Author's Retaliation

Finn: Man, I don't have patience for this animation junk. Whoever does this must have no life whatsoev—
[Finn punches himself]
Finn: Oof... Why did I do that?

— Adventure Time

If the characters are aware that they're in a work of fiction, they might hold strong opinions regarding what the creators of the work are doing. They likely won't be too flattering. But considering the author can write the story so that the characters are then struck by lightning, voicing their negative opinions may be unwise... especially if the author Can't Take Criticism.

There's a certain amount of Fridge Logic involved here; if the characters have something bad to say, it must have been because the author wrote it to happen, so why would the author do so? Naturally, this trope works purely on Rule of Funny.

Compare Do Not Taunt Cthulhu and Revenge via Storytelling. May happen in response to Rage Against the Author. Not to be confused with Creator Backlash, which is when a creator grows to hate a work and/or its audience.

---

Examples:

Anime and Manga

• In the third volume of Dramacon, Monica, Christie, and Hyu-Jeong all discuss the possibility of Beth and Raj dating, and realize that the two are almost absurdly perfect for each other. Monica wonders aloud where the tension and drama is, saying this pair would be too simple and happy together compared to the other couples they know... and then makes the mistake of saying, "I call bad writing." Cue a chibi version of the author in the margins muttering, "Why you little...", and Monica promptly being tackled by a random background character.
  Caption: RANDOM TOOL OF AUTHOR REVENGE.

Films — Animation

• Ratchet & Clank (2016): In the first teaser trailer, Qwark, frustrated with the cheap sets and lack of dubstep, calls the movie's animators lazy. As revenge, they remove his textures and make him dance. They undo these things when he apologizes, but then when he insults them again, they drop the logo on him.

Films — Live-Action

• George of the Jungle: Towards the end of the film as Max and Thor find themselves back at Ape Mountain thanks to ignoring Ape's advice, the Narrator mocks them over their bad luck. Thor decides he's had enough of the Narrator's attitude and actually tries to threaten him into giving them something to work with, only for the Narrator to retaliate by messing with the film directly, much to Max's horror.

Literature

• In Miguel de Unamuno's book Niebla, Augusto, the main character meets Unamuno himself, who informs him that he's a fictional character in his book. Augusto does not take this well, and threatens to kill Unamuno, who in turn declares that he will kill him off. When Augusto returns home, he suddenly and inexplicably has the urge to eat, and thus indulges himself with food until it kills him.
• A variant occurs in Chris Wooding's Poison. when Poison tries to starve herself to defy the Heirophant, all of reality starts to fade with her Bram eventually points out that this is happening because she is the main character and the plot can't continue without her

Video Games

• Played for Drama in The Hex. Lionel Snill, the developer of Rootbeer Reggie, hates his old product and wants to get rid of it to start fresh, so he has his AI helper, Irving, get rid of the game- which translates to Irving barging into Reggie's bar, telling him that his game is being shut down, and beating the old man until his legs break. Naturally, this leads to Reggie and several of Lionel's other characters seeking some retribution of their own.
• During the credits of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Deadpool bursts into the office of the game's lead dev to complain that the game isn't called "Deadpool and his Inferior Friends" and that he's not more powerful than any of the other team members. The dev retaliates by turning off his weapons and powers and threatening to take him out of the game and make him paid DLC.

Webcomics

• In a strip of The Petri Dish, Thaddeus calls the cartoonist, John Sutton, lazy for not drawing the exhibit he plans on looking at. Sutton then looks for his eraser, implying he wants to rub Thaddeus out.

Web Video

• In Epic Rap Battles of History, during the second rap battle between the creators Nice Peter and EpicLLOYD, Nice Peter comments "if you weren't so cheap we could hire some editors that do good work". Immediately after, Nice Peter's hand is edited to be comically large, to his chagrin. EpicLLOYD comments "aw, c'mon, now what the fuck did I do?", having been given a giant head, with the editor not seeming content to just punish Nice Peter for the comment.
• In a Thomas & Friends toymation video "Shrink Fatty", Duck, Edward, and Henry each criticize the video's production values, and each time, the narration says, "...said [character], in his first and last appearance in this movie" while the toy representing them is being dropped into a bin. The video ends with the bin's contents being emptied into a bin lorry while the three engines wail for help.
• Played for Laughs at the end of Jontron's Starcade special (Not that one, this one) when Darth Vader has been unmasked and revealed to be Arin Hanson:
  Arin: I have something to tell you.
  Jon: What is it Arin?
  Arin: I'm a poo-poo pee-pee fart diaper-baby stinky asshole doo-doo brain.
  Jon: Looks like you shouldn't have let me write your lines.
  Arin: Uh, my dad is Adolf Hitler.
  Jon: Yes he is, and he always will be.

Western Animation

• In the Adventure Time episode "A Glitch is a Glitch," Finn struggles with animation, and remarks that anybody who does animation for a living must have no life whatsoever. He then punches himself in the face for no reason.
• In The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Silence", after Darwin says that his conversations with Gumball go "limper than an animator's handshake", his leg is erased, causing him to fall on his face and get a black eye.
• In the Merrie Melodies short Duck Amuck, Daffy Duck accidentally leaves his own background, asks for some scenery, and has his environs and his own body continually redrawn by a sadistic animator, over his loud complaints.
  Daffy: Now how about some colour, stupid?!
  [the animator covers Daffy in bright colours]
  Daffy: Not me, you slop-artist!
• Family Guy: Peter in "Lethal Weapons" expresses his frustration with the Fox network. Lois warns him that he shouldn't, but Peter scoffs, "What're they gonna do, cut our budget?" He then walks to the kitchen... with only one animation frame with very rough movement.
• Happens on occasion in La Linea when the cartoonist becomes fed up with Mr. Linea's Hair-Trigger Temper. He will draw what appears to be the solution to Linea's current problem, only for it to turn out to be a Booby Trap.
• Subverted on The Simpsons episode "Mom and Pop Art". When Homer and Marge visit an art museum and see cartoons drawn by Matt Groening on exhibition, Homer badmouths Groening's work as undeserving of being on display. A giant eraser then appears over Homer's head, seemingly ready to erase him in response to his comment... only for said eraser to be revealed to be from a giant pencil being set up by museum workers for an upcoming exhibition.
• South Park: In the South Par Q Vaccination Special, Bob White spending the episode ranting about the "Hollywood Elites," which includes series creators Trey Parker And Matt Stone. At the climax of the episode, strange things begin happening to the animation, with Bob and Mr. Garrison (and his bodyguard Mr. Service) being transported to a freezing cold landscape and Bob's body being mutilated by a computer cursor that transforms him into a variety of humiliating objects, culminating in him turning into a giant penis with flowers growing on him. Bob claims they must be making fun of him so nobody will take his beliefs seriously.