History Main / NiceJobBreakingItRivals

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS1E4TheSweetSpotATaleOfTwoTables The Sweet Spot]]", the Loud kids fight over who gets to sit on the best seat in their family van for an incoming road trip, which spans across a night and the following morning. It culminates in them destroying the van, causing the road trip to be cancelled and getting themselves grounded.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheLastJedi'', Rey and Kylo Ren both use the Force in a tug-of-war over the Skywalker lightsaber. They end up pulling it in half.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In the series finale, the world is nearly doomed because brothers Stan and Ford Pines have held a grudge against each other for thirty years. [[spoiler: Stan nearly causes Ford's plan to banish Bill Cipher using the Zodiac Circle to fail because he can't bring himself to shake Ford's hand, as Ford has never thanked him for saving him. When the others finally guilt Ford into saying thanks, [[HopeSpot it seems like things are back on track]]... until Ford can't help himself from condescendingly correcting Stan's grammar, causing him to snap and break the circle, letting Bill break free and instantly take out half the Zodiac group, dooming the plan for good.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'', Duck Dodgers is assigned to find and claim Planet X for Earth because of Planet X's supply of an element needed to make shaving cream. Martian Commander X-2 (Marvin) is trying to claim it for Mars for unspecified reasons. Their efforts to destroy each other reduce the planet to the basketball-sized rock Dodgers was standing on.

* Subverted in a ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch involving the Two-Headed Monster finding a two-headed snowman. Neither of the snowman's heads has a nose, so they decide to give it carrot noses. They find that they have only one carrot, though, and begin fighting over it. The carrot snaps in two, and they begin sobbing, but then they realize that each head of the snowman can now have a carrot nose.

* A ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch involves the Two-Headed Monster building a two-headed snowman. Only one carrot is available, so the two heads argue over the carrot. The carrot snaps in two, so each head of the snowman can have a carrot nose.

Two characters are fighting over something and in the process the thing they are fighting over gets broken, damaged, or destroyed. Often overlaps with NiceJobBreakingItHero. May be seen as poetic justice. Usually implies [[AnAesop a moral]] about how fighting is bad. A frequent variation is to have two GenreBlind characters try to wrest a piece of paper from each other, only for it to split.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', Goku and Vegeta are so caught up showing off their new transformation that they forget to take Frieza seriously, which results in him backstabbing Goku and then blowing up the earth when their respective guards are down. Because of his ability to survive in space, with that move Frieza would have won if PhysicalGod Whis hadn't offered to reverse time and give Goku another chance.

* ''WesternAnimation/OneManBand'' has a pair of musicians constantly trying to one-up each other in a bid to earn a coin from a passing girl. They end up frightening the poor girl so much that the coin gets dropped and falls down a drain. The angry girl proceeds to borrow one of the musicians' violins, puts on a performance of her own, and earns her money back and them some.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS3E19RequiemForMethuselah}} Requiem for Methuselah]]": Flint created the RobotGirl Rayna Kapec to be a companion for him. He guided her and James T. Kirk into falling in love with each other to awaken her emotions, then planned to take over. He and Kirk end up in a fight over her, and during the fight she is so stressed out over having to choose between them that she malfunctions and dies.

* In on episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Hawkeye was planning to go to Tokyo with a date, but events conspired against him. When he packed his luggage, Charles argued that the pajamas were his. Their tug-of-war over them ended up tearing them and Charles decided to let Hawk have them anyway.

* The ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' two-part episode [[Recap/DinosaursS02NutsToWar Nuts to War!]] is about the two-legged dinosaurs starting a war with the four-legged dinosaurs after the four-legged dinosaurs seize control of the pistachio trees. The conflict is ended after a short while and both sides agree to share the pistachios equally, unfortunately the news reports that nearly all of the trees were destroyed in the conflict.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E21ThreeMenAndAComicBook Three Men and a Comic Book]]", Bart, Milhouse and Martin go in on buying the first issue of ''Radioactive Man'' for $100 and end up destroying it during their squabble.

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E23TheHooffieldsAndMccolts The Hooffields and McColts]]", two friends, Grub Hooffield and Piles [=McColt=] arrived in the Smokey Mountains, they wanted to preserve the valley and protect the animals in it. But they disagreed on what was the best way to do this, which eventually had them sabotaging each other and develop into a full-blown feud. This feud lasted for generations, with even their descendants continuing it, despite no longer remembering how it started, and in the process the very valley they wanted to protect was ruined by them and the various animals were caught in their crossfire. Twilight and Fluttershy eventually discover this themselves and explain to both families how they are fighting over nothing and hurting the land and animals, with both families agreeing to make amends and fix what they did.

If the thing that is "broken" is a contest that either would normally win, this may lead to a DarkHorseVictory. Compare NoMacGuffinNoWinner. The rivals may try to save face by claiming "WeWinBecauseYouDidnt". Contrast LetsYouAndHimFight.

-->'''Hobbes''': ''(as both are lying dazed amid the ruins of their snowmen)'' I don't think this sculpture is very good.\\
'''Calvin''': It's a compromise.

** One episode features a fight between Music/BruceSpringsteen and [[Series/TheSopranos James Gandolfini]], where the two are fighting for ownership of a New Jersey rest-stop that's opening soon. Said fight also features Steve Van Zandt as both guest referee and future employee for whoever wins the fight. [[spoiler: Guess who becomes the first fatality of the episode.]]