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Examples of Insult Backfire in Fan Works.


Crossovers
  • This exchange from chapter 19 of Ace Combat: The Equestrian War:
    Rainbow Dash: You know what? I’ve met many psychos and weirdos in my life, but you... You are downright insane!
    Red Cyclone: That’s your opinion.
  • In Biomass Effect, Desolas Arterius calls the Blacklight species a blight on the galaxy, and is surprised when Blacklight agrees with him.
  • In The Bridge, Grand King Ghidorah boasts that Irys, Gigan, and Megalon are cockroaches compared to him. Megalon points out he actually resembles a giant cockroach.
  • Dr. John Watson is a Victorian gentleman to his core, but he does have advanced ideas regarding drugs. And when drugs do pop up in Children of Time...
    Milo: A doctor, seriously? Mate, I worked for doctors before this move — you look nothing like one.
    Watson: *dryly* I'll take that as a compliment...
  • Code Prime sees Megatron take being called a monster, demon, and the Devil incarnate quite well from CC.
    Megatron: Foolish girl. You only realize that now?
  • A Dovahkiin Spreads His Wings has Cersei serving undercooked meat to her guest Serana whom she pettily hates, and being very nonplussed when the other woman is delighted by the dish — that's what happens when you unknowingly feed blood to a vampire.
  • At some point in the past in Fantasy of Utter Ridiculousness, Marisa attempted to insult Yuuka by calling her a pansy. Considering that Yuuka is known in-universe as "The Flower Master of the Four Seasons", it comes as no surprise that she took it as a compliment. Marisa herself doesn't know why, though.
  • Hunters of Justice sees Team RWBY forced to work with the Suicide Squad. Upon learning about the explosives used to keep the Squad in line, Yang says "You bitch" to Amanda Waller. Waller simply retorted she isn't "a bitch," but "the bitch."
  • In Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily, Mad Ben calls Specter a dog in the midst of Specter using his mind games.
    Specter: And what if I am a dog? I am loyal to my master [Ryoken] and if my collar is servitude to his will, I will proudly wear it for the rest of my life.
  • Inheritance of Magic has Rin playing Snow White for the school's play and the priests from the monastery trying to tease him over wearing a dress. Which falls flat, as for Rin it was only clothing and acting, no big deal.
  • Ladybug in a Half Shell: Casey's biggest trick when arguing with Chloé is when he sarcastically responds to her insults as though they were compliments.
    In the middle of a rant about how Casey probably got his clothes from a dumpster which he replied to, "Yes, but it was from a fairly upscale neighborhood"...
  • In The Little Prince, Coriakin from The Chronicles of Narnia (an eccentric magician with a penchant for going barefoot) was the mentor for young Dumbledore and Grindelwald from Harry Potter, and Grindelwald, being the arrogant jerk he is, criticized his mentor for not wearing shoes... which just made Coriakin want to laugh.
  • In A Man of Iron, Sansa tries to hurt Arya by calling her a bastard. Only, Arya has a major case of Big Brother Worship and takes the insult as meaning she has another similarity with her brother Jon Snow.
    • In the sequel, A Crack of Thunder, Jaime tries something similar by alluding to Ned cheating on his wife and siring a bastard (the aforementioned Jon). Ned, however, never actually did that, as Jon is actually his nephew. Ned turns the insult around by pointing out that Cersei has been cheating on Jaime.
  • In My Huntsman Academia, Pyrrha's former manager, Arata, derides Izuku as a country bumpkin for coming from Mountain Glenn and finds it ridiculous that anyone would become a Huntsman for anything other than profit. Izuku proceeds to hang up on him out of disgust, but not before flipping that insult on its head.
    Izuku: I'd say that it was a pleasure speaking with you but, like you said: I'm a country bumpkin and we're raised to be honest.
  • In Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!, Bakugou attempts to insult Lexi Luthor by calling her "Baldy" due to her grandfather's alopecia. She finds this so hilarious that she has to have her bodyguard/best friend Mercy carry her out the door.
    Lexi: [between laughs and wheezing for air] Baldy! Baldy! Mercy, he-he-he called me Baldy! It's-It's amazing! It's so stupid that it loops around to being brilliant!
    Bakugou: Stop laughing!
  • Two occur in One National Hero to Another regarding Romania's superhero team.
    • First, Shuri refers to Crina as a colonizer, to which the latter retorts that Romania has never colonized anywhere, being too far inland for it to be practical.
    • Later, Steve refers to the entire team as "a bunch of bastards". Crina informs him that only she is, her brother Radu was legitimate.
  • In Opening Dangerous Gates, Natsu angrily tells a Tengu to stop hiding behind his illusions and fight like a man. The Tengu smirks and says he's not a man, he's a demon.
  • Shadows over Meridian: When Jade is called a monster by a rebel soldier during the battle at Snowpoint, she just chuckles in her Oni bloodlust and replies that flattery will get him nowhere.
  • In Shinji and Warhammer40k, Rei's retort to being called a doll by Asuka is "I am, at the very least, an action figure."
  • Sora and the Princess of Power has a Lame Comeback variant when a very tired Sora accidentally compliments Adora while trying to insult her.
    Sora: So. Tired.
    Adora: (leans in and sniffs Sora) Phew! I actually think you're starting to smell like a fish!
    Sora: Your face smells like a fish!
    Adora: Yeah, real good one.
    Sora: Your face is a real good one!
    Adora: Aw, thanks, I think so too.
  • Turnabout Storm has one between antagonists, with Trixie responding with satisfaction to Sonata's expression of distaste for her.
    Sonata: I dislike you... Just thought I'd reiterate that in case it wasn't clear enough.
    Trixie: Oh, thank you! Trixie gets that a lot.
    Phoenix: (That... wasn't a compliment, Trixie...)
  • In When Harry Met Wednesday, some time after Dumbledore is replaced as headmaster by Professor Tofty, a couple of students with Death Eater ties attack Wednesday Addams. One of the aurors investigating the incident tries to shame Tofty by claiming Dumbledore would've known to keep an eye on them. Instead Tofty's outraged that Dumbledore knew some of his students had Death Eater ties and said nothing.

