in any context other than a negative one. Then everyone can have a nice eye-rolling session and move on with the discussion.
* Don't deny genocides and other crimes against humanity -- for example, those committed by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} Ottoman Empire]] against the UsefulNotes/{{Armenia}}ns during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, by the Axis powers (like UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan) during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo, by the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]] under UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, etc. Just don't do it. People will hate you, and they'll be right to hate you. In several countries, denying UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust is outright ''illegal'', and people can be and have been successfully prosecuted for it. On a related matter, don't say that six million people died in the Holocaust unless you are specifically referring to the Jewish death count. If you are talking about the total death count, the correct number is between ''twelve million to seventeen million''[[note]]academia disagrees over whether the extra five million should be counted as part of the Holocaust specifically or as part of other war-related deaths[[/note]]. This can be a very touchy subject to people who belong to the various non-Jewish groups that ThoseWackyNazis tried to exterminate (like the UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}, the LGBT community, and the disabled, to name just a few).
* Do not claim UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was won by your country only and the other Allies were just a sideshow, no matter what country you live in. This berserk button keeps being pushed by Americans and Russians alike, but Russians and other post-Soviets have it worse: The USSR was first allied with the Third Reich since 1939, and conquered half of Central Europe, before being forced to switch sides in 1941, and fighting against the Reich for the remainder of the war. It should be emphasized that the Eastern Front became the largest meat grinder in history of war.
* Say either British North America or the United States won the war of 1812 and you'll start a complete havoc between history buffs attacking you for simplifying the event and from sensitive patriotic folks unwilling to accept that their country lost the conflict. If you're ''really'' eager to anger some people, insinuate that it (or any part of the American Revolutionary War) was nothing more than a proxy war between Britain and France and the arguing will go nuclear.
* US history, 1860-1865 (from the secession of South Carolina to Appomattox). By now you can ''probably'' get away with calling it "the American Civil War" and be fairly confident that anyone who "corrects" you is a nutjob or pretending to be. If you say that it was about slavery (or, alternatively, that it was about "States' Rights"), you should still be prepared for arguments even a century and a half later.
* 1768, May the 15th: the Republic of Genoa yields the isle of Corsica to the Kingdom of France. 1769, August the 15th: birth of Napoleone di Buonaparte. 1779, May the 15th: Napoleon Bonaparte joins the Military School of Brienne, in Northeastern France. So yes people, Napoleon was French, not "Corsican" or "Italian"; saying that to a Frenchman's face is akin to telling an American that because he was born in the British colony of Virginia, George Washington isn't "really" American.
* Go to a Medieval aficionado/scholar and try talking to him about "The Dark Ages", or anything likewise. If you're lucky, you'll get a week-long lecture about the cultural, intellectual and social transformations that took place in those thousand years of history; if you're not, you'll get a longsword shoved in the face.
* Don't tell a historian that "The Dark Ages" were universal and not just "the period when Europe was the world's backwater and everyone else got a Golden Age".
* Do not ever bring up the claims that medieval eras was just a backward time where everything is [[TheDungAges smelly and unhygienic]], [[MedievalMorons people were downright stupid because science was pushed back in favor of religion]], and women get [[BurntheWitch burned at the stake for being witches all the time]]. Instead, It will be guaranteed that you will get burn at the stake.
%%* Don't bring up ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' or anything similar around a Crusades historian or an expert on the Military Orders (e.g. the Templars). Just don't.
* For the love of whatever deity you do or don't believe in, don't try and claim that the Roman Empire ended in the 5th century AD around a Byzantinist. If you are lucky, you will get a several hour long lecture explaining how, in fact, the Western Roman Empire fell, while the Eastern Roman Empire survived as a continuous polity in the form of the Byzantine Empire until 1453, reconquered large chunks of the West at various points, and remained a military superpower until approximately 650 AD, with resurgences between c. 850 and 1050, and to a lesser extent, 1100 and 1180, and a significant regional power/cultural and economic superpower until at least 1204.
* Don't call Istanbul by its old name of Constantinople unless you're referring to a time ''before'' the name was changed. Equally, don't call it Istanbul before the 20th century.
* Claiming that Christopher Columbus was trying to prove the Earth is round and nobody would fund him because they thought he would fall off the edge will at best get an exasperated lecture about how Columbus was really just a lucky idiot. The book that originally made the claim that he was trying to prove the Earth is round was a work of historical fiction written specifically to mock people who refused to accept the theory of evolution, but the guy who wrote the school textbooks in the fifties and sixties [[PoesLaw missed that part]]. The shape of the Earth has been known since about the fifth century B.C. The real reason no one would fund Columbus was because he grossly underestimated the size of the Earth (Columbus has no excuse for that either, since the circumference of the Earth was calculated not very long after the shape was confirmed). Nearly everyone Columbus sought out to fund his voyage was smart enough to realize that his logistics would have his ship run out of food and drinkable water at about the halfway point, which is exactly what happened. It was just sheer dumb luck that there happened to be two large, previously unknown landmasses at that exact point.
* Claiming that Columbus discovered the Americas should result in people pointing out that the Americas were already inhabited when he arrived, and even if they're only counting Europeans finding the place, the Norse unquestionably beat him by about 500 years and there's some evidence Basque, Portuguese and English fishermen were operating out of Newfoundland before his trip. And don't even ''think'' about associating him with the U.S., since Columbus never even saw any of the territory that would later make up that country.
* It's "April Fools'" (with the apostrophe after the "s"), ''not'' "April Fool's" (with the apostrophe before the "s") or "April Fools" (with no apostrophe at all).
* Please for the love of God, do not bring up any political agendas and dragging in history or historical figures that results in contributing to their HistoricalHeroUpgrade or HistoricalVillainUpgrade, or vice versa relating certain aspects of the historical frame to whatever social/modern problems with presentism or modern judgments. '''The results will be nasty'''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Languages]]
* Do not imply that Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Shanghainese or any other variant of Chinese is a 'dialect' of Mandarin and thus somehow 'not a real language' - not only will that earn you the ire of its speakers (who will eagerly point out all the ways that the type of Chinese they speak differs from Mandarin), but also of anyone well versed in linguistics. [[note]]Chinese is not a singular, unified language - rather, it is a macrolanguage comprised of hundreds and hundreds of related yet mutually unintelligible language varieties, divided into several major 'branches'. The most well known form of Mandarin Chinese (or to be specific, Standard Chinese) is actually a relatively recent development compared to many other Chinese languages, so to imply that said languages are somehow descended from Standard Chinese (when most of them not only predate Standard Chinese but belong to different branches entirely) is quite absurd. For reference, Cantonese is from the Yue branch, Hokkien and Teochew are from the Min branch, Shanghainese is from the Wu branch and Standard Chinese belongs to the Mandarin branch.[[/note]]
* On a related note, saying that Czech and Slovak are essentially the same language isn't recommended either. [[note]]Although Czech and Slovak are highly mutually intelligible with largely similar grammatical structure, they are still divergent enough to be classed as separate languages and there are also a good deal of FalseFriends that exist between the two.[[/note]]
* Do not confuse Flemish Dutch with Standard Dutch.
* Don't confuse Danish, Swedish and Norwegian with each other.
* For the love of whatever deity (or lack thereof) that you believe in, do NOT claim that Afrikaans as a 'simplified version of Dutch' - Afrikaans has developed grammatical rules unique to it and is a language in its own right.
* Do not refer to Catalan as a 'Spanish dialect' - it is a completely separate language that developed out of the vulgar Latin spoken by the Romans who colonised the present-day Tarragona area.
* If you're in Brazil, please don't try to speak Spanish to the natives there. They speak Portuguese.
* Sign languages are most certainly real languages, with their own grammatical structure and vernacular.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Locations]]
* Do not confuse Iceland with Ireland. Otherwise, Icelanders might throw you into one of the island nation's volcanoes.
* Confusing Australia with New Zealand is not suggested either.
* Don't mix up Australia with Austria.
* Don't try to imply that Hong Kong is the same thing as Mainland China. [[note]]Officially, HK is part of China. In practice however, it is a semi-autonomous territory - it has its own governing body (albeit one overseen by the Politiburo), executive branches and policies - for example, China's official language is Mandarin, but Hong Kong's official languages are Chinese (usually Cantonese but Mandarin has played an increasingly important role during the past few years) and English. Hong Kong is also quite culturally distinct from Mainland China due to having been heavily influenced by British culture during its time as a British territory.[[/note]] In fact, don't refer to Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan as China - China is usually taken to mean 'Mainland China' and referring to any of the first three places as '(Mainland) China' is a really good way to piss off Hong Kongers, Macanese and Taiwanese alike (and, in most cases, send them off on a diatribe about how HK/Macau/Taiwan is different from Mainland China).
* Implying that China is a homogeneous country (ethnically, culturally or linguistically) ''will'' earn you the ire of anyone who has more than a passing familiarity with China. Officially, China recognises 55 ethnic minorities, each of which have their own unique traditions and practises. Even the Han Chinese majority are divided into many, ''many'' different subgroups. As for languages, there are actually hundreds of different languages spoken in China (see the Languages Folder for more). Oh, and don't get started on the SARS as well as Taiwan, the mere mention of which usually ends up opening an entirely new can of worms.
* Africa is not a country, it's a continent with multiple countries. Same goes for Europe.
* Be careful when you state that Ukraine is the same as Russia in front of Ukrainians... they will kill you.
* Don't mistake Canadians for Americans. Besides disrespecting hockey, that's the fastest way to strip away [[CanadaEh Canada's signature friendliness.]]
* For rather obvious reasons, it is a bad idea to mix South Korea up with North Korea.
[[/folder]]

