History Main / TearApartTugOfWar

[[caption-width-right:350:[-[[Film/TheRoom You're tearing me apart, Max!]]-] ]]

-->'''Deandra:''' Excuse me, are we just gonna skip over the part where my ''fucking arms got ripped off''?!
-->'''Jenna Darabond:''' Yeah, I didn't have anything to do with that. [[EvenEvilHasStandards That was super fucked-up]].
-->'''Deandra:''' ''Thank'' you!

* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'': In "Anime/TheDayNarutoBecameHokage", Himawari insists on taking her favorite stuffed animal to her father's ceremony, but Boruto angrily protests that doing so will make the other villagers think she is too childish. They fight over the toy and accidentally tear it in half, causing Himawari to unlock her [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening Byakugan]] and assault her brother in a trance-like fury.

[[folder: Film Animated]]

Two or more characters are fighting over an object, tugging it back and forth until it rips or breaks. Typically, the act of fighting over the object is itself caused by other unrelated factors and the object in question serves as an object to vent their frustrations over. Sometimes the object getting broken or torn is of incredible sentimental or personal value to one or both of the characters. Generally, the item will will remain ripped, though sometimes the item gets mended. Subtrope to NiceJobBreakingItRivals. See NoMacGuffinNoWinner when the tearing happens to the MacGuffin. Contrast JudgmentOfSolomon, where an object is threatened to be ripped in half so as to settle a dispute between people who are fighting over the object in question.

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[[AC: Film Animated]]

[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]

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[[AC:Live Action TV]]

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[[AC:Western Animation]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'': In Book #24, "Oliver the Western Engine", the climax of the third chapter, "Toad Stands By" has Oliver prepare to take a goods train. S.C. Ruffey, a privately owned ballast wagon who is the leader of the Troublesome Trucks and teased Oliver for his accident in the turntable in the previous chapter, "Resource and Sagacity" is put at the front of the train. S.C. Ruffey orders the Troublesome Trucks to hold Oliver back, but Oliver sands the rails to give him traction. Oliver and the Troublesome Trucks pulling S.C. Ruffey in opposite directions proves to be too much for him to handle, especially given his rotten wood and rusty framework, and as a result, he breaks apart. When Sir Topham Hatt comes to inspect the damage, he decides to [[KilledOffForReal scrap S.C. Ruffey]].[[note]] In the [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends TV series]] [[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS4E20ToadStandsBy adaptation of the episode]], Sir Topham Hatt [[SparedByTheAdaptation rebuilds S.C. Ruffey]], who in return, promises never to tease Oliver again.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'': In Book #24, "Oliver the Western Engine", the climax of the third chapter, "Toad Stands By" has Oliver prepare to take a goods train. S.C. Ruffey, a privately owned ballast wagon who is the leader of the Troublesome Trucks and teased Oliver for his accident in the turntable in the previous chapter, "Resource and Sagacity" is put at the front of the train. S.C. Ruffey orders the Troublesome Trucks to hold Oliver back, but Oliver sands the rails to give him traction. Oliver and the Troublesome Trucks pulling S.C. Ruffey in opposite directions proves to be too much for him to handle, especially given his rotten wood and rusty framework, and as a result, he breaks apart. When Sir Topham Hatt comes to inspect the damage, he decides to [[KilledOffForReal scrap S.C. Ruffey]].[[note]] In the [[WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine TV series]] [[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS4E20ToadStandsBy adaptation of the episode]], Sir Topham Hatt [[SparedByTheAdaptation rebuilds S.C. Ruffey]], who in return, promises never to tease Oliver again.[[/note]]

* Happens to the Star Of Bethlehem in [[Film/TheChristmasChronicles ''The Christmas Chronicles 2'']] when Santa and disgraced elf-turned-human Belsnickel get into a fight over it.

* Happens to the Star Of Bethlehem in [[TheChristmasChronicles ''The Christmas Chronicles 2'']] when Santa and disgraced elf-turned-human Belsnickel get into a fight over it.

Two or more characters are fighting over an object, tugging it back and forth until it rips or breaks. Typically, the act of fighting over the object is itself caused by other unrelated factors and the object in question serves as an object to vent their frustrations over. Sometimes the object getting broken or torn is of incredible sentimental or personal value to one or both of the characters. Generally, the item will will remain ripped, though sometimes the item gets mended. See NoMacGuffinNoWinner when the tearing happens to the MacGuffin. Contrast JudgmentOfSolomon, where an object is threatened to be ripped in half so as to settle a dispute between people who are fighting over the object in question.

[[AC:Film Live-Action]]

* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': Impmon observes this happening when his tamers Ai and Mako, a pair of siblings less than 10 years old each, fight over a doll they both want. It serves as the impetus for him to run away, declaring be doesn't need a tamer to get strong. When [[BreakTheCutie Impmon]] eventually returns to the children during the latter half of the series, he's surprised to find the children have repaired the doll. It seems in the interim they'd come to realize their constant fighting is what drove their digi-friend away, and they were determined that, should he return, they would prove they were capable of getting along.

* ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'': In "The Day Naruto Became Hokage", Himawari insists on taking her favorite stuffed animal to her father's ceremony, but Boruto angrily protests that doing so will make the other villagers think she is too childish. They fight over the toy and accidentally tear it in half, causing Himawari to unlock her [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening Byakugan]] and assault her brother in a trance-like fury.