History Main / TigerByTheTail

* ''Fanfic/DanganronpaParadiseLost'': Shion discusses the concept to Daisuke in her second Free-Time Event, bringing up her past of leading a violent cause that would've killed her had she attempted to cease their activities.

* Jaune finds himself in this situation in ''FanFic/ARabbitAmongWolves''. He accidentally kills Adam Taurus, gains control of the White Fang, and becomes a wanted fugitive. Hoping to prove to Remnant he isn't evil, he tries to reform the White Fang enough so he can quit and go back to a normal life. Unfortunately, he succeeds well enough that he goes from being a rising star to an icon. [[spoiler:Adam's ghost]] spells out to him that him quitting would devastate the White Fang, and even send them back on the path toward violence, much to his frustration.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': The first two seasons play this straight, with Walt getting involved with increasingly volatile and dangerous people as he delves deeper into the drug trade. By Season 3, however, it gets flipped around - Jesse had first joined Walt believing he was just a timid chemistry teacher, seriously underestimating what he was capable of.

* Namechecked in ''Literature/AfterTheRevolution'' by Dr. Brandt, when he explains to Sasha how bad a position the Heavenly Kingdom is in because they took The City of Wheel's envoys prisoner. While holding the three hostage means the powerful {{cyborg}}s probably won't attack ''right now'', in the long term this move put the Kingdom in direct conflict with a heavily-armed polity who already hated them on principle.

* A version involving a literal tiger occurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967''. Baloo arrives just in time to grab Shere Khan by the tail when he charges at Mowgli. After the vultures have air-lifted Mowgli away, one of them tells Baloo he can release Shere Khan's tail now.

* Oscar's getting famous off Frankie's death in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' spirals into the populace wanting him to fight more sharks despite his lack of actual fighting ability, which then spirals into Oscar having to help Lenny fake his death so the latter doesn't tip him off to Don Lino, which leads to Lino kidnapping Angie in [[PapaWolf revenge for both his sons' deaths]]. Angie tries to get him to reveal the truth, but Oscar laughs her off since doing so would result in him losing all of his fame, likely being sued and getting eaten by sharks who wouldn't be afraid of him anymore.

->''Everyone became aware of a rattling noise. Nobby was spinning the morningstar round and round on the end of its chain, except that because the spiky ball was a very heavy spiky ball, and because the difference between Nobby and a dwarf was species rather than height, it was more a case of both of them orbiting around each other. If he let go, it was an even chance that the target would be hit by a spiky ball or an unexploded Corporal Nobbs. Neither prospect pleased.''

->Everyone became aware of a rattling noise. Nobby was spinning the morningstar round and round on the end of its chain, except that because the spiky ball was a very heavy spiky ball, and because the difference between Nobby and a dwarf was species rather than height, it was more a case of both of them orbiting around each other. If he let go, it was an even chance that the target would be hit by a spiky ball or an unexploded Corporal Nobbs. Neither prospect pleased.

[[quoteright:319:[[WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6c3edc41_1304_41dd_88bf_0568f90f6c39.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:319:OK, [[VisualPun now just hang on...]] ''forever.'']]

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': Mistress Poulin, the ruler of the town of Sahrnia in Emprise du Lion, let the Templars mine her quarry and hire the locals to help. The town was dying due to the Orlesian Civil War and desperately needed the money. She learned too late that they were Red Templars in service to [[BigBad Corypheus]] and the people she was sending them were being killed in the process of mining the red lyrium. She knew that if she refused to send anyone else to work the quarry, the Red Templars would just attack the town and take everyone at once. [[ColdEquation She sold the weak, elderly, sick, and anyone else that was likely to die soon anyway.]] She used the coin to help the survivors and hoped that someone would come along to save them before they all got killed anyway.

* Oscar's getting famous off Frankie's death in ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'' spirals into the population wanting him to fight more sharks despite his lack of actual fighting ability, which then spirals into Oscar having to help Lenny fake his death so the latter doesn't tip him off to Don Lino, which leads to Lino kidnapping Angie in [[PapaWolf revenge for both his sons' deaths]]. Angie tries to get him to reveal the truth, but Oscar laughs her off since doing so would result in him losing all of his fame, likely being sued and getting eaten by sharks who wouldn't be afraid of him anymore.

* Jaune finds himself in this situation in ''FanFic/ARabbitAmongWolves''. He accidentally kills Adam Taurus, gains control of the White Fang, and becomes a wanted fugitive. Hoping to prove to Remnant he isn't evil, he tries to reform the White Fang enough so he can quit and go back to a normal life. Unfortunately, he succeeds well enough that he goes from being a rising star to an icon. [[spoiler: Adam's ghost]] spells out to him that him quitting would devastate the White Fang, and even send them back on the path toward violence, much to his frustration.

