Troperville
Editing Help
Tools
Toys
|
Well... that's the last time I bring that up...
"The Internet has given everybody in America a voice. For some reason, everybody decides to use that voice to bitch about movies." — Holden, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Poor, innocent, hapless newbie wanders into a forum and wonders aloud if that guy in that show should be with that girl in that show. The forum erupts into flames, igniting all the boards that deal with the show, which ignites whole sections of the Internet into a blazing Inferno.
The poor, innocent, hapless newbie has opened the door, causing an Internet Backdraft.
It works like this: Controversial Event X occurs, resulting in flamewars, including ones spanning multiple forums. Internet vigilantes occur who muck up the issue even more into a morass of rumours. Eventually it gets to the point where people are so sick of flamewars about Event X, that this in turns causes flamewars between those who want it to just die. Which it does, sort of, in a smoldering-ember sort of way, though a Broken Base may persist. Then some n00b gives it enough oxygen to make it flare up all over again.
Also known as "Holy Wars" . Trolls and Fan Dumb are drawn to this like flies to a carcass. Mike Reed's Flame Warriors refers to this, when the metaphorical "door" is opened on purpose, as a Grenade.
The single item in common for these is that people outside the involved communities are astounded that anyone could care enough about the issue to get in any kind of argument about it at all, much less a big argument. Sooner or later you have to realize you're living, eating, breathing and getting hugely upset about a bunch of Japanese cartoons, or a paint-by-numbers TV show, or fictional short hairy people who live in holes, or a child's fantasy novel, or oiled-up musclemen in short-shorts pretending to fight with each other, or the opinions of someone you've never met, never will and don't know the real name of. As long as we remember how stupid we must look, it's okay.
If the issue is people spreading false rumours versus purists trying to fight them, that's Gannon Banned. Sometimes leads to people making claims about eating popcorn.
This sort of chaos would be just the right thing if you are planning to take over the world.
Shipping is a major source of these.
See this video, setting the whole concept to a Billy Joel song.
If you use one of these to strike your Fandom's weak point For Massive Damage, it can result in a Broken Base.
See also Love It Or Hate It, Unpleasable Fanbase, Fandom Rivalry, and contrast Internet Counterattack, which is generally what happens when one quite succinctly provokes such an event — intentionally or not. When an Internet Backdraft devolves into personal attacks, you have Fan Haters.
Examples
open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
- Whether or not any given Magic Warrior (or really, Magical Girl in general) series is a ripoff of Sailor Moon.
- If you want to get really technical and obscure about it, they all have Cutey Honey to thank, not Sailor Moon. But that's a different war.
- Within Anime fandom, Subbing Versus Dubbing. Even though almost every series is released bilingually so both audiences are catered to.
- Anything about Neon Genesis Evangelion.
- Akira also gets an internet backdraft.
- The Great Trowa Rape Debate in Gundam Wing fandom. Was Trowa raped as a child, thereby explaining his withdrawn nature? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, don't ask.
- The great "is downloading fansubs immoral/evil/going to destroy the animation industry as we know it?" debate in anime fandom. Especially dangerous to mention at Anime News Network.
- Even if you do this, don't bring up Geneon; it's also better you don't mention ADV Films as well, even if they're still in business.
- And for an entirely different subject concerning fansubs: Mention OtaKing when discussing (the quality of) fansubs then run, run away unless you're a masochist. It doesn't help that the guy also has an irremovable Nostalgia Filter concerning Doctor Who.
- "Is Nausicaa wearing pants?" This is the first thread I ever saw on the Internet (Usenet), a few days after I had learned the Internet existed, so many years ago.
- Another topic that can start a fight on this wiki if timed badly: Fullmetal Alchemist, manga versus anime.
- To make things worse there are now TWO animes. Which also brings in the whole "remake or not" argument.
- Scary things can happen if you bring up who to pair Ed with.
- Go anywhere and say you hate the series. Believe me; I had to learn the hard way.
- A surefire way to start some big flames? Mention that you didn't like/hated Greed.
- Never casually ask whether or not Ed/Winry or Al/Winry is better. Smell the smoke? That's the flames startin'.
- Heck, asking about ANY pairing within the anime/manga is sure to start the fire.
- "Is Envy a boy or a girl?" Do. Not! ASK! THIS! EVER! if you wish to avoid the flames.
- To be fair, in the manga the answer is pretty obvious, what with Envy beingnothing more than a construct assembled from a large pool of souls of both sexes having a philospher's stone at the core. Envy is whatever it wants to be.
- Fans of Bowdlerised or Cut And Paste Translation dubs tend to draw a lot of ire. Especially volatile is the debates over the merit of Robotech.
- Even Woolseyism style translations get targeted. Argue the merits of changing Pokémon names for other markets and get people who claim the only real names are the Japanese ones.
- This happens not only with Pokemon but with every single f'n series that changed the names for foreign audiences. Is her name Tiff or Fumu? Is his name Darien or Mamoru? Are their names Dorie, Reanne, and Mirabelle or Doremi, Hazuki and Aiko? If you use the American names for any of these characters in the series' respective fanbases, then you'll be pelted left and right with accusations of ignorance due to watching the Macekred hackjob of a localization instead of watching the superior Fan Sub, despite the fact that some people don't care about whether or not the dub is "respectful to the original" and just wanted to watch it.
- Let's not forget the rift between the people who think Naruto Shippuden is good and the people who think it is not. Seriously, sparks start flying whenever someone mentions the series.
- Or anything about shipping. Or Sasuke. Or Itachi really being a good guy. Or Sakura. Or any main, major, or secondary protagonist (except Shikamaru). Or anything! Seriously, the flames created by the fanbase last longer than Amaterasu's.
- Pairing comments and stuff about the Sakura/Naruto coupling shared in the "wrong" place
- Pairing Sakura with Sasuke is quite perilous, as doing rules out Lee/Sakura, Naruto/Sakura and Ino/Sasuke offending three of five major pairings. Then again, in the Naruto fan community, if you put together any two characters in the same age group of the opposite gender, chances are someone has paired them, and they may not take kindly to pairing one of them with someone else.
- Opposite gender? Never mind that.
- Same-sex ships have their share of issues, but no ship is too obscure to not have a rival ship in the Naruto fandom.
- Mention Naruhina on most places, other than a Naruhina fanclub or Naruhina video (even there sometimes you cannot be safe). I dare ya, mention it.
- For good measure, do the same for Naru/Saku.
- In videos featuring the clip from Episode 44 where Yamato was about to say something to Sakura, say you didn't think he was about to suggest she loves Naruto and you'll be drawn into a battle more devastating than the one two episodes prior.
- Just mentioning Chapter 469 on a board with any Naru/Saku shippers is asking for trouble.
- Go to any anime forum or just post a video on You Tube saying that you don't like Naruto, and then count how much death threats you've just received. For extra vitriolic rage, be sure to include reasons like, "Sasuke is such a one-dimensional character."
- This is of course for the boards where you won't be skinned alive if you mention you do like Naruto.
- Mention basically any recent event, especially Hinata's apparent death (Ultimately, she survived). Then sit back, relax, and wonder what on earth possessed you to do such a thing as the entire forum explodes.
- Unless you're on Naruto forums Naruhina fanclub. Anywhere else,and you're dead meat
- "o hai lol im ded narooto" — Such phrase only won't cause extreme rage in 4chan's /b/, the toilet of the Internet, but anywhere else...
- Asking "Why is Naruto such a crap Animu" on an anime forum gets three different responses; non-fans saying it is, fans saying it isn't and a third group that actually look at the question and point out it's foibles & short comings, and try to answer it logically and factually. The first and second group will fight like hell, and the third inevitably joins in, and can take either side. Posting in the form of a question is best as it is open-ended; anyone can add any reason at all to like or dislike it. Also, resulting Flame Wars can look accidental (almost). For extra rage, toss up Dragon Ball Z or even Hamtaro into the mix, suggesting that they are better animes.
- You won't get very far in a Yu-Gi-Oh! forum without meeting someone who thinks one of the following things ruined the franchise: Chaos, Heroes, Synchros, GX season 4, GX period, 5D's period, too much gay subtext, not enough gay subtext, Scaling, not Scaling, Netdecking, not Netdecking, Cyberdark Impact, Four Kids Entertainment, all of the above, or everything else.
- Go to any forum that talks about GX and ask if Yubel was a boy or a girl when he/she was human. I dare you.
- Mentioning the Abridged Series, however, is A-okay.
- Go to any One Piece-related forum or community and say something about "Zolo". Then run, if you value your skin.
- The same reaction will occur if you use just about any of the names of anything from the English versions.
- Say that Bleach or Naruto have better art. And the flames will be there for long.
- Even implying that you think one character may have a serious thing for another, even for non-insane or non-fanbratty reasons, often guarantees trouble. It doesn't matter if you're not even really a shipper; you're still going to upset at least some people who seriously hate the idea of romance in the story.
- Is "haki" a new kind of Mana or just Pure Awesomeness applied to willpower?
- Just try spout an anti-anime opinion and watch you rack those one star ratings.
- And conversely, mention that you like anime on some non-anime boards/sites. Much less a flame war than it is unbridled carnage....
- Bizarrely enough, Blue Gender is the source of much backdraft. Mention it on /a/, it turns into a flame war between people who think it's a mindless ripoff of Starship Troopers and people who loved it because it had boobs and Humongous Mecha. Mention it on Other Titles, and you get trolled for not blindly hating anything made by Koichi Ohata, or watching something with such an apparent Wall Banger ending, or watching something that isn't from the current season.
- Attempt to debate the morality (or lack thereof) of any character in Code Geass (except maybe the cat), and you're sure to see some fireworks. Alternately, compare Lelouch to Light Yagami, Suzaku to Kira Yamato, or say that you enjoyed the Ashford-centric episodes.
- Debates on who is the best pilot (Specifically Suzaku vs Kallen) tend to end in flame wars. Especially regarding their final battle in the Grand Finale.
- Or say you like R2 / think it's as good as the original.
- So, is Lelouch "really" dead?
- Haruhi Suzumiya: Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, or serial sexual abusing sociopath and insane Eldritch Abomination?
- Do not read the Morality Stuff about Haruhi, if you want to keep a sane mind.
- And speaking of the franchise rather than its eponymous character, Kadokawa supposedly trolling the Haruhi fan base recently, what with the rerun news and the YouTube Nice Boat incident, has left much of the Internet in rage.
- And with the second season now underway, there's now a Fandom Rivalry between Haruhi and K-On!. See this thread at Sankaku Complex.
- Endless Eight seems to be heading this way.
- Do not mention Nuriko's sexuality, especially in terms of his dealings with Miaka. Or the subject of whether or not Miaka counts as a Canon Sue. The resulting wank will give you a headache.
- Hellsing TV series. Just say those 3 words on a Hellsing forum, and wackiness ensues. Try saying that it's better than the OVA's, that there should've been a second season, the characters were better and the other media ruined them, etc. There used to be a very vocal TV fanbase, but most of them disappeared after OVA III (the series split its continuity before that part).
- Oh, and say that Integra is a nice guy, but a bit too feminine for a man. It always divides fans between humorous and irate. Mostly irate.
- Nobody mentioned the battle between whether Gatomon should be with Patamon or Veemon. Forums taking one side or the other are still going, and fanfiction of both sides are still written, despite the season featuring it has been over for years.