* In Brazil, it is not a good idea to state that the Wright Brothers invented the airplane. If you ask a Brazilian, they will tell you that it is Alberto Santos-Dumont.

[[folder:Other]]
* Except those that are for combat, do not call anything tangible a weapon.
[[/folder]]

* Making character calls about the modern versions of DC superheroes by using evidence from before ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' (unless you're talking about a large number of specific characters who died during/weren't rewritten by the event) is a great way to get everyone on the forum to laugh their asses off. A big example is citing that Batman uses guns and kills, things that were phased out incredibly quickly are '''very obviously''' not canon.
** Also, mixing up which of said rewritten characters had their pasts completely wiped, which ones were rebooted in a modern setting, and which ones had their continuity subjected to BroadStrokes, ''and'' how broad those strokes are for each character and each past event, will earn you just as much ridicule. Yes, keeping up with [[ContinuitySnarl comic continuity]] is widely known to be a bitch, but this is widely considered basic knowledge that comes right after figuring out which characters belong to Marvel and which to DC.

** In regards to Mirage Comics-based Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles (or the early IDW issues), asking why all of the Turtles are wearing red, or "why they're all Raph", or any indication that their original bandana color is weird and foreign.
** Likewise, mixing up the Turtles' names, or calling something that's not even one of their names ("Galileo", "Yoda", etc.)

** Similarly, "isn't Batman just as crazy as his villains?"

** Don't call her a villain either. Yes, she was originally written as one and maybe some of her actions are questionable, even if they're accidents, but the fandom will ''not'' take kindly to Elsa being called a villain.
** Confusing her with [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]] isn't a good idea either.

* Also, do not claim UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was won by your country only and the other Allies were just a sideshow, no matter what country you live in. This berserk button keeps being pushed by Americans and Russians alike, but Russians and other post-Soviets have it worse: The USSR was first allied with the Third Reich since 1939, and conquered half of Central Europe, before being forced to switch sides in 1941, and fighting against the Reich for the remainder of the war. It should be emphasized that the Eastern Front became the largest meat grinder in history of war.

** And '''never''' bring up the question "If the Eagles could fly them ''out'' of Mordor and they're in Gondor an hour later, why couldn't they have flown them ''in'', saves all that hazardous trekking for weeks." Hardcore LOTR fans ''do not like this''. [[note]]In the books, Eagles could not be summoned at will like in the movies, but were by the author's admission DeusExMachina devices, literally servants of the gods who would only show up because of divine providence, aka OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow.[[/note]]
* Many of the fans of the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series will scream (or at least groan) should you make the mistake of not capitalizing the word "Clan". There are four ''Clans'' (five if you count [=SkyClan=]). The main characters are in Thunder''Clan''. Their ancestors are Star''Clan''. And don't you dare suggest otherwise. Perhaps justified in that this is pounded into your brain for over twenty books, and not bothering with grammar rules automatically gets you labeled as an idiot on the major forum.
** Not to mention capitalizing the second part of a cat's name; it's Firestar, not [=FireStar=].

** Even more than the above, though, for the love of life ''don't claim Carroll was a pedophile, repressed or otherwise.'' Or on drugs. Given the nature of most Carrollians, though, you're less likely to get flamed and more likely to be firmly sat down for a WallOfText essay on how whichever myth you claimed as truth came to be, and a healthy helping of evidence debunking it.
** The above also applies to J.M. Barrie, who has been on the record as Not A Pedophile since around the time of his death.

** Similarly enough, implying that China is a homogenous country (ethnically, culturally or linguistically) ''will'' earn you the ire of anyone who has more than a passing familiarity with China. Officially, China recognises 55 ethnic minorities, each of which have their own unique traditions and practises. Even the Han Chinese majority are divided into many, ''many'' different subgroups. As for languages, there are actually hundreds of different languages spoken in China (see the Languages Folder for more). Oh, and don't get started on the [=SARs=] as well as Taiwan, the mere mention of which usually ends up opening an entirely new can of worms.

** Whining about how the paleontological discoveries of the last several decades have "ruined your childhood" (namely the fact that at least certain theropods, and quite possibly most dinosaurs in general, had feathers or feather-like integument of some form) is an even more surefire way to earn you a punch in the face.

** Speaking of Orks, the "g" in "WAAAGH!" is silent. If you forget that, then fans might call one on you.

** There is a similar problem with singers. By all means, love your Sarah Brightman and Il Divo [=CDs=]. But do not call them opera singers. Do not tell opera fans that you like Katherine Jenkins' version of the Habanera the best. Singers like these may sound 'operatic' to non-opera fans, but they are NOT opera singers. They are classical crossover singers, and to actual Opera fans, they are hair-rippingly maddening. Especially because many of them have neither the vocal type nor the skill to sing the opera snippets they choose properly. If you know an opera fan, please do not make them sit through Jackie Evancho, Paul Potts, or any of the other Talent Show 'opera' singers. You will drive them crazier than [[http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/sites/www.limelightmagazine.com.au/files/Galleries/20121004054758_Emma%20Matthews.jpg Lucia di Lammermoor]].
** Opera fans will also take umbrage at the stereotype of a fat, ugly woman in a horned helmet. Many, if not most opera chanteuses are [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Maria_Callas_(La_Traviata).JPG neither fat]], [[http://wuol.org/wp-content/uploads/fleming.jpg nor ugly]]. Some are [[http://www.actors-pictures.com/pictures/anna-netrebko-18.jpg downright]] [[http://elinagaranca.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Garanca_GABO_06.jpg gorgeous]].
** Another stereotype is that opera is just a bunch of controlled screaming. If you say this, even jokingly, to an opera fan, you will be pulverized and forced to listen to their entire playlist until you concede defeat and tell them that opera is beautiful. To be honest though, how could anyone call [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h34omCNzK9g this]] screaming? Or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWOyF1EHJ8c this]]?