* Volume 1 of ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' ends when the BigBad, [[spoiler:Moriarty]], impulsively grabs the cavorite after its container has been shattered. The anti-gravity metal shoots into the sky, and [[spoiler: Moriarty]] realizes an instant too late that he's too high up to let go. [[spoiler:Moriarty's frozen corpse, still holding the cavorite, shows up in a later volume.]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]

* This is the situation Taylor finds herself in halfway through the second arc of ''Fanfic/IAmSkitter''. She is [[JekyllAndHyde horrified by what Skitter has done]] and realizes that this is far beyond what she wanted to happen when she first created Skitter. She further notes that she technically could still stop this, push Skitter back into whatever part of the subconscious she pulled her from in the first place and retake control of her mind. But if she did so, she would lose Skitter's cunning and poise, and without those she doesn't have a hope of staying ahead of the PRT. So she decides that she has no choice but [[SplitPersonalityTakeover to let Skitter have her head and simply watch the rampage from behind her eyes]].
* Shen Qingqiu notes that this is the case for Sha Hualing's attack on Cang Qiong in ''Fanfic/TheGrandUnifiedTheoryOfShenQingqiu'', as any failure will be taken as a sign of her weakness and unfitness to leave, as will any admission of weakness. He then proceeds to take shameless advantage of this by challenging her personally for the first bout, backing her into a corner where she is forced to claim to be the strongest demon present in order to maintain control of her followers, and thus the appropriate opponent for a Peak Lord. This allows Cang Qiong to win all three challenges, [[GoneHorriblyRight forcing Sha Hualing to more extreme methods in order to maintain her dominance.]]

* ''Film/CrimsonPeak'': ImpoverishedPatrician Thomas Sharpe has been marrying wealthy women for their money to rescue his decaying family mansion, [[spoiler: after which his sister Lucille murders them to preserve their own incestuous relationship. Thomas genuinely falls in love with his newest wife and wants to stop, but she has also discovered the previous three corpses in the cellar and realized that Lucille is poisoning her. Lucille insists that they must kill her; otherwise, she points out, she'll get away and expose everything, which will result in the siblings being hanged and institutionalized, respectively.]]

* Namechecked in ''Literature/AfterTheRevolution'' by Dr. Brandt, when he explains to Sasha how bad a position the Heavenly Kingdom is in because they took The City of Wheel's envoys prisoner. While holding the three hostage means the powerful {{cyborg}}s probably won't attack ''right now'', in the long term this move put the Kingdom in direct conflict with a heavily-armed polity who already hated them on principle.

--> Well, I thought the day I met you, you were meek as a lamb
--> Just the kind to fit my dreams and plans
--> But now, the pace we're living takes the wind out of my sails
--> And it looks like I've got a tiger by the tail

--> I've got a tiger by the tail, it's plain to see
--> I won't be much when you get through with me
--> Well, I'm losing weight and turning mighty pale
--> Looks like I've got a tiger by the tail

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has an [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe short story]], ''[[https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Sacred_Witness Sacred Witness]]'', in which the author sets out to learn more about the Night Mother, infamous leader of the [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood assassin's guild]]. He is eventually granted an audience with her, but in order to prevent him from sharing her secrets, she conscripts him into the Brotherhood and makes him assist them in committing unspeakable crimes. The book ends with the author admitting that the Night Mother will see the book's publication as him breaking his promise to her and that he fears for his life, followed by an editor's note stating the author was found dead with his corpse bearing the Night Mother's CallingCard.

-->'''Baloo:''' Are you kiddin'?! There's ''teeth'' in the other end!

** In ''Literature/GoingPostal'', the Grand Trunk's board of directors eventually realize [[ConArtist the true nature]] of Reacher Gilt. They also realize that Gilt has dirt on all of them thanks to Crispin Horsefry's blabbing; they're not only riding a tiger, but [[TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive the tiger knows where they live]]

Perhaps the character started a protest movement that has become violently fanatical, and would execute them as a traitor if they tried to mitigate its behavior. Maybe they {{stumbled into|ThePlot}} a MacGuffin and the government is now after them until they ClearTheirName, or they jumped into the pilot seat of a HumongousMecha to repel the alien invasion, only to find ItWontTurnOff, and it becomes such a MurderousMalfunctioningMachine that it would love to try out on them if they ever try to disembark.