- Miyako's Distant Finale. To an extension, anything from Grand Finale except Ken's future, which managed to be the only one with high levels of awesome.
- Axis Powers Hetalia... A funny and original way to introduce young people to World History? A stupid waste of paper that runs only on yaoi fanservice? And what about it being a shame to the Japanese society as a whole? Sit down, ask fans and anti-fans their thoughts on it, and watch the wank roll. The more singular thing, most of the fans are actually sane whereas the anti-fans, most of whom adamantly refuse to even read it and hate it on principle, often grit their teeth much more.
- Or bring it up to someone who plays in panfandom journal-style RPs, regardless of whether they like Hetalia or not. Unless they play a Hetalia character themselves, be prepared to sit back and listen to a lot of ranting and raving about how Hetalia has totally taken over/ruined their game.
- Go to a Berserk forum populated mostly by guys and declare that you think Griffith is gay and prepare to have people defend his manly honor (and don't even think about mentioning Guts). Mention that you think Griffith isn't gay on a forum populated mostly by girls and watch the heads roll as they accuse you of hating yaoi as a whole.
- Call Casca a whore, and declare your own death to such people.
- Talk about 4Kids. Period. If you have a death wish, mention that you don't think the dub of [insert any show that 4Kids worked on here] was all that bad and/or that the fans are dumb for getting so worked up over something so stupid. Even the most civilized board or chat room will dogpile you.
- God forbid if you even mention you like the dubs even for nostalgic sentimental value.
- That said, mentioning Ultimate Muscle or TMNT 2k3 were ok will normaly pass without incident.
- Lucky Star. Just mention it on the wrong forum and the flames will start flying.
- Kannagi fanboys apparently don't like the idea of their favorite female character having a boyfriend. And God FORBID that you even SUGGEST that she's not a virgin. Seriously, read this shit (but be warned of the NWS ads). It's pathetic.
- Show this article to any feminist forum, and see a flaming debate between otaku feminists and non-otaku ones.
- Mention that any Jojo's Bizarre Adventure villain is better than Dio and flames are the least of your worries. Better yet, suggest that Kira Yoshikage or Diego Brando are better specifically and have fun.
- Go to any Death Note-related site or forum, and dare to say you liked it when L died. The fangirls will rip your legs apart if you don't run away fast enough.
- Depending on the Yuri Forum you're in, mentioning Kannazuki No Miko can lead to the internet reaching through your computer screen and slapping you.
- Go to virtually any Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Forum and just bring up the slightest hint of Yuuno and Nanoha, half the board will cheer you, half of it will attempt to murder you over the Internet.
- Never defend the Pokemon anime or you'll be ripped apart and eaten alive.
- Bashers also get heck as well from the fandom.
- Unless you're begging for hurt, don't mention shipping. No matter who you think Ash ends up with, someone is going to beat you to a pulp for it in favor of another ship. It's gotten better as if late, but it's still dangerous territory.
- Call Usagi "Bunny" or "Serena", Makoto "Lita", or Haruka "Amara" or "Alex" to any Sailor Moon board/fan. Altough it's dying off through the older fans (the ones that watched since the first airing in their countries or so), the younger ones are prone to a very destroying fit of nerd rage. Well, except if you bring the subject of the anime broadcasting on DIC version... Then, all American fans, older or younger, will want to crush your... Star Seed. Or simply ask if Sailor Moon anime is an Adaptation Decay, to see the mixed reactions. Likewise, the infamous Ranma ˝ crossover is rather opinion-divided, too.
- Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. This should be enough said, but the amount of fan wank that persists over the series is ridiculous. Heaven forbid should you mention that KuroFai is canon (by CLAMP's standards anyway) infront of a KuroTomoyo fan (for those not read CCS, Tomoyo is canon in love with Sakura) or infront of a FaiChii shipper (the latter who is a 'clone' of Fai's mother) you will get torn apart. Then point out to them that Tomoyo is a lesbian and Chii is Fai's mother. I dare you.
- And that's without even wading into the backdraft a particular dub voice actor put himself into when he took on the CLAMP fans by telling them Fai wasn't gay, and that Fai obviously liked girls like him. Without researching the character, and without reading the manga first. Smart move man, smart move. Said VA also used religion as his backdrop for his "Fai is straight" claim, and claimed that he asked CLAMP themselves about Fai's sexuality, something most people doubt has ever happened since the members of CLAMP do not speak English.
- Speaking of Mr. Mignogna, criticizing him in any way will unleash a legion of his fans against you.
- When you have two separate tags in the CLAMP Rants LJ comm claiming how much you suck, you know you've fucked up big time with CLAMP LJ fandom.
- Bring up how the tv anime wasn't a complete and total mess and you'll more than likely be told to bugger off back to Noir and enjoy the perceived lack of story therein.
- Projects between two or more major anime (for example, showing a Naruto opening with a Bleach song, or a One Piece AMV with a Naruto song) tend to invite trouble, as people inevitably start comparing the two in the discussions, with most favoring one over the other(s). It gets even worse when people do crossovers, or pose the question, "If (Character from Series A) fights (Character from Series B), who would win?" (and sometimes even when the question is about two characters from the same series).
- Ishiruki, Ishihime, Ichiruki, and Ichihime all equally just some not as loudly as others, all the ships are wanktastic. Or any pairings that don't really fall nice in certain fans' ears. See the flamewars between each coupling's fans, and heavily bashing. BTW, to the most hardcore ones, any pairing might make these throw raging fits. Oh, and say Chad is the worst character you've ever seen, and that he should be more of a pervert, and even some people that don't like Bleach will want to burn you alive.
- Orihime- even beyond whether she should be with Ichigo- is quite a touchy subject, as any post about her is liable to anger either the part of the Bleach fandom that thinks that she is a wonderful person who has endured so much and whom no one should dare question, or the part that sees her as a Distressed Damsel who is unable to do anything without Ichigo. Say something like that you think Orihime is a good person, but is deprived of opportunities to prove herself or help her friends, and you're likely to offend both.
- Likewise, say anything at all about Ulquiorra. If you say you hate him, then his rabid fangirls unleash ALLCAPSRAEG about how he's just a lonely, sensitive soul and kicks a lot of ass. Say you like him, and the haters spell out how he's an emotionless jackass that mentally tortures Orihime for the evulz. And god help you if you say you love/hate Ulquihime.
- Head to a mainly male board and express how you think Zaraki is secretely screwing Byakuya, or suggest the possibility of an Eleventh Company-wide orgy. They will go mad. Extra points if you say that Kenpachi and Nnoitra would make a good couple.
- If you mention any shipping-related opinion apart from a pro-Ichi Ruki one in an Ending 19 posting on You Tube, you will get many thumbs down, particularly if you point out how much Ichi Ruki subtext is anime-only.
- This editor remembers going on You Tube once while listening to an OST track with Hitsugaya as the main picture. The only hater there managed to get nearly all the commenters to flame her (and giving her many thumbs down), just because she was saying that he was "a loser" and "what? hitsugaya sucks! it's common sense". This editor tried being Neutral, but being a Hitsugaya fangirl herself, she ended up finishing with the last sentence by calling the hater's comments as "blasphemy". *sigh*
- Step 1: Go to 4chan's /a/.
- Step 2: Start a Bleach thread. Whatever you can think of. Even "Bleach sucks."
- Step 3: 298 posts and 152 image reply omitted. Click Reply to view.
- Step 4: ???
- Step 5: Profit.
- Corrector Yui. The manga/anime had so many divided opinions that if you ever bring such name in certain anime forums, there'll be the ones that liked both seasons, ones that only liked one of them, and the ones that despise Corrector Yui like it's a 4-Kids dub, but made in Japan. To have a slight idea, even in Japan such backdraft happens, and some manage to call Yui an "indecent harlot", and say that was Kia Asamiya's second biggest error (some of them claim that his biggest error was to convert Batman into a manga, without the things that would make normal Japanese people think he was a villain).
- Just try to go into any Mahou Sensei Negima or Mai Hime fan board and say you don't like Natsuki/Shizuru and/or Konoka/Setsuna pairings, regardless of your overall sexual views. Or that you like Yuiichi Tate and Shiho Munakata. Or that you like the Hime manga. Or any of the Negima anime adaptations. On second thought, you'd better not, for your own sake.
- Heaven help you if you bring up Negima's Live Action Adaptation...
- Or attempt to make a definitive statement regarding Chamo's true nature.
- How do you properly pronouce Saiyan again? This question can be used to unlock the gates of Hell.
- Another from /a/: Toradora. Use a tripcode for extra effect, and if you know Taiga's, then congratulations! You have the key of hell's gates.
- It is not wise to bring up Kodomo No Jikan anywhere, except perhaps for /c/.
- And on /m/ you're best not to bring up whether or not Yoko from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann "counts" as a main character.
- People who like Kamina get bashed for being fanboys. People who like Simon get bashed for not recognising how GAR Kamina is. Don't bring up the possibility of Viral being a better character.
- What about the possibility of Rossiu being the best one, and by far?
- You FOOL! You've doomed us all!
- Post an NTR doujin pretty much anywhere on 4chan. /h/ is optimal, but it'll get a reaction even in /a/.
- Alternately, post Yotsuba porn. Even that one doujin where she's aged up (especially that one). Even /d/ will come after you.
- Do not suggest that Japanese toy company Yamato has bad quality control, or that equally Japanese toy company Bandai makes better Macross toys than Yamato on the MacrossWorld forums. You're likely to get flamed for it. The truth is that Yamato has ongoing quality-control problems (since, like, 10 years), which tend to result in major breakages on multi-hundred-dollar toys and an on-going business in replacement parts, and of which the fans are simply in total denial.
Comics
- "Does Greg Land actually draw his art, or is he just a tracer?" is a major flame-war waiting to happen.
- When Nightwing #93 came out, it was a major fight in the Comics Forum if Nightwing was raped, or it was consensual sex, or even if men can get raped at all.
- A poster on Something Awful's comics subforum actually took Nightwing #93 to a rape counselor for their opinion on if it was rape or not, that's how far this one went. If you were wondering, according to the counselor, it was.
- Wolverine. Go onto any X-Men forum and mention that you either love or hate Wolverine. I dare you. (In particular, the Origin comics and/or the way he's completely taken over Marvel are good for this sort of thing.)
- Who is Spider-Man's true love, Gwen Stacy or Mary Jane Watson? Or is it Black Cat? And while we're on that topic, ask Spider-Man fans what they think of One More Day and Brand New Day. There are examples on this very wiki.
- Who is stronger, DC's Superman, or Marvel's Thor? If you like your flamewars extra-crispy, throw in the question "Can Superman lift Mjolnir?", then stand back and watch the immolation.
- This is true of every single "Vs." scenario on a comics board. Every one, no matter how lopsided, will start a flamewar, because there's always someone who thinks Batman can beat the Anti-Monitor with a week of prep time or something.
- Batman with prep. time > everything! But seriously, in retaliation to vs. battles Plot Armor is all that matters.
- Just mention Squirrel Girl and be done with it. Unless someone mentions if her victories really are legit to begin with. And so we are back in square one. Now, is Thor or Superman the strongest?
- Sentry is.