Animorphs

  • In The Word of Your Body, Temrash attempts to torture Jude (Jake) by showing him Tom's memories of despair, but gives Jude hope instead because he inadvertently revealed that Tom considers Jude (who's transgender) his brother.

Calvin and Hobbes

  • Examples from the Calvinverse:
    Susie: Man, you are evil!
    Evil Calvin: Why, thank you.
    Calvin: You absolutely SICKEN me. You killed one of your own men because he was too hurt to fight. But the part that sickens me MOST…is knowing that in my present state; I can't do ANYTHING about it.
    Evil Calvin: Thanks for the compliment.

Castle (2009)

  • In Not Those Gates, a fic set after Caleb shot Castle and Beckett toward the end of the series finale, Beckett's former captain Victoria Gates arrives at their loft just in time. Later when Beckett wakes up in the hospital, she realizes that she had called Gates by her nickname "Iron Gates" while under the influence of painkillers, and that Gates overheard it. Gates shrugs it off, saying, "As if I wasn't aware of that name. I bear it with pride, you know...it paid tribute to my tenacity. I don't see anything wrong about it."

Code Geass

Death Note

  • After L and Kira have a lover's quarrel in Office Politics and Kira sends L a message via dead rapists:
    Raito stormed off, and four hours after that, all the detectives gather around the television, torn between laughter and louder laughter when a gang known for kidnapping, gang-raping, and trafficking young girls and boys into prostitution all die of what appears to be autoerotic asphyxiation—bodies falling conveniently in a public square.
    The chief squints. "Does that—?"
    L narrows his eyes and drinks more coffee.
    "Yeah," one of the others says.
    "It totally does," another detective chimes in.
    "L SUCKS DICK," the Chief reads.
    Just under his breath, L mutters, "Not anymore, that's for damn sure."
  • From That Epic Plan:
    Light: You know I used to think I took the prize for obnoxiousness, but what do you know, I bow to the champion.
    Beyond: Thank you, you're too kind.

Dragon Ball

  • Dragon Ball Z Abridged:
    • Vegeta tells Ginyu that he expected him to be polishing Freeza's boots. Naturally the sycophantic captain replies that Freeza doesn't actually wear boots, and then says that even if Freeza DID, Ginyu would have already polished them.
    • During his fight with the people-eating Cell, Trunks chooses the wrong death threat.
      Cell: I'm impressed! Behind all that angst and ridiculous hair there's a real fighter!
      Trunks: And behind all that insufferable smarm is a dead man!
      Cell: Trunks, you couldn't fathom the amount of dead men behind me.

Far Cry 4

Fate/stay night

  • Nerve Damage: Season 2: Sensory Overload: The heroes end up facing Adolf Hitler. Saber angrily calls him a dog because of his atrocities. Hitler retorts, "Then you're all dog food." before trying to kill them.

Gravity Falls

  • Dipper walks into this in Faking It.
    Dipper: You? Bill? Not a problem? It’s the only thing you are. You’ve ruined my life, you asshole. You are the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. That could ever happen to me.
    Bill: *blushing* Aw. Ha! You were even sincere about that! Flattery will get you everywhere, sapling.
    Dipper, with slow regret, realizes that was a compliment. A pretty big one, by Bill’s standards.

Harry Potter

  • From the Crack Fic The Black Bunny:
    Harry: You're evil.
    Tom: Thank you.
    Harry: That wasn't a compliment!
  • In Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, Professor Quirrell responds predictably to being called "evil":
    "Miss Granger," Professor Quirrell said gravely, "it can be dangerous to give people compliments like that when they have not been truly earned. The recipient might feel bashful and undeserving and want to do something worthy of your praise..."
  • In Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin Lucius says that he can't keep a disloyal house elf in his employ and offers to sell Dobby to Harry, stating that the only alternative is to kill Dobby in order to encourage Harry to agree to the sale.
    Harry: That's manipulative and underhanded, Mr. Malfoy.
    Lucius: Thank you, Mr. Potter. Your compliment is appreciated.

