History Main / InsultBackFire

* {{Villains}}: Calling them evil, vile, or psycho is likely to make them act AffablyEvil and unusually demure from the flattery. Especially if they're of the [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying]] variety.

* ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'': In ''[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoCCS6E1TalesFromTheVault Tales from the Vault]]'', after hearing Kali Korash's plan to lead the troops under his command into a massacre, Steven [[YoureInsane calls him 'psychotic']]. Kali Korash takes this as a compliment.

!!Examples:

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'', this happens in the 8th Episode Twilight of the Golden Witch when [[spoiler: Featherine, the Witch of Theatregoing, Drama and Spectating absolutely [[CurbstompBattle curbstomps]] Lambdadelta by stopping time, [[RewritingReality and hacking the story's script by skipping to the part where she kills her]] via dismemberment. Lambdadelta's dying words are calling Featherine a monster, to which she takes as a ''compliment''.]]

* {{Inver|tedTrope}}sions of HitlerAteSugar, DamnedByAFoolsPaise and/or YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: The insulter is an evil person or otherwise someone the target has a really low opinion of. If having their approval is bad and would bring shame, then having their ''dis''approval must be good!

* {{Inver|tedTrope}}sions of HitlerAteSugar and/or YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: The insulter is an evil person or otherwise someone the target has a really low opinion of. If having their approval is bad and would bring shame, then having their ''dis''approval must be good!

* Another [[https://jalopnik.com/ford-loves-new-chevy-man-step-commercial-5139326 Chevrolet truck ad]] from 2009 mocked the competing Ford F-150 for having a tailgate step on the back in order to present their Silverado as RatedMForManly. In the ad, the poor sap using the tailgate step to load a bird feeder into his truck is portrayed as TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket, leading pitchman Howie Long to mock him for needing a "man step" to get items into his truck's bed. Ford truck marketing manager Doug Scott responded by thanking Chevrolet for advertising the genuinely useful feature that was available as an option on the F-150. (And Chevy later added their own tailgate step for their trucks.)
-->''I hope they keep running the spot because they're doing a great job advertising that feature for us. Thirty-two percent of the 2009 F-150s we’ve sold have that tailgate step. We’re doing really well with it, and we’re really happy they’re running that ad because it’s proven to be a popular feature.''

* One Chevy commercial claims that their trucks are "second to nobody", before adding "If by 'nobody,' you mean Ram and Ford." Chevy apparently didn't even notice that the wording of their little extra jab at the competition meant that they were directly saying that Ram and Ford made better trucks than them. Not surprisingly, it wasn't very long before the ad was pulled.
* Another [[https://jalopnik.com/ford-loves-new-chevy-man-step-commercial-5139326 Chevrolet truck ad]] from 2009 mocked the competing Ford F-150 for having a tailgate step on the back, with spokesman Howie Long derisively referring to it as a "man step" and the poor sap using it to load a bird feeder into his truck portrayed as TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket. Ford truck marketing manager Doug Scott responded by thanking Chevrolet for advertising the genuinely useful feature that was available as an option on the F-150. (And Chevy later added their own tailgate step for their trucks.)

* {{Jerkass}}es: The character is an unrepentant dickwad who responds this way just to infuriate their critics evem more, or a CardCarryingJerkass who takes open ''pride'' in their assholery.

* {{Jerkass}}es: The character is a CardCarryingJerkass who acknowledges their assholery with ''pride'', and couldn't care less about being called out for it. They may respond this way just to infuriate the insulter even more.

* {{Jerkass}}es: The character is a CardCarryingJerkass who acknowledges their assholery with ''pride'', and couldn't care less about being called out for it. They may even respond this way just to infuriate the insulter even more.

* {{Jerkass}}es: The character is a CardCarryingJerkass who acknowledges their assholery with ''pride'', and may even respond this way just to infuriate the insulter even more.

See also ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne, IResembleThatRemark, WrongInsultOffence, CardCarryingVillain, TallDarkAndSnarky and ItsWhatIDo. If the insultee adopts the insult as an actual badge of identity, it becomes an AppropriatedAppellation. Compare GeekyTurnOn, IWouldSayIfICouldSay, ArsonMurderAndAdmiration, BluntYes and ActuallyPrettyFunny. Sometimes crosses paths with MisaimedFandom. The complete opposite of YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame.

See also ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne, IResembleThatRemark, WrongInsultOffence, CardCarryingVillain, TallDarkAndSnarky and ItsWhatIDo. If the insultee adopts the insult as an actual badge of identity, it becomes an AppropriatedAppellation. Compare GeekyTurnOn, IWouldSayIfICouldSay, ArsonMurderAndAdmiration, and BluntYes. Sometimes crosses paths with MisaimedFandom. The complete opposite of YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame.

* InsultBackfire/{{Webcomics}}

Usually, this is because Bob invokes the "insulting" quality intentionally. Less commonly, Bob's TheDitz or has a poor grasp of the [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness word or concept]] being insulted and take it to be a positive comment. Other times, it's simply a case of Bob having the attitude of pretending that it's not an insult to spite Alice, or even turning it back on her: "Coming from ''you'', IllTakeThatAsACompliment."

Usually, this is because Bob invokes the "insulting" quality intentionally. Less commonly, Bob's TheDitz or has a poor grasp of the [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness word or concept]] being insulted and take it to be a positive comment. Other times, it's simply a case of Bob having the attitude of pretending that it's not an insult, or even turning it back on Alice: "Coming from ''you'', IllTakeThatAsACompliment."

Related to StealthInsult, but different in that an Insult Backfire is accidental and a StealthInsult is sent over the target's head on purpose. Sometimes, it seems the only sure way to insult someones is to [[ComplimentBackfire give them a compliment.]]

[[quoteright:275:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/insultbackfire1_3864.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:275:"What is that splattered all over the drawing?"\\

* OlderThanRadio: An Austrian Tarock deck from 1890 caricatured [[https://cdn0.rubylane.com/shops/twoforhisheels/T00001231.9L.jpg?88 Otto von Bismarck]], who betrayed and defeated Austria in the 7 Weeks War, and was dismissed from power at the time of its printing, as [[TheDitz the Fool]]. However, the Fool happens to be [[BewareTheSillyOnes the highest trump card]] in Tarock...

* OlderThanRadio: An Austrian Tarock deck from 1890 featured [[https://cdn0.rubylane.com/shops/twoforhisheels/T00001231.9L.jpg?88 Otto von Bismarck]], who betrayed and defeated Austria in the 7 Weeks War and was dismissed from power at the time of its printing, as [[TheDitz the Fool]]. Unfortunately, the Fool happens to be [[BewareTheSillyOnes the highest trump card]] in Tarock...

* A bald man is regularly ribbed by his coworkers with various degrees of subtlety. One day, a coworker rubs the man's head and says "You know, this feels like my wife's ass!" The bald man rubs it and says "Hey yeah, it ''does'' [[YourCheatingHeart feel like your wife's ass]]!"

* InsultBackfire/WebComics

* In the backstory of ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', Theodore Kurita’s contentious relationship to his father Takashi led to his father insulting him by giving him the wreckage of an old Orion [=BattleMech=]. What Theodore learned that his father did not know was that the ‘Mech was the wreckage of a ‘Mech piloted by the legendary Star League General, Alexander Kerensky. After repairing the ‘Mech, he piloted it with pride.