- Transformers fans come in many different varieties, but there is a vocal faction that maintains that the 1984-91 comic series (and its 1994-95 sequel mini-series, Generation 2) published by Marvel Comics is the definitive iteration of the franchise and derides the existence of any other version of the story and mythology (apart from the 1986 animated movie, which seems to be universally enjoyed by the fandom). There is also a cross-over between this group and another that maintains that Simon Furman is the definitive Transformers writer and refuses to consider any version of the mythos that exists without his input or approval as canon. These groups thus refuse to consider the animated series (apart from the movie) as canon, but accept Beast Wars as Furman wrote an episode and the series is broadly compatible with comic continuity. However, they then deride the sequel series, Beast Machines, which reintroduces elements from the original animated series which clash with the comic, such as Vector Sigma. These flame wars and arguments can sometimes be exemplified by the debate between with the cartoon idea that the unimpressive Quintessons (whose entire civilisation was briefly brought down by just seven Autobots in the movie) were the creators of Cybertron and the Transformers, whilst the comics maintained that both were in fact created by a god-like hyper-intelligence from before the dawn of time (Primus).
- Simon Furman later attempted to straighten out the whole mess by decreeing that there is an enormous Transformers multiverse consisting of many different dimensions and realities in which the original comic, the numerous different cartoon series, the Japanese version of the mythos, the Michael Bay movie, etc., all coexist, and wrote some stories featuring cross-overs between them.
- Given the sometimes severe differences between the series, this doesn't help matters at all when someone attempts to reconcile them. Did the Quintessons create the Transformers or did Primus?
- Then there's the concept of female Transformers. Furman says that transformers have no gender, and yet individuals who self-identify as female appear in most continuities that aren't written by Furman (although they are rare). There has been a lot of fanwank over exactly how Transformers see gender and why there are so few females compared to males. This leads directly into Slash wank, where slash proponents claim that since Transformers have no human concept of gender they wouldn't care about the pronoun of the robot (or for that matter, robots) that they happen to be making out with.
- And then you have to consider that Deathsaurus has a wife. And children. They reproduced sexually. Yeah, for obvious reasons, the people who say that Transformers are genderless never address that issue. Oh, and Leozack has a sister. And various characters refer to components that are analogous to human... reproductive parts. Yeah, if there aren't actually male Transformers, what the Hell are their "ball bearings" for?
- What about "shafts", "interfaces", and "lubrication"?
- Do NOT ask "How do Robots have sex/reproduce?" anywhere near the Fandom.
- TRUKK NOT MUNKY
- Then there is the problem of Bob Budiansky VS. Furman. Dare to mention that The Carwash of Doom or the Scraplets or the Underbase-stories are better than Furman's later stories (which have unfortunate and shitty religious undertones at times), and you'll get flamed to hell.
- Elf Quest. The comic contains roc-like huge birds. I don't think the newsgroup is still around, but asking whether these would physically be able to fly is just asking for a flame war. "No, biology says they can't" — "Yes, you can see them flying in issue 17". And so forth.
- Cassandra Cain, decent character ruined by being given to a horrible writer or horrible Canon Sue that needs to be killed off as soon as possible? Also occurs to a lesser extent with X-23.
- Ask comic book fans who is right in the Civil War: pro-regs or anti-regs, and watch how in less than 3 minutes grown up people start to accuse each other of being Nazis/Terrorists.
- Rocketboy1331, under the name of Rocketboy13 there, was the only Proregister voice on the entire boards of Wizard Universe. There weren't a lot of flame wars, but discussions would go on for days and 100+ posts. Nobody would accept my definition of words, or even knew the "exact" wording of the registration law itself, so there was really no way to reach any sort of diffenative answer. So I just kept explaining how vigilantism is wrong, and they just kept saying how Tony Stark killed Captain America, or Tony Stark was Iron Hitler... Okay yeah, there was some backdraft...
- The Watchmen film adaptation has caused a particular ping-ponging back draft, as the movie seems to inspire a clear amount of Love It Or Hate It. Topics include whether it should have been made against the creator's wishes, the quality of the final product as a whole, or just the altered ending in the film and whether it worked or not. Note that this a vast understatement of how these arguments usually play out.
- Mention Young Justice's cancellation. Chances are, someone will go on a soapbox about how Teen Titans ruined the characters or ignored the good ones, or just say that YJ
fans were a bunch of immature kids.
- DC's Crisises - Was Infinite Crisis a load of crap? Is Final Crisis the greatest thing ever? The only thing the fans can agree on is that Amazons Attack isn't even worth the paper it's printed on.
- Is Supergirl a shallow megabitch Paris Hilton-wannabe with a belt instead of a skirt - or is she a legitimate character?
- Just for clarification, we are talking about the version that was reintroduced in 2004. Kal's cousin was originally killed in 1985 before Paris Hilton was invented.
- Wait, invented? She's been alive since 1981. And technically, she's been active as a pseudo-celebrity since 2003.
- There's also her depiction in the Mike Turner Supergirls.
- Feminism in comics in general.
- Legacy characters, particularly in DC are a huge cause of this. For years, you couldn't set foot in a DC Comics Green Lantern forum and ask about Hal/Kyle without a debate sparking up. And Ron Raymond/Jason Rusch as Firestorm? It's almost punny.
- There's actually an example of this in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, where Sheldon gets in an internet argument with Batman fans over which Robin should be the rightful successor of Batman, in the event of Batman's death. It then spills over in real life when Sheldon mentions the argument to a friend who's a comic book salesman, and then they begin arguing with each other.
- Uncanny X-Men #350. That is all.
Films
- James Bond. Which of the (to date) six actors portraying the world's favorite spy is best, and whether or not any given actor is good. There was a Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode where three nerds argue over Bond: two pick the usual populist choices of Sean Connery and Roger Moore, while the third nerd finally erupts in frustration that less-liked actor Timothy Dalton would kick both their asses. This came to particular prominence in the international media due to the casting of Daniel Craig.
- Due to the inherent competition, arguments about the Academy Awards and what should have won can get heated. But nothing makes old wounds ache like bringing up Crash winning in 2006.
- As follows from the Not Using The Zed Word article, there have been some pretty nerdy debates on whether the Infection in 28 Days Later is zombie-like in nature, whether the movie "counted" as a zombie film and the various ethical debates within the series. The "WAI NO ZOMBEES??" debate is the main one, unfortunately, as no one apparently cares about what the plot was for — just, why the hell aren't those zombies lusting for brains and lurching appropriately?
- Go to any sci-fi related forum and claim that Harrison Ford's Deckard in Blade Runner is/isn't a replicant. I dare you.
- Wanna start a flame war within the Godzilla fandom? It's easy. Just mention that the American remake of Godzilla is
better than the Japanese Godzilla even slightly good.
- Likewise, just casually ask whether or not King Kong, Gamera, or, more recently, the Cloverfield monster could beat Godzilla. Then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the oncoming flames.
- Never ask where Minya came from (or Junior or even Godzooky for that matter). Just, don't. Too many Godzilla fans have been decimated in the resulting flame wars.
- "Is Destoroyah a boy or a girl?" Cue flamewar in 3....2....1....
- Which George Romero film is the best zombie movie. For extra fun, what is the symbolism of each movie, if any?
- Go to any Batman/movie forum/You Tube video and say you prefer the Tim Burton 1989 Batman as opposed to The Dark Knight and watch the fanboys attack. Seriously, when they start claiming that Heath Ledger actually became the Joker, mention how him terrorizing cities in real life had no press coverage.
- And just for laughs: Who is the better Batman?
- Back when the movie Constantine was released, stating that the movie version was superior to his comic counterpart would result in 10+ pages worth of rants and flames on forums.
- Do not mention the Joel Schumacher film on a Phantom of the Opera forum. On one discussion forum, the pro-film and anti-film parties were segregated into separate threads to keep the peace. The drama has subsided somewhat due to the various factions quietly ignoring each other, but still... enough lives have been lost already.
- Don't mention him near the Batman fans either... it's not pretty.
- Don't mention him at all. Robot Chicken even spoofed it, with reason. And using a Snape figurine.
- Wanna start a flame war with fellow fans of the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Just claim you don't like very much/hate Dr. Frank N Furter.
- "Is Shock Treatment a sequel or not?" The official answer: yes and no. It does take place AFTER Rocky Horror, but it's not a continuation of the first film. Try telling that to the fandom, though.
- Heck, just mention that you like Shock Treatment.
- Just mention ANYTHING about the scrapped sequel ideas, especially ''Revenge of the Old Queen'' and ''Rocky Shows His Heels''. Either fans would LOVE to see them in production, think they're "OK" ideas but would never work on stage/film, or that they are horrible ideas and that Richard O'Brien was right in never letting them see the light of day.
- Audience Participation, an important aspect of the film's legacy, a silly but pointless fad, or the only thing that keeps a mediocre musical from dying?
- In the "Phantom" vein, don't ever, ever, EVER, say that you like the Tim Burton "Sweeney Todd" movie around musical theater fans, or say that you like the original stage play around Johnny Depp fangirls. Either way, you're gonna get burned.
- High School Musical...pretty much for its mere existence.
- The latest Star Trek movie generated these, even before opening. This has led to "Post this and get banned" notices at several bulletin boards.
- Give it anything but complete praise and you will get attacked... even if you write a positive review. On one major fansite a score of a 6 provoked a huge amount of hate mail-a 6 was also given by the author to The Voyage Home, and that score is higher than the ones for The Search for Spock, The Final Frontier and Nemesis. But still, it wasn't a 10, so it was bad.
- Among some groups saying anything positive about the film will get you attacked as a moron or someone who hates what Star Trek is supposed to stand for.
- Kirk-loving Spock Suckers...
- Go into any horror movie forum and bring up the issue of whether Evil Dead II is a remake, reboot, or sequel. No matter what side you support (or even if you're neutral), you're bound to stir up some flames.
- Goodfellas vs. The Godfather, or the directorial skills of Coppola vs. Scorsese.
- With critics savagely blasting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, they appear to have designated themselves to be the recipients of extra strength flames (Most notably Roger Ebert, who then responded to the hate mail from his initial review not unlike Yatzhee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, noted below). On top of that, there's the Twins, who made the medias implode over the perceived racism.
- This Troper visited a page for Labyrinth VS Pans Labyrinth that was generally openminded...until some poor soul asked the question "Who is David Bowie?". All of the fans of the former felt her vote for Pan's ought to be retracted and her opinions ignored.
Literature
- If you ever happen to wander into a Jane Austen fan community, never, ever mention Fanny Price. However polite and proper and old ladylike you might think Austen fans are, they can get as crazy as anyone else when the subject of her comes up.
- And whatever you do, don't bring up the ITV specials. Especially "Mansfield Park".
- The next time you find yourself in a situation that necessitates causing a punch-up at a fantasy convention, go into a crowded room and yell "The Balrog has (no) wings!" Some fatalities are likely.
- The flame wars over the merits of the works of Robert A. Heinlein have been raging since before the World Wide Web was invented.
- Here's a neat trick. Walk into a Les Miserables forum and throw a metaphorical dart. 75% percent of the time you'll hit one of the following arguments: Cosette vs. Eponine, Frances Ruffelle vs. Lea Salonga, or Michael Maguire vs. David Bryant.
- Mention the "Draco Trilogy" on any Harry Potter fan site. Then stand well back.
- Mention anything good or at least neutral about the Sword Of Truth series on this site, and within a few
weeks days hours you'll find out that someone has added something along the lines of "Yeah, when the protagonist wasn't slaughtering innocents" after it.