** Also, there is a reason why ''BIONICLE'' is not under the LEGO section in this folder. Do not refer to ''BIONICLE'' as "that LEGO story" or otherwise try and imply that it is [[FlameBait "just a story used to sell toys"]].

* And while we're on the subject of the SEC West: it's Ole Miss and LSU, not "Mississippi" or "Louisiana State". If you want to be excessively formal while talking about the educational institutions themselves, you can say "'''University of''' Mississippi" and "Louisiana State '''University'''", but in any other context - ''especially'' [[SeriousBusiness sports]] - you use the nicknames.

* If you're in Britain, don't call University "College". College is an alternative to Sixth Form that many British teenagers do, or one of the institutions that make up [[{{Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge Universities]]. Or a further education college, a category which includes but is not limited to sixth-form colleges. The British university system was reformed in the 1990s and institutions perceived as being at a lower status/academic level, the old polytechnics and some of the larger tech colleges, were allowed to step up and recharter as new universities. These institutions remain sensitive about their origins and the perceived snobbery of those who still persist in thinking of them as somehow "inferior" and not real universities. Anyone who, for instance, refers to Manchester Metropolitan University as "Oh, you mean the ''Poly''?" or Owain Glyndwr University of Wrexham as "Ah, the tech college on Mold Road?" is risking pressing a berserk button, and accusations that they're being snooty and superior. Any reference to "[[UsefulNotes/BritishUnis Clown Colleges]]" can be fighting talk in some quarters.
** A similar tradition also applies to universities in Hong Kong, with universities being institutes for Bachelor Degrees, and colleges (or technically, community colleges) being institutes for Associate Degrees and High Diploma.
** The Oxford college that has a cathedral is called Christ Church, not Christ Church College.

** Also don't tell Key fans that the art style looks unnatural or that the eyes are freakishly big.

** Another one is the [[MemeticMutation 'you fuck the dog!']] joke. Newer fans (and non-fans) will probably laugh, but longtime fans will send [[DiscreditedMeme death glares]] your way. Some fans find it especially frustrating because a number of people outside of the fandom have taken the joke seriously and think that the visual novel actually contains bestiality [[note]]the real explanation for the joke is spoiler-heavy and can be found on the VN's YMMV page[[/note]].

** Also, please don't say in front of 999/VLR that you find the plot incredibly unrealistic and therefore bad. You'll get a huge speech about how everything is actually given an actual real life, scientific/theoretical, well explained explanation and that if you think the plot's unrealistic it means you mustn't have paid any attention to these parts. Not to mention that saying you find the plot "poorly put together", or that the writers "didn't care", is a BAD no-no, since fans will be quick to point out that everything slots together so well and folds so neatly into place that writing such a complex plot would take amazing levels of care and attention to detail.

** For that matter, calling Hoody or Masky "proxies" will get you treated to a nice lengthy explanation of how the term wasn't used in ''Marble Hornets'' and neither should be considered as such. Your best bet is to only use the term "proxy" when talking about ''WebVideo/DarkHarvest'' (the series from which the term originated) or ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve''.

** Also, don't call it "SPC". That stands for [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/spc-3284-j "Shark-Punching Center"]].

%%* Equally, don't bring up ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' or anything similar around a Crusades historian or an expert on the Military Orders (e.g. the Templars). Just don't.

* Simplifying basically any event in history for whatever means will usually get you flamed by history enthusiasts, especially those in the know. Expect the flames to be white-hot if you have an agenda behind giving half-informed history info as "fact."

** And especially don't tell a historian that "The Dark Ages" were universal and not just "the period when Europe was the world's backwater and everyone else got a Golden Age".
** For a bonus advice, do not ever bring up the claims that medieval eras was just a backward time where everything is [[TheDungAges smelly and unhygienic]], [[MedievalMorons people were downright stupid because science was pushed back in favor of religion]], and women get [[BurntheWitch burned at the stake for being witches all the time]]. Instead, It will be guaranteed that you will get burn at the stake.
* Equally, don't bring up ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' or anything similar around a Crusades historian or an expert on the Military Orders (e.g. the Templars). Just don't.

** Also, don't call Istanbul by its old name of Constantinople unless you're referring to a time ''before'' the name was changed. Equally, don't call it Istanbul before the 20th century.

** Claiming that Columbus discovered the Americas should result in people pointing out that the Americas were already inhabited when he arrived, and even if they're only counting Europeans finding the place, the Norse unquestionably beat him by about 500 years and there's some evidence Basque, Portuguese and English fishermen were operating out of Newfoundland before his trip. And don't even ''think'' about associating him with the U.S., since Columbus never even saw any of the territory that would later make up that country.

* This applies to most media, please don't mention something from 2000 or onward and say something like "only 90s kids remember". You will be labeled as an ignorant normie with no taste in popular culture, especially animation and video games. Slightly averted with stuff from early 2000 as it's pretty easy to forget that something you think came out in the 90's actually came out in January or February of 2000.

* US history, 1860-1865 (from the secession of South Carolina to Appomattox). By now you can ''probably'' get away with calling it "the American Civil War" and be fairly confident that anyone who "corrects" you is a nutjob or pretending to be (alternatives include "The War Between the States" which, while pro-Confederate, is semi-neutral, and "The War of Northern Aggression" and "Treason in Defence of Slavery", which are unabashedly partisan). If you say that it was about slavery (or, alternatively, that it was about "States' Rights"), you should still be prepared for arguments even a century and a half later.

* Just go on any board where anyone is talking about ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' and refer to it as a Tim Burton movie. To be fair, however, it can be argued that this is not their fault, considering that all of the advertising proclaimed "From Henry Selick, the director of ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''." Many people think Burton directed that film, but he actually only produced it and worked on its story.

* Opera fans don't like it when every single singer who has a big voice with lots of vibrato is called an "opera singer," regardless of whether or not s/he actually sings opera. Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman are common examples.

* Referring to any of the books of the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' as a "[[DoorStopper brick]]" can ''actually get you in trouble with the staff'' in some quarters. But in other places, even on fansites, the staff call them "bricks" too, but used as a term of affection rather than, well, ridicule and scorn.

** Similarly enough, implying that China is a homogenous country (ethnically, culturally or linguistically) ''will'' earn you the ire of anyone who has more than a passing familiarity with China. Officially, China recognises 55 ethnic minorities, each of which have their own unique traditions and practises. Even the Han Chinese majority are divided into many, ''many'' different subgroups. As for languages, there are actually hundreds of different languages spoken in China (see the Languages Folder for more). Oh, and don't get started on the SARs as well as Taiwan, the mere mention of which usually ends up opening an entirely new can of worms.

* Creator/LewisCarroll

* Franchise/CthulhuMythos:
** What the Elder Sign looks like - a star or a tree. Problem is that in different stories it is described as either. Mocked in the musical ''A Shoggoth on the Roof'' where in the opening a fight breaks out over this question. 'Star!' -- 'Tree!' -- 'Star!' -- 'Tree!'...