House

  • In "I Know This Much Is True", Chase refers to House's girlfriend as "Yoko", implying House is overly obsessed with her. She calls him a hypocrite for listening to Bjork, thinking he's making a derogatory comment on her singing.

The Loud House

  • Anger Management: One of Lynn's attempts to rile up Lincoln is telling him he smells of lavender (perhaps because she thinks that's an "effeminate" smell?). However, Lincoln likes the idea of smelling like lavender and when he finds that he doesn't, he considers using Lori's deodorant.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

  • In Mission Report: Impossible, Rocket complains that Drax writes like a girl. Drax's planet prides itself on striving for perfection in everything, and girls tend to write much more neatly than boys.

My Hero Academia

  • In From Muddy Waters, Shinsou marches into Class 1-A and accuses them of being arrogant assholes who are being paraded around on high horses after the USJ attack. Izuku is so pissed, exhausted, and anxious that he walks up to Shinsou and gives him a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech that stuns everyone present, including Izuku himself.
    Shinsou: Considering how you’ve been acting, though, I doubt that anyone here would be content with just slipping into an empty slot. Rather, I think we’d all prefer to drag as many of you off of your high horses as possible.
    Izuku: [voice low and full of menace before Shinsou can speak anymore] Our high horses? Our high horses? Arrogant? You’re acting as if we wanted those villains to ambush us. Like we’re marching around, bragging about nearly being murdered during our first week of classes. [Shinsou's face pales as Izuku walks closer] Thirteen-sensei got thrown around and then tortured to try and get two of my classmates to give up. Aizawa-sensei nearly got beaten to death by one of the villains in front of us.

    [steps so close that their chests are almost touching] Then that villain grabbed me, and pinned me down by my neck until I couldn’t breathe while another started disintegrating my helmet. [leans forward until they can feel each other's breath] I’m only alive because of that helmet. If it hadn’t been there, I would have been — stolen — dead before All Might could have arrived. Do you know what that’s like? Knowing that you came within less of a second from dying, and then having to come to school like nothing happened?

    [hissing] Before you start calling people arrogant, maybe you should check the mirror.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Neon Genesis Evangelion

  • Invoked in The Second Try. After seeing Rei smile in response to Shinji being rescued from Unit-01, Asuka commented that "one could actually mistake her for a human being", something which Rei noted was one of the nicest things that anyone had ever said to her. The thing is, Asuka meant for her to take it as a compliment; she knew about Rei's Clone Angst and deliberately worded in such a way that anyone else listening would think it was one of her standard insults as part of her cover.

Odd Squad

  • In the A Dip In The Inkwell oneshot "Staring Contest", Olive is forced to give up three of her Snickers bars to Todd as payment for him winning a staring contest with her, in spite of him betting his own candy. She tells him that he's "impossible", to which he thanks her.

One Piece

  • In This Bites!, Luffy says to Zambai that he's fine with taking Franky to join the Strawhats because he already decided that Franky will be their shipwright... without consulting Franky beforehand. Cross then explains that Luffy's method for recruiting usually involves charisma, persistence, strength, and a dose of blackmail. The other Strawhats each list their own experience note  and Luffy is happy for the compliments.
    Everyone: WE'RE NOT COMPLIMENTING YOU, JACKASS!

Pokémon

Real-Person Fic

  • In With Strings Attached, Ringo is screaming at Grunnel who has just backstabbed the four:
    Ringo: Go fuck yourself!
    Grunnel: That seems a strangely pleasant way for me to be chastised. I don't understand why you view sex as a punishment.

RWBY

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong

  • A Thorn Amongst The Flowers has Shang Qinghua taking pride in being called a rat by his fellow Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu, as he points rats can thrive in multiple biomes because they're innately gifted in survival.

A Song of Ice and Fire

  • Due to his wide variety of creations (whiskey, penicillin, lingerie, spy glasses, and more), the Self-Insert Son of King Baratheon in No Promises ends up with the derisive name of "Prince of This and That". While Robert is upset by the nickname, his son's only response is that he is not the Prince of This and That, but the Prince of Everything.

Static Shock

  • Jimmy's Visit With Dr. Franklin:
    Jimmy Osgood: you...you monster
    Ebon: I know and if you and your little corpse don't want to see how much more of a monster I can be you two better get out of here!

Young Justice (2010)

  • With This Ring has a downplayed example when Lord Malvolio demands to know "What scurrilous yaldson dares to intrude upon mine domain?" Paul doesn't bother to say anything aloud, but internally reflects that although Lantern Gardner isn't the son of a prostitute, he hates his father enough that he wouldn't care.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

YuYu Hakusho

  • In the cold open of episode 16 of Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged, Hiei throws a string of increasingly unsubtle and pointed insults at an oblivious Kuwabara, until he eventually gives up pretense of wittiness.
    Hiei: I'm trying to insult you you stupid fu-(opening credits)

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