- You must admit, they have a point. Richard is nuts.
- Similar to the Twilight effect, mentioning R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series on just about any Forgotten Realms forum is going to set the forum on fire, haters and lovers will clash over and over again, even the seasoned forum-goers seem to ignore the obvious flamebait.
- Because it's true. (See?!)
- This is actually a pan-SF&F fandom phenomenon, with entire forums dedicated to mocking the series existing. Even forums dedicated to other authors sometimes feature massive threads totalling hundreds of thousands of words ripping into the series in extreme detail, sometimes on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Ironically, whenever these debates seem to be dying off, Goodkind fans tend to pop up and get the whole thing going again.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: "Hey, what's Martin's deal? It's been years since
A Storm of Swords a Feast for Crows. When is he going to write this book? Is he lazy? Does he hate fans?" Oh, the flames. The flames.
- Indeed. Actually, this is almost an Internet meme in itself, with critics popping up to ask where the new book is, if the author is still alive and then angrily demand to know why he talked about a football game on his blog this week rather than anything about the book (ignoring the bit on his blog where he mentions he will not be discussing the book anywhere other than on his official website) and so on. When fans then explain what is going on with the book, why it's been delayed and so on the critics usually calm down. For about ten minutes, until the next newcomer arrives and sparks the whole thing off again.
- Especially bad since the author himself has revealed himself to be easily angered by people questioning his dedication to finishing the series. Not a good way to handle angry internet denizens.
- Enduring about three years of endless mail claiming he's on his death bed and should do nothing but write isn't 'easily angered.'
- Mention Twilight. Just mention it, and watch as fans and anti-fans tear themselves apart over it.
- Book Interpetations: You get people claiming it's the only way to enjoy literature, and others who say it ruins the simple enjoyment of picking up a book.
- The Wheel of Time series also kicks these off regularly, with backdrafts being caused by fans arguing over which is the best book or character, or by someone innocently asking who killed a minor character in Book 5 (an unimportant mystery that has nevertheless probably generated more discussion than the rest of the series put together), or if Jordan deliberately doubled the length of the series to make money or if it was instead a valid artistic decision. Probably the most devastating backdrafts can be caused by claiming that the male-female relationships in the books can be construed as unhealthy, juvenile, unrealistic, not particularly funny or somewhat sexist, which can generate counter-arguments from some fans of epic proportions. The choice of writer to finish the series after Jordan's death also generated considerable heat.
- Ask if Second Apocalypse is sexist. Go on. I dare you.
- And another thing... there is now And Another Thing.
- Anywhere on the Internet, make a topic about how Ayn Rand is a genius and recommend that people read her books if they want to understand just why our economy's in the shitter right now.
Live Action TV
- Any discussion of which character in a certain role was better:
- The Re Tool of Stargate SG-1. Just decide on your opinion and go to the appropriate pro/anti thread (i.e. "The Pro(Anti) Season 10 Thread") if you want to keep your sanity.
- "I Hate Carter" communities. Do not wake the beast that is the Stargate SG-1 fandom.
- Mentioning that you think it's a great idea for Carter to crossover to Stargate Atlantis in the Atlantis fandom. The actor who plays Rodney McKay actually got booed at a convention for this. Not that it stopped the writers from actually doing so.
- All it took was the producers to mention that Stargate Universe would featured a younger cast and was partly intended to draw in new viewers for immediate assumptions to be made that the series would be nothing more than a soap opera aimed at teenagers. Eventually the producers decided to announce that this was very much not the case, especially considering the lead character (ironically named Colonel Young) would be about the same age Jack was at the start of SG-1.
- There are several ways to do this in Doctor Who forums, including:
- Whether the new series or the old series is better — this can then turn into a four-sided fight when the Doctor Who Expanded Universe is mentioned
- Just about anything to do with the Made For TV Movie.
- Russell T Davies — is he a good or bad writer?
- Who was the best Doctor? (Which has at least ten sides in the fight.)
- As of July 20, 2009: eleven (and a half) counting Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor, who is a flame war all on his own.
- And almost anything to do with Rose Tyler and/or Billie Piper.
- Really, almost anything: not only the normal Shipping and character preference debates but up to and including whether Rose's particular hair color indicates an unfair favoritism on the part of the Doctor or Russell T. Davies. Yeah.
- The hilariously titled "UNIT dating controversy", as described on the other wiki.
- Are the sexual innuendos and double entendres since "The Doctor Dances" clever parental bonuses or just a cheap attempt to go Darker And Edgier?
- Was Torchwood needed? Or, indeed, any good?
- Some guy called Lawrence Miles wrote some Doctor Who Expanded Universe fiction once. Posters on Outpost Gallifrey, Behind the Sofa and other fora/blogs seem to have very strong opinions about this fact.
- Canon status of the books, audios and comics. Just start a thread called "The books are not canon" and stand well back.
- Just say Looms around any Doctor Who fan.
- Say that Adric or Mel were fantastic companions.
- This happens whenever Robin Williams is brought up on an internet forum. Cue the funny/not funny/only funny in the early days camps getting all up in arms at each other.
- British comedy in particular seems to get this. Was the 1970s a Golden Age or not? Was the 1990s? Is British comedy rubbish since The Office? Is the purpose of comedy to make people laugh, or is there a higher calling? In some corners of the Internet, either an affirmative or negative answer to any of these questions will have people lunging through their monitors to beat the living snot out of you.
- Whose Line Is It Anyway suffers horribly. Just go to any clip on YouTube and try to find a comment that isn't about the fact that either the British version or the US version is complete crap.
- Channel Four's official Big Brother forum is populated by Single Issue Wonks who see virtually everything that happens on the show as evidence of bullying and/or racism, to the extent that people joke about running a sweepstake on when those issues would first raise their ugly heads whenever a new series begins. This led to some pretty epic Flame Wars, not helped by the inconsistent moderation. More recently the Shilpa Shetty racism row left the SIWs with a sense of smug vindication that didn't fade when Shilpa herself invoked the MST 3 K Mantra.
- Who would win in a fight between any given Star Trek versus any given Star Wars ship (not that kind of ship). Numerous websites have been created around this all important question. The most popular is the Enterprise-D against a Star Destroyer; what nearly all of these sites ignore (likely in the interests of fun) is that those series were two of the most egregious examples of Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense Of Scale, making most comparisons meaningless. (The fights usually start like this. "The Enterprise's shields are immune to lasers!" — "The Star Destroyers mount turbolasers, which plainly don't act in any way that a normal laser could..."
- 200-gigaton turbolasers. On that note, the Incredible Cross Sections books, and the Expanded Universe in general.
- Speaking of Star Wars vs. Star Trek, there's a mod for Civilzation II here called Star Contact that had the Star Trek universe fend off an invasion from the Star Wars universe. The Empire units would kick ass, and were usually faster (could move more per turn) but the Federation could hold its own against them with an ample supply of photon tropedos. When it came to the Borg vs The Empire, they were usually evenly matched.
- Hell, any sci-fi versus argument where both franchises being debated have large, vocal fanbases count.
- It's been fifteen years, but the one central debate in the Power Rangers fandom is apparently whether Ranger uber-stu Tommy Oliver belongs with Kimberly (his first love, whose actress quit the show in a snit) or Kat (Kimberly's replacement, with whom he was shown to be married and have kids in a flash-forward episode widely ignored by much of the fandom). The series itself seems to have Jossed both pairings, but even bringing that up will get you killed.
- Also, do not mention "Forever Red". The near-instantaneous backdraft has been known to kill people, despite only being on a computer screen.
- Which raises the question of why people old enough to care about things like that are watching it in the first place.
- What about if Kimberly belongs with Tommy or Jason?
- Don't even mention to a hardcore Star Trek fan that you like Voyager or Enterprise.
- Not all of them, there's a good proportion who don't mind. Some even like them.
- CSI's Fur and Loathing. Beginning to die out now that most furs find it more ridiculous than offensive, but...
- Throw a dart on a Buffy The Vampire Slayer forum. You'll still find arguments. Especially of the shipping war variety.
- Mention just about anything on a Supernatural forum and you will be caught up in a flame war so fast that it would make your head spin. Some of the classics:
- Any discussion of the differences between Sam and Dean's characters will devolve into a scuffle over which brother is better. This may or may not include bitter assertions that the writers are favoring one brother and shortchanging the other.
- Recurring female characters of the appropriate age to be love interests tend to inspire hate, defensiveness, and accusations of misogyny all around. Just try discussing the merits of Jo, Bela, or Ruby as characters.
- Is the mytharc stupid, or are the Monster Of The Week episodes just filler? Do you really want to ask?
- A small but extremely vocal minority of Battlestar Galactica fans continue to maintain that the original series (in which, remember, monkeys were used to portray robot dogs) is superior to the newer, usually citing ratings to back up their argument and becoming angry to the point of hysteria when reminded that their dream project, a continuation of the original show with much of the original cast, was about to go into production when it was delayed by 9/11 and the Sci-Fi Channel had second thoughts and decided to go for the reimagining instead, which they took personally. These fans proclaim the new show to be "Galactica In Name Only" (GINO), which amused the new series producer Ronald D. Moore so much he named a character "Gina" in their honour, which didn't help matters much. Amazingly, this flame war continues to be sparked up regularly today even with the new show about to finish for good.
- Also, do not mention the new Battlestar Galactica around fans of Babylon 5, who seem to think Moore has ripped off J. Michael Straczynski's magnum opus. (Possibly guilt by association with Star Trek: Deep Space 9 a series frequently accused of borrowing liberally from Bablyon 5; Moore was the co-executive producer of Deep Space 9)
- For that matter, don't mention DS 9 around B5 fans or vice-versa, as a sizable contingent of each fanbase thinks the other was a ripoff of theirs. And heaven help you if you say you liked both.
- What? Star Wars? (Yes, I'm specially Driven To Suicide today, but I'm just too much incompetent. Do your job, guys).
- The finale has opened entire cans of worms: Kara's disappearance, giving up technology, the timeline, etc...
- Athena vs Boomer — even when the territory is ostenibly about the actress, flame wars about which version of the same character will erupt.
- American Idol. Just... American Idol. I'd list all the different darts you can throw, but there isn't enough space on the Internet.
- Prime example: bring up season two's finale on certain boards, and watch everything go up in flames. Season eight is starting to look like it'll be equally inflammatory.
- Venture onto a Terminator:The Sarah Connor Chronicles board and mention Dollhouse, or vice-versa. Then stand back as the foaming at the mouth begins.
- Go to any discussion on The Daily Show and say you think Jon's started to take the show too seriously. The Daily Show: where serious business is Serious Business.
- Seriously? No one has even mentioned Smallville?!
- I dare you to say you loved/hated Lana. Go on. I'll even give you a fire extinguisher.
- The Lana debate isn't really polarizing anymore. The Chlois Theory debate on the other hand can still be agitated even though it has never calmed down for the past six years.
- Babylon 5: Sheridan, or Sinclair. While probably nowhere near the levels of some of these other examples('Fivers' tend to be much more calm about this show, amazingly enough), the result is probably going to still be interesting, to say the least. For that matter, if there were 4 seasons, or 5. The fandom seems to be split on this one.
- Heroes: Volume 4 ending, An Invisible Thread. While other fans approve of the developments in the finale, the Nathan and Sylar fan contingents have joined forces and are baying for blood. It's not pretty, bring bandages and aloe vera if you venture in.