** The book was written by Steven Erikson, not Steve Erickson, Stephen Erickson, or even Erik Stevenson. Have the decency to take a look at the cover, especially when you're claiming he cannot write, as most people who misspell the name are wont to do.
** And for the love of Hood, don't call the series "Grimdark"!

* Calling ''Literature/PercyJackson'' a rip-off of ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is sure to piss off fans.
%%* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''
%%** Want to die? Go into a crowd of Percy Jackson fans and say Octavian was a good character.

** Furthermore, if you don't want to start an edition war, do not use past and present tenses to describe changes between 3.5 and 4th edition, e.g., "there is no lawful evil alignment anymore".

** Besides the usual bitterly opposing sides in regards to the Faction War in ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'', asking to ''play'' a member of some Factions, such as the ChaoticStupid Xaositects, will get you immediately booted from the table.

** Similar to the above, don't call 40k "Real" Warhammer in front of a fantasy player. To a Fantasy-only player, this is the "Real" Warhammer. There are many things they do not like about 40k and vice versa. Just about the only term you can use to a Fantasy player is "40k". "Fantasy", "Regular" and "Classic" are all accepted terms when referring to this game. The official terms used in all published materials are simply "Warhammer" and "Warhammer 40,000" -- to many purists with a bent for officialdom any term like "real", "original", "fantasy" or "classic" is inappropriate (though "40k" works as a shorthand) -- it's not "Warhammer Fantasy", it's just "Warhammer", because that's what it says in the books, Sigmar be damned! Also bear in mind, a good number of people play both. The book of the third edition of the game (1987-1992) did have a strapline added -- "Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles" (the first edition of 40k was released alongside Warhammer 3rd edition, so this was probably to help distinguish them), but no other edition has ever carried this line. As such there was a brief period during the late eighties and early nineties when the official term was "Warhammer Fantasy Battle", but that has not been the case for two decades.

* Go ahead, tell a fan of ''TableTopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'' that their favorite game is like a light hearted play date, it'll be fine.

* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'':
** InspectorJavert is not just a villain.
** Enjolras' flippant comment in the book and 2012 movie notwithstanding, the story does ''not'' take place during the French Revolution. The barricade scenes are during the June Rebellion, over forty years after the French Revolution.

** So who's the blue robot, Frenzy or Rumble? This question, when ask, will prompt other fans either saying "You had to go there, didn't you?" or straight-out causing flame wars.

** Try calling ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChima'' a rip-off of ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' in the presence of the former's fans. Expect them to spit on you for assuming so simply because the main protagonists and their races in both series look similar. On the opposite end, ''[=ThunderCats=]'' fans will refuse to believe that it ''isn't'' a rip-off, primarily because of it being released on the heels of the latter's cancellation.

** For that matter, calling Hoody or Masky "proxies" will get you treated to a nice lengthy explanation of how the term wasn't used in Marble Hornets and neither should be considered as such. Your best bet is to only use the term "proxy" when talking about ''WebVideo/DarkHarvest'' (the series from which the term originated) or ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve''.

** Don't mention [[SmallNameBigEgo Dr. Bright]] around SCP fans on Website/LiveJournal, [=InsaneJournal=], or [=DreamWidth=]--reactions will range from white-hot rage to tired resignation about what his writer did to get so many people angry.
** Never ''ever'' mention the "[[OldShame lolFoundation]]" era, which was characterized by "wacky" [=SCPs=], most of which have been edited to be more horror-themed or deleted outright.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': Since this is a web series that has fan-favorite characters fight to death, hurt feelings about who will win was inevitable. Some fights, however, are more bitter than others:
** For Superman vs Goku, don't tell a ''Franchise/DragonBall'' fan that ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' deserved both wins or else Saiyan-sized flames will erupt. Don't even try explaining Death Battle's logic on how Superman will always win against Goku.
** The second Superman vs. Goku manages to hurt even ''more'' feelings, this time from both sides of the fandom. Not only did Superman beat Goku again, he did it more easily despite Goku having two major power-ups since their last fight. The reason: Superman is always holding back and he has unlimited power. ''Franchise/DragonBall'' fans call this a cop-out since [=ScrewAttack=] didn't want to do anymore ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' videos, and Superman fans (specifically the comic book Superman fans, along with the [[Creator/DCComics DC]] fandom) were mad since there are several characters in the [=DCU=] who are stronger than Superman and it reinforces the idea that Superman is a boring GodModeSue that the fandom have been fighting against for years. It also goes against [[WordOfGod DC's]] own official word that Superman, while extremely powerful, does have limits. ''Dragon Ball'' fans were also pissed that Goku said that he didn't want to surpass Superman since then there would be no one for him to surpass afterwards, [[CharacterDerailment which Goku doesn't cares about in canon]]. This subject actually became more bitter after ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' aired only a couple weeks after the battle and shows Goku having feats that rival or surpass Superman. ''Death Battle'' refuses a round 3 since Superman will always win regardless of how powerful Goku becomes because he has 'no limits'.

** ''FandomBerserkButton/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

** ''FandomBerserkButton/{{Hulk}}''

[[folder:Food and Drink]]
* Pouring soy sauce on rice is a huge example of this amongst many people who eat it. In some countries, it's acceptable, but beware if you do it in a country where rice is a major food staple, such as China or Japan. In Japan, do not add ''anything'' to your food. It’s an insult to the cook.
* At the restaurant "Father's Office", no ketchup is served whatsoever, despite being a hamburger restaurant, because the head chef, Yang Soon, loathes ketchup's very existence. Fries are served with garlic aioli. Ketchup is confiscated if smuggled in.

[[/folder]]

** FandomBerserkButton/MarvelCinematicUniverse

** Just try referring to either of the original villains from Toys/LEGOAdventurers as "Sam Sinister" and watch the [[Main/FlameWar flame wars]] erupt.[[note]]This is the result of a series of unfortunate {{Dub Name Change}}s where the name passed freely between them before finally sticking to the one who did not originally possess it, ultimately causing much confusion.[[/note]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1365774575053740100
%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:349:[[http://loldwell.com/?p=2303 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dbe_9465.jpg]]]]

** Calling Superman "boring" and "overpowered" is a great way to piss off fans of the Man of Steel. Especially if you're someone who's never actually read a Superman story in your life (which is usually the case). Sure, bad writers can make Supes seem uninteresting, but there have been tons of entertaining Superman stories over the years that prove the character isn't inherently boring. As for the overpowered complaint, this could also be attributed to sub-par writing, as this could easily be avoided by either increasing the threat level or not focusing on fighting in the story. Also, there are MANY characters that are as powerful or even more powerful than Superman that never seem to get any flack for being too powerful.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' has Ra's Al Ghul. According to [[WordOfGod Denny O'Neil]], his name was originally meant to be pronounced 'Raesh'. While the phrase "head of the demon" does indeed translate into "ra's al-ghuul" in real arabic (suggesting the character's name is NOT supposed to consist of a made-up language), the pronounciation [[CriticalResearchFailure does not]] contain the sounds "i" or "sh". In ''Film/BatmanBegins'' it's pronounced 'Rahs', which is much closer to the actual pronounciation. Still, pronouncing it in any way other than 'Raesh' will attract much ire from fans. In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', Terry is "corrected" by Talia [[spoiler: actually Ra's]] after pronouncing it "Rahs".

* A general one for DC Comics fans, but a major one for fans of the character himself, is to call ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} useless. The guy has numerous powers beyond just talking to fish and is more than just his ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' incarnation. Making these jokes means you're basically admitting you don't read DC comics or are a KnowNothingKnowItAll when it comes to Aquaman.