- Heck, just bring up when you think the show jumped the shark (or if it ever did) and watch the anger build.
- A rather amusing case from a while back, when the 'Retribution' episode of Horatio Hornblower aired, which had a popular character die saving Horatio's life and career, so many people went to the A&E boards to react to it that the servers actuallly crashed.
- The Star Trek fandom can rip itself apart over just about anything:
- Just how good Deep Space Nine was.
- Just how good Voyager was.
- Is Janeway a raging psychotic bitch or a brilliant and daring captain?
- Ship wars. Dear god, the ship wars.
- Star Trek: Enterprise. Just... Star Trek Enterprise.
- Pick a topic. Any topic.
Music
- Generally speaking, don't talk about music in polite company, with the possible exception of when you're at a concert. Everyone hates what you listen to, this goes double if you're a big fan of a Dead Horse Genre.
- If someone asks to peek at your iPod to see what you listen to DO NOT LET THEM. There's a 75% that they will either love a band you don't listen to much or they will love a band that you think is rubbish.
- Pick a video of "Istanbul Not Constantinople" by They Might Be Giants on You Tube. Any one. Guaranteed there'll be a huge Greece vs. Turkey flame war in the comments section.
- ... and if not, if it's the Tiny Toons version, it'll still have a lot of Turks complaining that the desert locale shown in the video is emphatically not Turkey. (Which it isn't...)
- This may not really apply to You Tube as the fire never seems to die. In any video.
- Similar example: videos for Iron Maiden's "Alexander the Great" attract flames between Greeks, Macedons and people from Balkanic nations.
- In general, a song which has been covered/parodied by somebody else will have flames on both pages over which is better. Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt being an exception.
- The Eurovision Song Contest. Oh, god, the Eurovision contest. Every year brings a renewed lot of "Losing Country vs. Winning Country" debates, some countries even have "Last year's commentators vs. This year's" internal flamewars. Of course, those are nothing compared to the politically loaded debates, such as 2008's "Did eastern european countries vote for Russia because they're afraid of Vladimir Putin?"
- Claiming that/asking if the band DragonForce speeds up or otherwise modifies their songs.
- Let the newbie wandering into any forum discussions of Nightwish, or any discussion on Nightwish, be forewarned now, Tarja vs. Annete, bad idea. One singular mentioning could result in the equivalent of a 50 megaton nuke going off.
- There is a similar reaction in regards to discussion on any of Sirenia's three female singers.
- "Metallica v. Megadeth" threads turn into legendary flame wars.
- Same goes for "Old" Metallica versus "New Metallica," for that matter.
- 2Pac vs. Biggie.
- The Who vs. Led Zeppelin
- The Cure vs. The Smiths
- Pick a Velvet Revolver video on You Tube. The comments page will, without exception, degenerate into a "'Old' Guns N Roses vs. Stone Temple Pilots" or "Axl Rose vs. Scott Weiland" flame war.
- And if it doesn't become Axl vs. Scott, it will become Velvet Revolver vs. "New" Guns n Roses (or some other Slash vs. Axl war)
- Ask for an opinion on any post-grunge band. Watch sparks fly.
- Or ask a group of grunge fans whether Stone Temple Pilots are grunge or post-grunge. It will get ugly
- Hip-Hop get this A LOT, just ask is hip-hop better now or much better back in the day, and watch the net get set a blaze. Mostly pre-2000's rap fans vs post-90's rap fans. Of course both of these groups are diverse as far as age and gender goes. But it doesn't stop people from calling the other group of fans “old fogies with a Nostalgia Filter,” or “little suburban girls who don't know anything about hip-hop."
- Claim that Lil' Wayne is the Greatest Rapper Alive. Watch all the Eminem/Jay-Z/Nas/2pac/Biggie/hell every non-Lil' Wayne fans jump you at once.
- Also: "T.I. is the King of the South". Now sit back and watch
Lil' Flip/Lil' Boosie/Lil' Wayne/Ludacris/Young Jeezy Scarface fans fight in the streets. In fact, just don't mention The South all together, as some will say that they ruined rap forever.
- Five more words: "Soulja Boy is real hip-hop". So many poor souls...
- Internet forums get especially hot over any "Rock versus Rap" discussion brought forward. These discussions tend to skew predominantly one way or another (depending on the forum), but the flame still kicks up pretty high. You can find those in the "Rock Covers of 'Lollipop' and 'Crank Dat'" aisle.
- Whether in real life or on the internet, bring up what band is and isn't goth amongst a group of goths and you're bound to see some angry debates. Mentioning Marilyn Manson is probably the quickest way to stir anger, but battles over Joy Division (whether they were just influential to the genre or actually part of it), Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Ministry, and numerous others are all fairly common.
- Plus entire flamewars over Hot Topic and the bands Hot Topic sells merchandise for.
- Also entire flamewars over modern "Cybergoth" music like VNV Nation, Blutengel, and so on.
- On the subject of goth music (or not, Your Mileage May Vary), which lead singer of Christian Death was better — Rozz or Valor?
- Johnny's vs SM Entertainment. Or just Kpop vs Jpop boybands in general.
- Though the flames have died down in the last two or three years, a heated internet debate of the past surrounded j-rockers Malice Mizer: Who was the best lead singer, Testu, Gackt, or Klaha?
- Well, half the time it comes down to Gackt and Klaha. Tetsu's voice was good, but very much an acquired taste, so unless you're in a community with a disproportionate number of Tetsu fans, Tetsu will be either dismissed at the start or treated as an Acceptable Target, only to be mentioned when someone is overcome with an urgent need to compare a vocalist to a dying cow.
- Malice Mizer fans have also often gotten into "Who was the best member (including the non-singers)?" fights, much in the vein of Beatles fans.
- This usually peters down to 'Kozi or Mana'? And speaking of Mana, after Gackt's departure (which in itself causes mass debate), he got a bad reputation as an arrogant, jealous control freak who pushes his band members away out of spite. This, coupled with the fact that Mana is often seen by the wider Jrock community as a bit of a weirdo at best and a source of Nightmare Fuel at worst, means that in many Jrock communities, it's perfectly OK to bash him for one reason or another. Try that in a Malice Mizer community, however, and you WILL be called up on it very very quickly.
- Find ANY Sabaton clip on youtube. Watch several countries rage across the comments, more often then not atleast one not even mentioned in the song. For example, how did we get from a music video about WWI to a Hitler vs Mao flamewar?
- Chalga. Jesus Christ. Essentially, influential folk genres (like traditional Roma and Turkish music) infused with dance pop and the bitches-bling-beefs attitude. Depending on your point of view it's either a recipe for a fun night at the clubs or THE END OF BULGARIAN CULTURE AS WE KNOW IT. Even if the music's not good, it's pretty depressing seeing the classist and racist arguments against it.
- Michael Jackson, after recent news, has become something of a hot-button topic... specially Little Kid Lover jokes.
- If you go to any fan-made Morning Musume forum and say something positive about Koharu Kusumi, there's a small chance you'll make it out alive.
- Go on youtube to any white guy covering a blues song. It has already erupted into people arguing whether the old version is better than the new one and whether the new one's artists are racist
- Make a joke about John Lennon’s death. Then run. Quickly.
- Try to find a You Tube video of Yusuf Islam (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens) that hasn't devolved into a massive wank over religion. Go ahead, I dare you.
- And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda tends to end up with people getting into arguments about Winston Churchill's involvement in that particular battle the song's about
- 40:1 commentary ends up pretty much flame wars over Poland's politics in WWII
- Heck, any song about the results of a particular battle will end up going into Politics.
- Rock vs. Pop is another Genre fight, especially Post-1995 Pop
- On related news, Rolling Stone's declaring Britney Spears a 'Queen of Rock' really struck a nerve amongst Rock Fans.
- ...Who really ought to know better than to take a "music" publication like Rolling Stone seriously.
- Anything involving the Jonas brothers and/or Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, anything at all, will summon tween fangirls who think they are the best thing since sliced bread, and fans of other kinds of music who think thes "musicians" who owe all of their success to Disney. This isn't a flame war so much as a massive explosion.
- This isn't even safe among the tween fangirls. Just try to say you like Miley on a forum for Selena Gomez/Demi Lovato fans.
- Find any Tool video on Youtube. The argument will always go something along the lines of "Tool sucks", "Maynard is a God", "I don't understand the song", "Only REAL fans understand the song", "Anyone claiming to understand the song is a wanker", "NIN is better".
- Talk about major record labels. I dare you!
- "Hi! My favorite band is (insert band name here). Let's talk about them!"
- If you're ever unwise enough to go on a jazz or saxophone forum and mention Kenny G, make sure you take good cover afterwards. There will be fatalities.
- It's hard to be a Kanye West fan nowadays. Ever since he changed his style from rap to auto tune singing, compared himself to Jesus, claimed that George Bush doesn't care about black people, and just recently, interrupt Taylor Swift during her 2009 VMA Award speech, you can't safely admit liking him without somebody bringing these things up.
- Like the above hip-hop example contemporary R&B/Soul genre get this as well regarding who can and can't sing, what measures a soul singer. And what time period was the best. If you ever dare say Rhianna, Ciara, Kerri Hillson, Beyonce etc are great singers prepare to get hit with a megaton nuke. And watch people say they can't sing and only made it because of their looks. Male stars get this as well
- They're also accused of being popcorn garbage with blackface.
- When discussing Nirvana, do not mention Kurt Cobain's death. If it's too late for that, avoid mentioning Courtney Love or anything related to her at all costs. If you aren't careful, you will end up with a "Was it suicide or did she bump him off?" flame war on your hands, complete with dodgy old rumours being dragged up and gratuitous Courtney Love bashing, going on and on and on whilst the original discussion about Nirvana's music lies forgotten. For examples of this, read the discussions under any, meaning ANY, Youtube video related to Nirvana or Hole.
New Media
- The exact definition and proper use of the term Mary Sue. It gets especially bad when applying it to canon characters.
- The January 2006 dispute between Ebaum's World and YTMND over a Lindsey Lohan gif resulted in such horrid flamewars that "Ebaum" became a banned word at GameFAQs.
- Give an opinion on Slash/Yaoi (other than "it exists") on any fiction forum. It got so bad Fanficrants put a permanent ban on topics involving Boys Love that isn't strictly canonical. It's gotten to the point where "These are my thoughts on yaoi" has become shorthand in the snark communities for "I'd like to start a fight" and is often used (usually facetiously) in place of "I don't mean to offend, but..." or "I'm about to talk at length about something that may bore you."
- Wikipedia Edit Wars. Among the more notorious examples are the spelling of the chemical element with the symbol Al, and the name of the port located at the mouth of the Vistula.
- Saying positive things about David Gonterman in a non-ironic fashion. Especially if the forum has ties to the Sonic The Hedgehog, Sailor Moon, or furry communities. Saying you liked Sailor Moon: American Kitsune (or even just that it's not as rampant Canon Defilement as one would believe) on a Sailor Moon forum will most likely get you IP banned for life.
- It hasn't been up for long, but the Version 6 interface of deviantArt has polarized just about every user registered on the site within the first 24 hours. There seems to be absolutely no middle ground whatsoever.
- Every version of the site causes controversy, even so much as altering the categories system. Do not, however, mention Jark's firing.
- Strikethrough 2007, did Fandom overreact, or did Livejournal go too far?
- Thanks to a few high profile cases, mentioning Something Awful anywhere, or that you're a "Goon" is just an invitation for very opiniated people to declare the place as the bane of the interbutts.
- And even the Goons look down on the people who inhabit certain nameless imageboards.
- Which is ironic, considering they splintered off of SA.
- Here's a fun one! Go to any Fan-Fic site, forum, or community, and ask if anyone considers Shotacon or Lolicon to be Pedophilia, sit back, and break out the weenies to roast over the flames. Bonus points if you mention the great strikethrough on LJ.
- Go to any dolling community and say anything about traced bases, preferrably using a proxy. There'll be the tracers, the anti-tracers, and the anti-basers. Watch it carefully. The discussion's tone manages to get so immature it's amusing. But then, it's known to have been lethal, or, at least, numbing.
- Bring up the matter of posting other people's artwork on the internet, and you can pretty much polarize everyone on that little section of the internet. It may not have the bang to destroy Tokyo, but it will level a few towns in the carnage.
- Anytime someone goes onto DA's music message board, and writes "So, who here likes [name any mainstream pop-punk band]? They're amazing, aren't they?"
- Averted by regulars on dAmn, where people will replace any mainstream pop-punk band with... mostly anything. Books, cartoons, live action, or... anything.
- Subeta's Longcat and EnderBSD's incident. Well, even mentioning the word Subeta at some places may be a good way to make yourself crispy.
- Got to 4chan. Enter /b/. Bring up any topic. Roast marshmallows.
- Bring up Nagas, particular Nagas as drawn by a certain artist now banned from Y!Gallery.
Politics
- It's always been said never to bring up politics or religion (and the Great Pumpkin) in polite conversation. This holds doubly true on the Internet, where political and religious discussion will often trigger some pretty massive flame wars, more so than any other topic you can think of. It is for this reason that discussions of political or religious topics are frowned upon, if not banned outright, in most forums that are not specifically about politics or religion.
- Tell that to any fanatic just dying to force religious discussion. Go on, tell it to Richard Dawkins and Jack Chick worshippers.
- Has happened numerous times on this very wiki!
- Generally, say that Ayn Rand has some good points in her Objectivism to anyone outside of that group. Or for a change, go to an Objectivist forum and comment that Alan Greenspan is a staunch believer, and had been following the laws set out by it until he retired.
- Fox News Channel Or Faux News Channel? Some say that there is a certain portion of the population that disbelieve the claims of Fox being Fair and Balanced™.
- Their coverage of something like Mass Effect, on the other hand, is fair game for epic lulz.
- And whether or not there's a bias the other way on other channels.
- Every news station has bias. Why haven't people picked up on this yet?
- It's not whether or not they have bias, it's whether or not they have the wrong bias.
- Is Michael Moore the brilliant director who persues the issues that are being ignored by the media, or is he a talentless one-man propaganda machine?
- Hell, anything vaguely related to Michael Moore. The only thing that might — might — not cause a fight is criticizing his push to have Farenheit 9/11 nominated for an Oscar. (It was ultimately shut out.)
- Look up the times he did counter-protesting against the Westboro Baptist Church and its horrible, horrible little troll who pronounces himself their 'spiritual leader.' There's something he did that's worth praise.(Unless of course you belong to the WBC - but who wants to admit they belong to a hate group that holds up signs saying things like "God loves dead soldiers" at the funeral for some of these dead soldiers?)
- Global Warming. And it's not just the Internet.
- Abortion, gay marriage, and every flamebait issue that any and every politician spout about in order to turn out their base for an election.
- The Romney vs. Huckabee wars went all through the primaries and on up until McCain picked someone else for his running mate.
- Any kind of opinion on Ron Paul, especially the suggestion that his support was mainly Astro Turf.
- Anything having to do with Israel and the Palestinians.
- Similarly, anything relating to the War On Terror, Islam, US-[Insert Country Here] relations, or anything related to the Middle East in general.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton on...anything, really. Just mentioning her name will summon the hordes.
- Whether or not any given currently- or recently-active politician qualifies as a "dictator", particular hotspots being George Bush, Vladimir Putin, Ariel Sharon, Hugo Chavez, anyone who has led China since Mao Zedong, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose talkpage on The Other Wiki is clogged up by this very debate, including a nice little discussion on whether or not Parade magazine has any say in the matter of who is "officially" a dictator.
- And speaking of China... just don't bring up China. Ever. Guaranteed there'll be some sort of China vs. Tibet flamewar every time that's brought up.
- DO NOT bring up Taiwan. Just. Don't.
- And please, don't talk about the Holocaust. Especially on a site populated by Central/Eastern Europeans.
- Ireland. Need I say more? Look at these comments...
- David Morgan-Mar once observed that you can't make fun of any politician but you can make fun of politicians as much as you wish.
- Two words: Sarah Palin. Even if you mention her name in a fairly politically homogeneous setting, you're likely to get blasted across the Web by flames as soon as someone either implies that she isn't the savior of the Republican Party or suggests that she has any redeeming qualities whatsoever.
- Gun control. You will never win.
- Accuse a Republican of being racist. The more racist they are, the more fun this is.
Pro Wrestling
- Any debate on whether Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair was the greatest wrestler of all time.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin has crept into that debate as well, mostly on the strength of a comment made by Flair himself at his own Hall of Fame induction.
- And fans of old-school or foreign wrestling might throw Lou Thesz, Rikidozan, and El Santo into the mix.
- In any Professional Wrestling forum, the general subject of the Montreal Screwjob can generally be brought up with relative civility, but never mention whether you take Vince's side or Bret's side. You won't like the results.
- Another wrestling example is the Elephant In The Living Room: Steroids. Any mention of the S word is likely to touch off a long and bloody flamewar, not over whether they're being used (because it's simply generally accepted that they are), but whether they're always harmful or can be helpful if used properly, whether Roid Rage is a real phenomenon, whether entertainment companies running a fake sport are obligated to, or even have a right to, screen for them, whether there are bigger problems (the two most common that become embroiled in this mess are painkiller abuse and concussions), etc.
- Also, the legacy of Chris Benoit is another sticking point among wrestling fans. Massive flame wars have been waged between fans who believe Benoit's murder of his wife and child invalidates anything he's ever done in the ring and everyone should burn their videos of Benoit's matches in a massive bonfire, and fans who think Benoit doing cool suplexes on TV invalidates his brutal murder of a woman and child and everyone should pretend that it never happened.
- Some wrestling fans have learned to accept a happy medium between the two (as happy as the situation will allow, at least): that the Chris Benoit who murdered his wife and child is sufficiently different from the Chris Benoit who put on wrestling clinics and had his share of four-star-plus matches and championship runs that they can enjoy the wrestling while condemning his last acts.
- Even the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who inducted Benoit into their Hall of Fame in 2003, thought that way. They held a recall election to revoke his status, and would only do so if 60% or more of the voters elected to remove him. (For the record, 53.6% voted to recall his election, but since it was beneath the 60% threshold, Benoit's induction stands.)
- And don't get them started on the related topic: WWE's handling of the situation by no longer showing Benoit matches on DVD or WWE 24/7, or avoiding acknowledging him whenever possible. If you're a part of the IWC, you either believe: A) After what he did, you could live never seeing him again anyway, B) WWE are history-altering rat bastards who should leave things be, real life be damned, or C) you're somewhere in between; i.e. it's a bit excessive, but you understand why they do it.
- Still others take a similar opinion to above but add that the latter Benoit's acts were not his fault because of his impaired mental state. Fans who share this opinion often bring up quotes by doctors associated with the investigation into Benoit's death, including one who claimed that by the time he died, his brain looked like that of an eighty-year-old Alzheimer's victim due to all the punishment he'd taken over the years.
- It's not a wise idea to bring up Jeff Hardy anywhere in the IWC unless you are ready for the consequences. You'll get people who think he is a highly entertaining wrestler who is popular and puts forth energetic matches. Then along get the people who say he's a painted-up spot monkey who flips around with no technical skill or style. Then those two fight for a bit until someone comes in who says Jeff Hardy is a drug addict which invalidates everything he has ever accomplished. This has gotten infinitely worse since he won the WWE Championship because so many people have very extreme opinions on it. There are people that say he can't draw and his skills don't deserve titles, then you'll have people who say he's popular and entertaining thus he deserves a title. Then the "he's a drug addict" people come back into the picture and it's flame-war all over again.
- Jeff's brother Matt is also a popular flame war topic, though for entirely different reasons. This stems from his conduct during the Lita/Edge debacle.
- And now that Jeff's been arrested on drug-related charges, it's come down between people who support him and think he's innocent and people who think he had this coming for a long time and should go to jail.
Tabletop Games
- Whether or not Katanas Are Just Better, on the Wizards Of The Coast Dungeons & Dragons forum. Even suggesting that a katana should have different D&D stats from a longsword will get you flamed. Katana threads were actually officially banned for a while.
- Recently, the biggest infernos have raged about 4E in comparison to either version of 3E. Just try to start a civil conversation one way or the other.
- Swing by a Warhammer 40000 forum and bring up the the Necrons, Squats, Chaos Tau or female Space Marines, and watch a rough approximation of the fanatical fire and violence of the setting play out across the Internet.
-
There was a Black and White Space Marine on a Black and White bi HellNooooooooo!
- Do not mention Squad Broken in a 40k board. Justified as the fic is disgusting.
- Try mentioning anything remotely positive about any White Wolf game on a Pen&Paper roleplaying board that favors WotC. If you REALLY want to get a bonfire started, use one or more of the following words: "Deep", "Conflicted", or "Morality System".
- Swing by any forum that talks about White Wolf games with folks who remember the old World Of Darkness and ask if Mage 2nd edition or revised is better. Despite the fact that the entire gameline doesn't exist any more, this is still a great way to get a fire going.
- While you're at it, ask which is better, Mage: The Ascension or Mage: The Awakening.
- WotC just announced the biggest rule change to Magic: the Gathering since the 6th edition. Expect massive flaming war.
- Plastic versus metal for miniature war games.
- In addition to the infamous "Edition Wars" on D&D forums, is its lesser-known cousin "Setting Wars". Eberron is a particularly volatile topic as it tends to be one of those "Love it or hate it" topics, supporting fans applaud the use "Dungeon Punk" setting, they feel that it makes the game unique. Haters are vehemently against it for the same reason. Forgotten Realms has undergone some changes and therefore, has also caused a schism between fans of old-FR and new-FR.
Theater
- Any musical with a devoted fanbase will have Internet Backdraft about which production is better, whether or not actor X did justice to role Y, character motivations, etc., etc. If there is a movie version, expect heated debate over whether or not it's any good.
- And there will always be haters who slam the entire musical.
- Go to a British Wicked forum, any British Wicked forum, and start talking about your favorite actress for the role of Elphaba. Once the dust settles between the Idina Menzel fans and the Kerry Ellis fans, you may be surprised to learn there are many more actresses who have played the role.
- Riots are being predicted for a two-night showing of Chess featuring both Kerry Ellis and Idina Menzel.
- You can do the same trick on most Broadway Wicked forums with Idina Menzel vs Shoshana Bean, or by suggesting that "Defying Gravity" is Stephanie J Block's song rather than Menzel's.
- I'm sorry, who is Stephanie J Block?