** People who say they want a relationship like the Joker and Harley is enough to irk Batman fans, who will usually be quick to point out [[MadLove how their relationship is by no means, a healthy one.]]

** Saying that Ant-Man is a loser with lame powers is a good way to piss Marvel fans off. The guy has spent over 30 years proving that he's badass enough to be an Avenger and "Ant-Man sucks" jokes stopped being funny to fans in the 80s.

* When it comes to {{Legacy Character}}s, acting like the most popular one is the ''only'' person who has had the title annoys fans to bits. ComicBook/{{Robin}} and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} fans especially hate this, not to mention fans of ComicBook/TheFlash.
* Fans of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} don't take kindly to people calling them useless. Thanks to being OvershadowedByAwesome (especially in the movies) and some less than decent appearances, Hawkeye is often dismissed as the lamest Avenger with accusations of him being useless, which fans of the comics do not take kindly to. Worse is how some writers have picked up on this and tried to canonise the MemeticLoser aspect, something his fans have not taken kindly to.

** One's preference for or against Venus, the female Turtle from the short-lived live-action series, is also a way to set off loaded guns in any given room/board of Turtles fans, especially if [[WordOfGod creator]] [[CreatorBacklash Peter]] [[OldShame Laird]] is in the room with them.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** Every so often, a writer will decide to try and make things DarkerAndEdgier by depicting Diana or the Amazons as gratuitously violent and misandrous {{Straw Feminist}}s. This '''never, ever''' goes down well with the fans.
** Also, the Amazons getting massacred, ''yet again''.
** The lack of adaptations involving Wonder Woman is an ''incredibly'' sore topic since at least the mid '90s. It doesn't help that every other hero - from Green Lantern to the Flash - seem to be getting adaptations.
** Invoking any scene written by Creator/GeoffJohns is also one. It's not even like Wondy fans hate him and all his work; it's just acknowledged, even by non-Wonder Woman DC fans and Geoff Johns' own fanbase, that he can't write her for crap.

** Similar to the Aquaman example above, saying that Ant-Man is a loser with lame powers is a good way to piss Marvel fans off. The guy has spent over 30 years proving that he's badass enough to be an Avenger and "Ant-Man sucks" jokes stopped being funny to fans in the 80s.

* Also for the ''Flash'' fanbase, bringing up Bart Allen's time as the Flash IV. Nobody, from general Flash fans to Bart's own fans, looks fondly upon that era.
** For Bart fans, bringing up Bar Torr, his New 52 incarnation, is ''not'' a good idea.

* Much like their friend Ant-Man, fans of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} don't take kindly to people calling them useless. Thanks to being OvershadowedByAwesome (especially in the movies) and some less than decent appearances, Hawkeye is often dismissed as the lamest Avenger with accusations of him being useless, which fans of the comics do not take kindly to. Worse is how some writers have picked up on this and tried to canonise the MemeticLoser aspect, something his fans have not taken kindly to.
* For ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', professing fondness for the story ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' will get you lynched.

** Likewise with ''WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}}''.

** Whatever you do, do ''not'' suggest you enjoyed the movies better, or that you don't like the more florid prose and poetic dialogue Tolkien used. Absolutely don't mention that you only read the books after seeing the movies, and fear for your life if you mention that you've ''only'' seen the movies. Perhaps it's best if you say nothing at all of the movies, Peregrin Took.

** ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' deserves mention just for the sheer fact that it manages to break pretty much every FandomBerserkButton rule in a spectacular CrossesTheLineTwice fashion.

** In many forums, it's a bad idea to simply mention Cthulhu. Given his surprising popularity, and the sheer amount of people who don't know Lovecraft's name yet own a Cthulhu mug, talking about the God around fans of the writer is a death sentence (especially if you don't actually know what Cthulhu does). To a lesser extent, mentioning "Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth" can lead to similar results, due to the ridiculous amount of adaptions of the writing.
** Even worse are the discussions in fandom what the Elder Sign looks like - a star or a tree. Problem is that in different stories it is described as either. Mocked in the musical ''A Shoggoth on the Roof'' where in the opening a fight breaks out over this question. 'Star!' -- 'Tree!' -- 'Star!' -- 'Tree!'...

* While not likely to get you flamed, referring to the series as "Game of Thrones" (the title of the HBO show based on the series which takes its name from the first book) is a good indicator of what kind of fan you are.

** As it diverges further and further from the main books and warps certain characters *cough*Ramsay and Stannis*cough* mentioning certain aspects of the TV series can bring the seven hells down on your head.

* ''Literature/PercyJackson'' has a couple.
** Calling it a rip off of ''Literature/HarryPotter''.
** Mentioning the ship Perachel (Percy/Rachel) in a positive way is bound to get you killed. Actually, shipping Percy with just about anyone except Annabeth isn't a good idea.
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''
** Want to die? Go into a crowd of Percy Jackson fans and say Octavian was a good character.

** Same goes for Australia with Austria.

* The greatest offensive statement to a pinhead is to say that video games are better. Virtual pinball gets a free pass, however. The animosity from video games displacing pinball machines at arcades continues to run pretty deep, even after arcades have become niche.
* Another is to claim that Gottlieb (from the mid-80s and onwards), Creator/DataEast, or Creator/{{Sega}} is your favorite manufacturer. The true way consists strictly of Bally-Williams, Creator/{{Stern}}, Jersey Jack, and whatever new startup has appeared since 2012. Even then, there is plenty of in-fighting among them, and directly stating ''any'' particular company is the best will cause flame wars.
* Saying anything positive about ''Pinball/PopeyeSavesTheEarth'' will create quite the backlash. This machine is so infamous among pinball fans that it's memetically bad, the pinball counterpart to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. The same goes for ''Pinball/SouthPark'', but this is not quite as extreme as it's consistently a hit with people who don't normally play pinball, and the pinheads grudgingly accept that.
* Inversely, saying anything ''negative'' about ''Pinball/MedievalMadness'', ''Pinball/TheTwilightZone'', ''Pinball/MonsterBash'', or ''Pinball/{{ACDC}}'' (the Limited and Premium Editions, at least) may get you kicked out of some communities.
* Any mention of pinball diminishing in cultural relevance will bring forth outspoken fans who believe that pinball is beginning another Golden Age. It IS increasing in popularity, but it hasn't taken the world by storm.
* Selling a pinball machine for way above the market price can get you a lot of flak from pinheads alike. And if you ''especially'' happen to do this on the Pinside Forums (which have gained infamy for their toxicity), then expect your "for sale" ad to escalate into an ugly FlameWar.

* Some physicists and mathematicians ''hate'' when you mispronounce "Euler", and saying it as "you-ler"[[note]]It's OY-ler, because of how German spelling works.[[/note]] will earn you the ire from anyone who generally knows who he was.
** Case in point, [[PickACard pick a YouTube video, any YouTube video]] of an Euler's disk with a "you-ler" pronunciation. At least half of the comments will be correcting their pronunciation.
* Many people refuse to accept the notion that Pluto is no longer a planet, especially since it hasn't been destroyed like Alderaan. [[BrokenBase In other circles]], (mostly confined to those who have studied astronomy) insisting that Pluto is still a planet will likely prompt an extended rant about how its just the largest of thousands of similar objects and [[OlderThanTheyThink isn't even the first planet to be demoted for that reason]].