- God forbid that you mention liking a Glinda who wasn't Kristin Chenoweth.
- Unless it's Laura Bell Bundy.
- Or Dianne Pilkington.
- Another British Wicked fight - Adam Garcia vs. Oliver Thompsett. And then Americans throw in Seb, Kris, and NLB. Loosely translated, it's an all-out battle royale for who the crap is the hottest Fiyero.
- Just casually mention that you like ANY other version of Dr. Frank N Furter OTHER than Tim Curry. Can ya smell the smoke now? That's the flames starting.
- Guaranteed Backdraft bait: Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Want to cause a Towering Inferno? Say they're OK — not great, not horrible; and watch both the Haters and the Fans go up in a fireball roughly the size of Rhode Island.
- Say you think Cats was good on a "We take our theatre seriously" forum. Wear asbestos underwear — you will be flamed.
- If that doesn't work, rinse and repeat, replacing the title with Spring Awakening.
- Antistratfordianism (the hypothesis that William Shakespeare's plays were not really written by William Shakespeare) is a can of worms you don't want to even mention, much less open. Trust me. Be careful, the mere mention of Kit Marlowe or Sir Francis Bacon is playing with fire on some Shakespeare forums as it can be constued as having antistratfordian implications.
- Or Shakespeare's sexuality, for that matter. It's been less of a hot-button topic lately, but don't bring that up. Don't even bring up the sexualities of some of his characters.
- This is part of a larger pastime that some “historians” engage in, namely that of using flimsy interpretations of anachronistic gossip to ask “Was [insert historical personage/creation of historical personage here] secretly homosexual/a woman in disguise/an adulterer/a pedophile/sexually abused as a child/autistic/christian/pagan/atheistic/whatever my major mental malfunction is? Find out IN TODAY'S ISSUE!
- Ask five musical theatre fans about the origin of the term 11 O'Clock Number. You'll get fifteen explanations, and a sore head.
- Like Tanz Der Vampire? Like the Hamburg DVD? Prepare to be bombed with endless commentary on how it features The Worst Cast Ever.
- Magda: blonde or redhead? Village bicycle or virginal victim?
- Bring up who won the Tonys in the past 5 years. Wicked v. Avenue Q is STILL a polarizing topic, not to mention more recent stuff. Next to Normal v. Billy Elliot is a good example.
- Going further back, we have the Great Lion King Vs. Ragtime Debate of 1998.
Video Games
- The Console Wars; usually, which of the current generation is better, but occasionally spilling into Super Nintendo vs. Sega Genesis or Dreamcast vs. anything else.
- As a recent extension, there have been arguments whether VG Chartz is a good place for software sales estimates. You do not mention these numbers on Neo GAF.
- For those who only care about American software sales, VG Chartz vs NPD. Escpecially after a weekly sales update.
- And, more recently, PCs vs. consoles.
- An example of flame wars being born over this is Chad Warden's infamous sarcastic rant asserting that the "PS Triple" is better than the Wii and Xbox 360. Many people took it seriously and thus began a Youtube flamewar, with many videos of Chad Warden's rant remixed into all sorts of mocking messages.
- Gamespot decided to run a Greatest Hero Ever popularity contest/tournament. The first round featured grossly biased matches pitting virtually unknown characters in this day and age against titans of popularity; e.g. Lester K. Chaykin of Out Of This World vs Cloud fucking Strife, Earthworm Jim vs Link, and Megaman vs Mike Haggar. When Master Chief vs Bub & Bob appeared for voting, /v/, /a/, and /b/ rallied together to turn it from 82-18 in MC's favor to 57:43 for Bub & Bob. Cue enough tears and whining to power the Internet for the rest of 2009.
- Later Gamespot cheated and flipped the votes between Samus/B&B when B&B were winning thanks to the said imageboards, the tirade that ensued on gamespots forums were not light following this, just HINTING that Gamespot pulled a fast one caused week suspensions at the LEAST. Never talk about proxy voting on ANY character....
- The last rounds involved Gordon Freeman (Half-Life) vs Link and later Mario. Gordon won both, winning the "Greatest Videogame Hero" title. The entire Nintendo fanbase went berzerk.
- Character Tiers.
- Say Sonic The Hedgehog's mere name anywhere on the Internet.
- For some considerable time after Sonic Adventure 2, whether Shadow had been Killed Off For Real or not was one of these issues. Now the problem is whether or not he should have been...
- Mention anything about the 3D Sonic games, and watch the natter build up.
- Especially the voice cast. It's not that big of a deal now, but before it lead to such flamewars that some try to pretend it never happened.
- For Massive Damage, attest that you found Chris Thorndyke (from the Sonic X anime) to be a well-rounded and likeable character throughout his two-season run.
- Also, mention the existance of Cosmo, and ask which pairing is better: Tails/Cosmo or Tails/Cream?
- Need to get a really big flame going for a barbecue you're planning? Just follow this simple 3-step-process:
- Go to the No Mutants Allowed Forum.
- Post any remotely positive comment about Fallout 3.
- You'll have a fine meal in no time.
- Similarly, posting anything about the console game Brotherhood of Steel.
- When discussing Super Smash Bros, the quickest way to annoy a lot of people is to debate either the use of items in tournaments, or wave-dashing.
- Or admitting you play as Pikachu. See this ''Penny Arcade'' comic and accompanying blog post.
- Pikachu's probably not the best example of Names To Run Away From Really Fast for Smash in general (Though he was in the N64 game). Tell people you play as Fox in Melee or even worse due to the debates about banning him in Tournament Play, Meta Knight in Brawl and THEN you'll see the death threats coming.
- Ike! Mention you actually enjoy playing as Ike. Either get told you're playing a 'pathetic character that it takes no skill to play as'(beautifully ignoring the fact that the slower characters arguably require a bit more skill sometimes) or get called an 'Aether-spamming bullyboy', despite personally only using it as a recovery to get back onto the stage. The only middle ground I've found so far is from the guy who introduced me to Smash Bros in the first place: "If you get hit by Ike, you deserve the flight you're about to be taking."
- One word: the tripping mechanic.
- That's 3 words. But on the same track, two words: Smash Ball. For extra laughs, mention it right after a Melee vs. Brawl discussion. For extra laughs x2, mention it in a Melee-only discussion.
- Don't ever admit that you think Brawl is better than Melee. If the fans got rabid enough to actually vandalize the creator's Wikipedia page for changing Brawl for the worse, that will be light compared to what fans will do to you for liking Brawl better cause of said changes.
- Changes? What type of changes? What would they do to me if I told them I hadn't noticed any changes?
- They would strap you to the front of a drone jet and drive you into a mountain.
- Likewise, don't identify yourself as liking Melee. Then they think that your idea of gameplay is Fox only, no items, final destination. Don't mention using items either.
- Another one is to mention that Wolf, is too clone-y of Falco, is too clone-y of Fox, and that previous characters that were removed should've replaced this triple-clone. You'll get a pretty nice battle going, too, it may result in some Soylent Snacks for the show, too
- At this point, I think it's safe to say that any discussion about SSB involves some risk.
- Yahtzeee's review of Brawl created so much hate mail in his inbox that he actually posted a video response to mock all the people that sent him the hate mail. He clearly stated in previous videos that he does not like fighting games at all and when he got to reviewing Brawl, he only did it because people wouldn't stop bothering him about it.
- Smash Brothers isn't a fighting g-*gets murdered*
- It's that or a "button mashing casual game" that doesn't compare to "real" fighters. Saying one or the other will be sure to cause flame wars for days.
- To many fans, "I like Brawl better than Melee" translates to "I am a huge faggot, please re-educate me on what games I'm supposed to play and not play."
- The moral ramifications of fighting Nobodies and Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts II (even on this site). What Measure Is A Non Human in general evokes this, but this gets it a lot in particular as you spend the first three hours of the game playing as one.
- Want to start a fight anywhere on the Internet? Just go to any forum and say something, anything about Guitar Hero. Sooner or later, somebody will bitch about how Guitar Hero players are posers who should learn how to play a real guitar, and then you'll have yourself a nice, toasty flame war to warm your tootsies.
- VG Cats once took a jab at it. Considering Scott Ramsoomair was actually making fun of people believing they could actually play guitar from playing Guitar Hero, and there are no comments this reader's able to find, he probably didn't get too much of a burning.
- Not to mention the ongoing argument about whether Guitar Hero or Rock Band is the better plastic instrument simulator series, which has been going on since the latter made its debut in 2007 and shows no signs of abating.
- Say anything—anything—about two certain other Rhythm Games to fans of Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Or vice versa.
- Any discussion of Kurt Cobain's likeness in Guitar Hero 5. Is the game honoring him or standing against everything he (supposedly) stood for by including a virtual replica of him? Is witnessing him singing completely asinine songs just plain wrong or humorous in a sick way? Is Courtney Love a whore for lending his likeness to Activision? (On a side note, the late Johnny Cash was also subjected to the same treatment as Kurt in GH5, yet there was much less outcry over his avatar. Nirvana Fan Dumb much?)
- Aeris vs. Aerith on Final Fantasy VII boards. It's especially annoying because you can't even mention the character without starting a fight.
- Also, Aerith vs. Tifa vs. Yuffie. All of them have rabid fans.
- I think you mean "Aeris vs. Tifa vs. Yuffie". Now, watch the sparks fly ON THIS VERY PAGE!!!
- Final Fantasy XI and Windower. The amount of heat generated from the flames about whether it's legit or not has enough heat to rival the sun.
- Need to go Beyond The Impossible? Bring up Absolute Virtue, and say he actually is beatable outside of the now-defunct methods. The forum will then implode, collapsing on itself through sheer whining.
- "I think Halo is a pretty cool guy eh kills aleins and doesn't afraid of anything."
- "Is Metroid Prime's gun attached to his arm or suit?"
- "wtf is Samus I said Matroid is a robot."
- Another fun one. Go to any gaming website, and suggest a match-up between Samus Aran and Master Chief. For best results, give your argument supporting one or the other, then kick back and roast marshmallows on the flames.
- Better yet, if you have frozen food to be cooked post a link to Haloid, which gives one answer. Enjoy your burnt to a crisp troll bait.
- Saying anything positive about the plot in World Of Warcraft on a Warcraft fan-forum.
- Or for that matter, arguing the relative merits of PvE and PvP in
World Of Warcraft any MMORPG.
- Or try admitting you're one of the many millions of people that plays WoW on the chat channels or forums of some other MMOs, and you may as well have posted "I poop delicious cinnamon buns, while your dandruff is anthrax" for the way people will react to it.
- As for those who care about lore, say anything about the Horde or the Alliance (but mainly the Horde) that paints them as anything but glittering saints incapable of evil, and you'll likely be slammed with threats to your health, comparisions to Hitler and death threats by the opposing side.
- And don't even get started on which classes are overpowered or underpowered, or the "broken" state of PVP arenas which apparently makes them favor one side over the other...
- In actuality, all one has to do to start an Internet Backdraft is to go on the forums and mention anything positive about the game or the developers in general.
- In-game, as a Horde player, in the low-to-mid-level zone known as The Barrens, simply ask the simple quest-related question in General Chat: "Where is Mankrik's Wife?". Hilarity Ensues.
- Or go to the Trade channel and use the words "Chuck Norris," "Krol Blade," or "anal."