** D&D has demons and devils. Many, many fans commonly mistake the two (which isn't really helped by the fact that the earliest editions just had demons, but no devils) and nearly just as many are really [[FanDumb anal]] about fans who can't get it right. And when you throw in the fact that the most common kind of both demons and devils have more specific names (Tanar'ri and Baatezu respectively), it all just gets very messy, very fast. Plus other kinds like obyrith and archdevils that more [[SeriousBusiness pure-blooded]] fans know about. Part of this comes from the fact that, in many versions of the game, demons and devils DO have objective differences based on Alignment: while both are always Evil, Demons are characterized as always Chaotic, Devils are always Lawful. This extends to other celestial beings like Angels, Archons, Devas, Asuras, etc., where it is less defined.
** Furthermore, if you don't want to start an edition war, do not use past and present tenses to describe changes between 3.5 and 4th edition, e.g., "there is no lawful evil alignment anymore". And please, for the love of Pelor, DO NOT claim that one edition is objectively better unless you want to get flamed to the Nine Hells and back.

** Since the rise of the OSR (Old School Renaissance/Revival) breathing a word about liking 4th Edition will get your ass handed to you.
** Asking to play a [[{{hobbits}} Kender]] will get you one of two reactions. If the group you're with actually intends of playing a ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' game, where they originated, you will be sternly told "no". Otherwise, they will probably try to lynch you. This is because Kender have the dubious honor of being one of the few playable races in D&D to become TheScrappy, as their racial backstory and lore paints them as ChaoticStupid sticky-fingered troublemaking nuisances, with full "character accuracy!" justification to be disruptive to the party, and then glosses them over by painting them as a race that is ''supposed'' to be "loved and cherished by all goodly races".

** Matt Ward himself is a lightning rod that will get you at least a warning on just about any 40k forum; the name itself is all but guaranteed to start a flame war.
** Robin Cruddace less so, but he is still fairly reviled. He's notorious for giving armies {{No Holds Barred Beatdown}}s with the {{Nerf}} bat. The worst case is the Tyranids in 6th, an army that already was quite mediocre and really could've used a boost; he only removed all their best units and replaced them with... nothing, making them absolutely bottom tier and borderline unplayable. To add insult to injury, he filled the pages with stories of crushing Tyranid defeats ''in their own book''. He then gimped the Sisters of Battle in much the same way, by removing the few units that still made them competitive. He also possibly wrote the 7E Dark Eldar codex that removed flickerfields [[PutOnABus and most of the (very cool) special characters]]. Not to mention the undercurrent of blatant favouritism he gives to Imperium factions and especially tanks (he plays [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Imperial Guard]] in real life, can you tell?) - their 5E codex gave us vehicles in squads, melta veteran spam, artillery spam, Hydra flak tanks shredding Eldar armies everywhere, and the infamous "leaf blower" list which involved taking Daemon Hunter allies and named because with how quickly it wiped out your opponents' models from the board, you may as well have just brought a literal leaf blower and pointed it at the table.
** C.S. Goto is almost universally hated to almost Ward levels by the fans too. Known for taking a...let's call it "very liberal" approach with writing for 40k, he's known for giving everyone and their mother multi-lasers when they're strictly unique to the Astra Militarum, completely inaccurate portrayal of long-standing conventions of the 40k universe such as the idea that a marine in terminator armor can do a back flip, and what is either a bizarre hatred for or lack of caring for the Eldar portraying them as incompetent or seeing to it they suffer in the things he writes. Add to that the fact that he's on record having said something to the extent of 'My form of canon is just as valid as anyone else's. Warhammer nerds need to get out of their mother's basements and do something with their life before they start criticizing others' and you've got a recipe for some very ''very'' intense hatred.

*** On a similar note, one of the fastest way of pissing off a Blood Angels fan is by saying "You painted your [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Blood Ravens]] wrong".

*** Speaking of Orks, the "g" in "WAAAGH!" is silent. If you forget that, then fans might call one on you.

** Most non-Ultramarine players dislike the chapter to some extent, running the gamut from "a little" to "blind seething hatred". Current "most hated" GW developer Matt Ward claims them as his army and (seems to) favor them in codices and rules, while rewriting fluff he doesn't like and (allegedly) saddling armies he doesn't like with noncompetitive codices (like the Sisters of Battle). This all feeds the vitriol the chapter gets in fan communities.

** [[Main/GenderFlip Female Space Marines.]] Because the Sisters of Battle weren't neglected enough.

** Don't mention Age of Sigmar to a Fantasy player. If you want your death to be particularly brutal, say that you actually ''like'' it.
*** To wit: Games Workshop killed off their 30 year old Fantasy franchise in an incredibly [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking petty, mean-spirited and badly written]] manner, in order to launch their new Age of Sigmar line. Age of Sigmar was universally derided due to its [[ObviousBeta poor rules]], lazy setting and [[MoneyDearBoy changing the names of everything so they could be copyrighted]]. Fantasy fans were outraged that their beloved game had been defiled in such a terrible way. Admitting you like the game will make people assume you're either an idiot who can't play a 'proper' wargame, or a GW fanboy who will buy any old crap the company produces.

** [[TransformingMecha Land-Air Mechs]] [[note]]Between those who think they're a fun idea capturing an anime feel and those who think they're overpowered [[GameBreaker game breakers]] that should be jettisoned, and that's even before the associated issue of the great majority of them being part of... [[/note]]
** [[ScrewedByTheLawyers The Unseen]] [[note]]are they the Only True Representations of those 'mechs, a legal quagmire that should be left alone, or overrated nostalgia icons best ignored outright?[[/note]] However, this is no longer the case, apparently, as the recent redesigns have been well received by everyone.
** Support for different eras [[note]] Some like the idea that there's metagame support for previous eras of the games history without having to delve into the second-hand book trade, while others think it takes developer time away from advancing the plot now, in particular...[[/note]]
** The very existence of the Clans [[note]]Are they an organic outgrowth of the very early story seeds of Kerensky's exodus, or are they overpowered bully-boys who wrecked the feel of the universe?[[/note]]
** ''[[DevelopmentHell ilClan]]'' [[note]]This is a book that has been awaited for several years by fans of the Republic/Dark Age era ("present day" in universe), and they have been highly vocal against anything that appears to take away from it seeing the light of day.
[[/note]]
* Saying you prefer Traditional Format (that is, simply limiting the number of [[GameBreaker Game Breakers]] allowed rather than outright banning their use as in the official Advanced Format) is [[FlameBait a bad idea]] at ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' tournaments

* Saying that ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' is more balanced than ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' or that its tournament formats are better because they release a Banned/Limited List update every 6 months (as opposed to every 3 months for Magic), is a good way to have MTG players bite your head clean off.[[note]]Magic updates its Banned/Restricted lists for its various formats every 3 months, but it is extremely rare to see more than 3 individual cards a YEAR get the Ban-Hammer across all formats combined, and even rarer still to see cards come OFF those lists if no less than 5 years have passed; Yugioh, however, is infamous for having around a dozen or so cards variously go on or come off the Banned & Limited lists for both Advanced and Traditional formats with EVERY update. There's also the matter of the length of those lists, a testament to the difference in overall balance between the games: Legacy, which has by far the largest Banned/Restricted list for Magic, contains around 75-80 banned cards out of an estimated 15,000 unique cards available for play; Yugioh's Advanced banned/limited lists, however, contains around 150 banned/limited/semi-limited cards out of a cardpool of somewhere around 7000 cards - so ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has twice as many cards deemed "broken" as Magic while having around half the total number available.[[/note]]
* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''
** ''TableTopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'': Go ahead, tell a fan of Changeling that their favorite game is like a light hearted play date, it'll be fine.

* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''
** Mention to any member of the "phandom" how much you loved the 2004 movie version, and you're likely to get both flamed and spammed with [=YouTube=] links to "better performances".
** On a related note, saying the story is set in 1870 is a good way to get a long talk about the Franco-Prussian War, the Commune of Paris, and CriticalResearchFailure in general.
** Additionally, any mention of complete and total love for the sequel ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies'' will get you ostracized and/or ridiculed.
** Since the fandom is predominantly Erik/Christine shippers, stating that you ship Raoul/Christine will earn unholy ire. There have been cases of E/C shippers attacking R/C shippers with "The Phantom is a total cinnamon roll," and "Christine is an ungrateful bitch."

** In some circles, serious love for Éponine will earn you the ire of fans who assume you only like her because of her place in the love triangle and because you're probably a teenage girl.
** And God help those who haven't read the book and aren't intending to - many fans see reading Hugo's thousand-page tome as the only true way to experience the story, and will tell you so until you agree with them.
** You saw the movie and thought, contrary to all the hate piled on him, that Creator/RussellCrowe did ''not'' in fact ruin the whole experience? Stay on your guard. Similarly, it's probably not a good idea to express fondness for Nick Jonas as Marius in the 25th anniversary concert.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''
** Saying that you're a fan of ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' having only seen the movie. Or worse, not realising that it ''is'' anything other than a movie.
** Also, the main characters' names are spelt "Sweeney Todd" (three E's, two D's) and "Lovett" (not Lovet, Lovette, Lovatt etc). This is incredibly common online, and drives some fans to ''Epiphany''-level rage.

* For the love of all that is holy, make sure you know what board you're on before you announce your favorite Elphaba in the ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' fandom. The wrong answer in the wrong place will see you incinerated in a flash.

** The issue of third-party ''Transformers'' toys have become this and have effectively split the fandom into two camps; the one that sees them as being on the same level of dollar store knock-offs (despite costing vastly more and being of infinitely higher quality), one that believes they are the only way of getting fan favorite characters/alt modes since Hasbro/Takara doesn't care about adult fans (The Generations/Masterpiece line and recent G1 reissues not withstanding). A more recent camp has emerged who see them as redundant and potentially damaging to the brand, now that Hasbro seems to be putting more emphasis on the original series characters; many in this camp see the third party figures as overpriced and flimsy, with the main complaint being that actually playing with third party toys makes them wear out a lot faster. Third-party ''accessories'', on the other hand, are more-or-less tolerated by everyone.
** Saying anything negative about the classic Generation 1 toyline and its associated media is bound to enrage a lot of folks who loved it as a kid, and even expressing enjoyment or approval of a later incarnation of the franchise can result in angry remarks about how G1 is the only version worth mentioning.
** On the flipside, being a fan of only the original toys, cartoon, or comic is likely to get you labeled a [=GEEWUN=] fanboy, especially after the very successful ''Generations'' toyline introduced new toys of old characters with better articulation and durability in comparison. This is even if you are mostly indifferent or even supportive but still focusing mainly on the originals for your personal collection.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' fans are ''very'' sore about people disregarding the cartoon as pointless and have deep issues with CopyCatSue characters, which are unfortunately abundant in the fandom. Also, do ''not'' bring up the Jawg and Gobba leadership issue...or argue about tribe leaders in general.
** Don't bring up the love triangle in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' between Nya, Jay, and Cole. Just don't. Likewise, don't ever mention that you believe shipping Lloyd with older characters (especially Kai) is okay on Website/{{Tumblr}}.

* For ''Toys/MonsterHigh'', it's unwise to say that the reboot is better or even perfect in comparison to G1 of Monster High.

* The University of North Carolina and Duke University are known to be rivals among those who live near them or know enough about them. Bringing up Duke while on Carolina's campus (or vice versa), or worse, walking on either campus sporting the opposite college's apparel will often result in even the nicest of people getting cross at you, or at least picking on you about it. And if you try to bring North Carolina State University into the fray, then all hell is guaranteed to break loose.

* ''NEVER'' insult Brandeis University's castle. Your fellow students will take you to the highest tower and drop-kick you into Boston.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** Go ahead and say that VisualNovel/{{Apollo|JusticeAceAttorney}} is better than Phoenix on a ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' forum. Or the other way around for that matter. You'll get a front seat to a flame war between Phoenix and Apollo fans.
** Likewise, saying that your favorite game in the series is any other then the first or third ones will get you completely torn apart with rage by people who are insistent that their opinion is the only valid one.
** Don't go onto a forum and say you did not find the last cases of the games (1-5 (or 1-4), 2-4, 3-5, 4-4, 5-5, and 6-5) to be that great; ''especially'' not 2-4. People will kill you, except ''maybe'' 4-4... unless you managed to gain the attention of an Apollo Fan.
** Try to stay away from saying anything positive about 2-3. You ''might'' be able to get away with saying you felt it was a [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot good concept executed poorly]] or that some of the characters like Acro and Regina were [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter misused]].

* Don't tell any fan that [[ArtisticAge the characters are lolis]]. Don't even comment that they ''look'' like kids -- unless the character is specifically pointed out in canon to look young, like [[VisualNovel/{{Kanon}} Ayu]] or [[VisualNovel/LittleBusters Kud]] -- and especially don't say that their canon ages are "just a number tacked on so you don't get arrested". In keeping with the aforementioned ArtisticAge, all the haremettes are in high school, often late high school, and so are the protagonists. The fans are really tired of hearing it.

* With the exception of ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'', ''LightNovel/FateZero'' (and now the ''[[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works]]'' series by the same studio) and the ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' movies, never mention any of the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} anime. '''Ever.'''

* ''Webcomic/CheckPlease'':
** Fans are not very welcoming of fanworks depicting Jack breaking up with Bitty to be with Kent. Doing that will trigger at the very least a very passive-aggressive comment of people asking "who hurt you?". This is specially enraging to people since [[spoiler:Jack and Kent past relationship is implied to be rather unhealthy to both: Jack only saw it as a hook up and Kent is still very much hung up on him, though it's still a BrokenBase]]. It's particularly offensive to fans if Bitty receives a DieForOurShip treatment.
** Overall, fanworks of Bitty and Jack breaking up and not getting back together are not well received.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
** BigBad Xykon has to deal not just with random members of the community, but even [[NoFourthWall characters in the comic]] spelling his name wrong (with a Z). He can even tell when you misspell it in a ''[[PsmithPsyndrome speech balloon]]''. And he will [[MurderIsTheBestSolution kill you for it]].
** Not a name-related issue, but speculating on the comic's frequent ScheduleSlip on the {{fora}} is grounds for having your post locked and receiving an infraction.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''
** Try tell a reader that you skipped the [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent intermission]] because it was boring and pointless. Go on. Try it. (Hint: [[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode it becomes very important later on.]])
** For extra fun, try mentioning you skipped the pesterlogs or started with Act Five!
* ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'''s author has had a very bad history with the website [=Fireball20XL=] and its webmaster, Bryon "Psyguy" Beaubien. If you try to defend him in the presence of her and/or her fans, ''start praying'', though it will help you not.

* Don't speculate on the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' wiki. Don't forget to sign your posts. And for your own sake, if you don't want a month long banning, '''never''' mention their ScheduleSlip.
* Do not talk about ''ComicStrip/MallardFillmore'' at ''Blog/TheComicsCurmudgeon''. As in, you'll be banned for it because it only ever causes arguments.
* At Wiki/TFWikiDotNet the quickest and easiest way to prevent anyone from caring about your opinion is to object to the use of humorous image captions.

** There is a very real possibility of ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' fans hunting you down to bash you over the head with a lump of concrete if you say anything along the lines of "I love Masky, he's my favorite {{creepypasta}}!" Masky is not from a creepypasta, his identity is no longer mysterious, and you will be laughed at for thinking it is. Ditto referring to proxies anywhere in the mythos as "Maskies", or saying that his fellow character Hoody is from a creepypasta.

* Some YouTube rhythm gaming videos use music that is coincidentally available in the [=AudioSwap=] gallery. Just try and mention [=AudioSwap=] in the comments.

* Website/{{Tumblr}}:
** One of the variants of "Rule #1 of Website/{{Tumblr}}"--as if taking a page from ''Film/FightClub''--is to never mention Tumblr outside of Tumblr itself. Though Tumblr is fairly well-known at this point, making this "rule" a DiscreditedMeme.
** Also, tread very carefully when tagging your posts; people tracking those tags will probably get on your case if you say bad things about the subjects of the tags. This can catch some users off-guard as some use tags as blog organization and may not be aware that what they're doing is stirring up an InternetBackdraft. (A way to avoid this is to stuff the first five tags with nonsense tags, then put the relevant tags after those; if a particular tag is the 6th or higher tag on a post, the post will not appear when searching for that tag.)
* Fans of WebVideo/DemoReel do ''not'' like to be reminded of ''[[DiabolusExMachina The Review Must Go On]]'' and by extension, the [[UnCancelled post-un-cancellation]] [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic Nostalgia Critic]] videos.

* Are you an upcoming YouTube ranter that somehow hates his fanbase and wants to turn them into your most fervent hatedom? If you are then there is only one thing you should do, and that is censoring or even outright deleting other people's opinions.
* thetoptens.com does have a few of them.
** Music/JustinBieber tends to erupt a lot of discussion. On most "worst music" lists, he will be at the top, which most people find OK (one of the reasons people love the site is because its a place where they can hate on him without consequence). Telling something positive about him on this site can cause a flood of haters to come at you like if you were a magnet, while hating on him constantly will cause people to accuse you of being ignorant towards music outside of mainstream music.
** A list looking like "X Y at Z school" will usually turn into a demand to remove the list from the site by the users, which the site will do. Special treatment has to go to the now-removed "Rockland District Middle School", which received so much flak that the site's Admin had to blacklist any lists to do with things at schools.
** Bashing on users will not go well at all. Heaven forbid you especially if you somehow need to write an abusive story or post on one of them.

** Majin Buu vs. Kirby fight is also a sore subject in the ''Dragon Ball'' fandom. Many expected Buu to easily cakewalk Kirby since Buu has one of the most broken powersets in the series. [[spoiler: When Buu actually lost]] the fandom declared ''Death Battle'' to be biased against anime.
** On the [=ScrewAttack=] forums, it's also generally a bad idea to speak positively of ''"[[Franchise/{{Naruto}} Gaara]] vs. [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Toph]]"'' as it is generally agreed that the episode's research was flagrantly poor and the person who lost [[spoiler:which would be Gaara in this case]] would actually come out on top pretty handily. ''"[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] vs. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart]]"'' is also something of a sore talking point there, as pretty much all of the forum's regulars expected [[spoiler:Yang to lose horribly]] and went into meltdown when this wasn't shown to be the case. In fact, just mentioning ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' or any of its characters will provoke some hostility eventually - the show is something of [[TheScrappy a Scrappy]] there.
** A pretty universal one is calling the show biased against or for anything or anyone. Fans of the show have heard it so many times it's more likely to make a fan ignore the person than listen to them.
* The Website/GoAnimate users who make "[[YouAreGrounded Grounded]]" videos and the unironic fans of these kind of videos will tear you a new one if you defend the punished, especially if the targets are "baby show" characters such as WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}} or WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer and if the level of punishment is over the top. Feeling sorry for "baby show" characters? Preposterous!

** When it comes to shipping, if you want to ignite a fandom FlameWar, try saying that you hate one or more popular shippings (including the ones already featured in the show). While there are some fans that side with you, a shouting match can still occur between either side.
** Saying that you support The Ants instead of Sniffles can garner yourself an InternetBackdraft. Doubly so if you're a Sniffles hater.
** For fan character makers out there, it's not really recommended to create a fan character who is either related to Flippy, romantically involved with Flippy or just plain copy-pasting his personality. Fans don't sit well with this, since they're already tired of this character trait.
** Speaking of fan characters, over-designing them (either appearance-wise, character concept-wise or both) is usually not recommended as fans nowadays don't sit well with this idea as well.

** Whenever something popular manages to "snag" many HTF fans away from the fandom, said thing will usually end up being the trigger to the HTF fandom's BerserkButton (most notably, ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''; ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' may count too). It's not recommended to mention those non-HTF things to a HTF fan unless that same fan happens to enjoy both.

** Don't compare the show with ''Retarded Animal Babies''. Just don't.
** Here's one way to make the fanbase violently explode: Mentioning that you like ''[[SerialNumbersFiledOff London Mobile Buddies]]'' and HTF is more inferior. LMB has its own explanation in the Web Original section of TheyCopiedItSoItSucks, so it deserves no further elaboration.
** On the other side of the fandom, they ''really'' don't like it if you strictly stick to the canon rules of the show. They usually label you as a "Fandom Nazi" and tell you that you won't be creative at all if you abide to the canon only. That's right, StopHavingFunGuys accusation in a non-video game fandom!

* ''WebVideo/GameTheory'':
** Intentionally bringing up any theory to that franchise's fanbase has a good chance of getting you yelled at, and especially don't '''ever''' bring up the "[[Franchise/LegendOfZelda Link]] is dead in ''Majora's Mask''" theory, or better yet, "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] is mental". Or pretty much of any of the ''Videogame/{{Undertale}}'' videos. While [=MatPat=] might not've actually thought Sans was actually [[Videogame/{{Earthbound}} Ness]], the video became a huge source of mockery and anger in places even outside of the Undertale fandom. It somehow got even worse when it was revealed that [=MatPat=] was selected to meet the Pope[[note]]to speak on cyberbullying[[/note]] and gave him a symbolic gesture of a Steam key for Undertale, for its message on pacifism, which was amongst other gifts that other Youtubers gave him. But because the video explaining this was unclear, most people heard the message "this guy just gave the Pope a video game" and he was even more lambasted by even more people. In the intro to one of his later Undertale videos, [=MatPat=] even said that the hate he got from both incidents nearly prevented him from ever making another Undertale video again.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''
** Whether or not the show can be described as an anime can generate a lot of heated debate. It's a western show that borrows very heavily from anime, leading to confusion over its status. Even the show's creators have heard of the argument and try to avoid getting involved.
** Whether or not the show will ever have LBGT characters can cause friction. The creators originally stated that they're up for it, and would want the characters to discover their sexuality in their own time. So far, no characters have been confirmed to be LBGT, making the subject a sensitive one within the fandom. As of Volume 5, Episode 8, [[spoiler: Ilia]] has been confirmed to be LGBT, which might make this less of an issue.
** Shipping Blake with Adam will most likely get you a number of nasty looks, especially given his treatment of Blake and how the things he's done in the series have gotten worse with each Volume. Basically, saying Blake and Adam have a good relationship is like saying ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn have one.