- If the game's official forums are to be believed, EVERYONE who plays the game hates it, EVERY change made is bad and is cause to cancel your account (no matter how minor it may be) and of course, EVERY class is simultaneously overpowered, underpowered and fine how it is.
- Final Fantasy fans are very rabid in their opinions over which games are the best in the series. To the point where every time a new entry is announced, there's practically a race to see who's going to be the first to declare it the worst in the series, then immediately devolve into a flamewar over whether they should wait for the game to actually come out before they make such bold pronouncements. Also volatile are debates over the original 2D entries versus the later 3D entries starting with Final Fantasy VII.
- Although fairly obvious once you think about it, anyone who makes fun of the way the characters look, a common one is that Cloud looks like a lady, is going to get you some action from the firebrands on the forum, though seasoned fans have heard it before and will dismiss it as trolling.
- Other topics to avoid are "Who was the best villain?" and "Who's responsible for Sephiroth's actions?"
- Say you like Final Fantasy VIII. For more kindling, try saying that on That Guy With The Glasses or The Spoony Experiment.
- The announcement during E3 2008 that Final Fantasy XIII, previously a Playstation 3 exclusive title, would also be coming to the Xbox 360.
- To fully understand this, Final Fantasy XIII was originally the crown jewel of a system that was in last place in this console cycle, and did not have as many blockbuster titles as its competitors. Add that to the fact that the Final Fantasy games are system sellers, and you start to get the idea.
- There's really three types of FF fans: the newfans, the fans who claim the series ended with Final Fantasy IX, and the fans who claim the series ended with Final Fantasy VI.
- The practice of snaking in Mario Kart DS. Snaking is the usage of multiple power-slides across straightaways in order to move faster. Essentially an exploit in the DS version, which led to multiple wars over whether it was actually cheating or mastery of the game engine.
- Nintendo has even poked the hornet's nest a few times. Once with an official expressing surprise at the controversy (and claiming the technique worked as designed), and again with the recent announcement that power slides had been reworked in the engine for Mario Kart Wii to prevent snaking. This led to flame wars that once more pitted snakers against non-snakers, only this time over whether the game was being deliberately dumbed down or whether an exploit had been patched.
- Wheelies have brewed a new Flame War. Since ALL of the time trial records are bikers, and the fact that the majority of online racers use bikes, now some people argue that bikes shouldn't be in, because it's Mario KART.
- "Snaking" also occurred in F-Zero GX / F-Zero AX (the latter being essentially an arcade version of the former), and possibly the other 3D games in the series. In fact, the term was probably used in reference to F-Zero first, and imported into Mario Kart discussions.
- "Prolonged Rocket Boosting", also in Mario Kart DS. A trick/glitch found where someone could keep the boost start going indefinitely by constantly mini turboing (and not lose speed off road as a weird result), this caused the same kind of flame wars among tournament level players as snaking did among everyone else (some record sites banned it, some allowed it, etc). Mario Kart fans seem to always have something to complain about.
- Go to any Halo forum and bring up the pistol. Bring your
firepistol-retardant suit.
- Be careful when critiquing Halo's plot, some fans will let a few things slide, but a single use of “cliche” as a descriptor will set the forum on fire.
- The ultimate: ask for recon.
- Whether Cranky Kong and Wrinkly Kong are Donkey Kong's parents or grandparents. Also, whether the Donkey Kong that fought Mario was Donkey or a younger Cranky
- This is especially ridiculous when you consider that official media that was around when the original game was released explicitly state that Cranky is Donkey's father and that Cranky is the one who threw barrels at Mario.
- Apparently, multiple Links running around is fine with Nintendo fans but a simple parentage affair hurts their mind.
- The MUGEN fandom tends to have relatively minor dust-ups over the cheapness of certain characters (mainly because the worst of the Game Breaker variety can be obvious to spot), but one character has caused more You Tube warfare than any other: Choiya's Suzumiya Haruhi (and that's stacked atop the several debates regarding the Haruhi franchise, worsening the affairs). Some MUGEN video posters are known to preemptively disable comments on videos featuring her. This appears to have quieted somewhat with the latest update, as the character's fans are less than pleased with how Choiya has added more "perverted" moves (including a copy of Combat Echizen's notorious "Door Rape").
- Don't get even started with characters from The DCU or other several other popular Anime or Videogame characters. Discussions tend to end up getting messy.
- And worse, drama unleashed between fanboys of SNK (Fatal Fury, The King Of Fighters for example) or Capcom (Street Fighter and such) over characters from doujin fighting games. It at times goes the opposite side, though. And don't forget drama about character accuracy...
- Mention that you don't think downloading character packs or distributing characters you downloaded to your friends is stealing (especially since most of the characters are just sprite and code rips from licensed games anyway and don't belong to the people who ripped them), then sit back and watch the fireworks.
- God forbid that you code something, anything that looks like anything that someone coded before and performs a similar function. Once someone in MUGEN codes something, teleports, special jumps, tech throws, power up systems, anything, that's it, they own it completely, if you want to use it in your character you have to pay them royalties or something or completely reinvent the wheel. This is even if you look at the results and independently come to a similar conclusion, which you possibly couldn't have done, because it's not like anyone else in the world is smart enough to figure out how to manipulate a character in a certain way by looking at the results and deciding what state controllers give those results. If you don't, you are a lowdown dirty code thief who is worse than people who rape babies and make telemarketing phone calls.
- Another name that starts wars: Warner.
- Are you sure it's not Ex Inferis?
- Go to any gaming forum with a lot of ZP fans and say anything good about Nintendo. Wrath like you've never known.
- For that matter, go to The Escapist Magazine (ZP's current home site), head over to their forums and say anything good about anything he's ever bashed, be it a game or an entire genre. Expect a lot of quotes from his videos during the posts that start flaming you.
- Of course, you could mention that they are not true fans of Yathzee, because he said himself "Do you really need someone else to give a Yay or Nay for a game? Why don't you roll over, so we can stamp the other side of your face." If someone were to come on and say a game is good or bad in their own opinion and they feel that way even after hearing Yathzee's tear at it, they really shouldn't care. Of course, this is a futile effort that will only result in more flames.
- Heck, go to The Escapist and say anything good about any video game except Portal.
- Bring up ANYTHING on the Escapist and it will devolve into a flamewar at some point. World Of Warcraft especialy takes alot of heat from pockets of hardcore fans of pretty much every other mmo, with eve and war being the most vocal about it.
- Mainly because all WOW stuff should go to Warcry, The Escapists Sister site that deals exclusively with MMO's.
- You guys haven't been there much, have you? The Escapist is pretty laid back most of the time. There are, however, three rules
- Don't mention that you think PC gaming is dieing, or that consoles could be in any way better than PC's
- Don't talk about March Madness. Don't ask what March Madness is. Don't even ask who won. Don't say that anyone cheated.
- Meme, and you will be dealt with with extreme force.
- Anything related to Enhancement Diversification or the Global Defense Reduction in City Of Heroes. Mentioning it in any form - but especially an opening post, especially if it takes a strong position one way or the other - will generally cause a 10-20 page exchange of "opinions".
- Even worse: Never use the word 'healer', especially anywhere near the Defender forum. Never call them the 'healing class'. This goes double in-game.
- Don't forget PvE vs. PvP 'discussions.' It's amazing what depths people will sink to when someone starts talking about PvP. (Or at least, it used to be that way.)
- "Who's Roy's mother in Fuuin no Tsurugi?". Or any such variant.
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Go to any forum and bring up the issue of Ike's sexuality. Bring marshmallows to toast around the fire.
- Go to any forum and bring up Micaiah. Inevitably, someone will bash. Just as inevitably, someone will retort with how interestingly conflicted her character is. (Sometimes, you get the bonus of someone comparing her to Ike, which then devolves into Ike's Sexuality territory.)
- Go to a Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu forum, mention Beowulf even once, and watch the fans vs. the haters drag the threads out for at least 5 pages before the wank dies down.
- "YOU SERIOUSLY USE RHYS?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING? YOU SHOULD SPEND ALL YOUR BONUS EXP ON MIST BECAUSE SHE GETS A C IN STAVES WHEN SHE PROMOTES! PEGASUS KNIGHTS ARE USELESS! YOU SHOULD BE INVESTING YOUR TIME IN WYVERN LORDS, THEIR DEFENCES ARE GREATER! YOU USE ISADORA?! ARE YOU SICK?!"
- How is Nino nowhere in that paragraph? Go to any forum and say that Nino is good. You'll get flamed off your ass. Go to like IGN and say she's terrible, and you'll get flamed off your ass. Same with Rolf. And Tiltyu. And Est. Feel free to add anyone I'm missing, since I know there's a lot more.
- Not only that, but Nintendo's event left its fanboys foaming at the mouth, wishing Nintendo to burn in hell after claiming they had been lied to about Nintendo claiming to be revealing some games that weren't casual (aka core titles like Mario and Kid Icarus). Reggie's co-worker who explained about her broken wrist has already become an a popular fad on forums.
- Go on an Elder Scrolls forum and ask about CHIM. I dare ya. (The results are especially interesting because almost no side in that argument has more than one supporter)
- Similarly, go to a lore-oriented Elder Scrolls forum and bring up Sithis. Such topics usually have their posters split into multiple camps with conflicting conclusions on what Sithis actually is.
- Try to post anything for or against Oblivion in an Elder Scrolls forum, the three main camps of fans Arena/Daggerfall fans, Morrowind fans, and Oblivion fans, will go to war, the subject will often digress from Oblivion and go into people whining about Morrowind, only to be flamed by its most fanatical fans. This is a good time to get some popcorn.
- Which has the added bonus of causing our grammar system to fail (one possible answer is, "sithis is IS NOT/Padomay")
- Outside "lore" questions, how about that voice acting, eh?
- Go to any Legacy Of Kain forums and declare that Blood Omen II absolutely deserves to be part of the game canon.
- Or better yet, ask why the pre-evolved vampires all wear tight leather pants with noticable bulges. If you're lucky, you'll just get IP-banned from the forum.
- Go to any Castlevania forum, and asked how come the gamers hate 3D games. Or better yet, ask which game is worse: Curse of Darkness or Lament of Innocence.
- Or how about this phrase: "I love the new anime art they chose for Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin!"
- Uncyclopedia astutely notes that the easiest way to troll a Castlevania forum is to argue that Castlevania Legends should be canon and IGA retconned Sonia Belmont because he's sexist.
- Go to any gaming forum and mention emulation, then break out the sticks and marshmallows as people scream about when — if ever should they used.
- Similarly, whether the original translation (if any), various fanlations, or updated retranslations of a given game are better.
- And in some places, "I don't emulate. I buy real copies" translates to "Hi, I'm an idiot for not pirating, please murder me as brutally as possible."
- Discussing the pairings in the Tales Of Symphonia fandom (especially Lloyd/Colette, Lloyd/Sheena and Zelos/Sheena) runs the risk of initiating a flame war. If you must discuss the pairings, do not bring up the Drama CDs and whether they're canon or not. If you do, you only have yourself to blame.
- Or bash Colette. Seriously, this is a far greater source of flames than any of the Ship To Ship Combat situations.
- Want to brew a huge Flame War between Metroid and/or Nintendo fans? Talk about Metroid Prime 1, 2, 3, or Hunters, and talk about whether you think the games are a first person shooter or first person adventure. Be sure to mention what Nintendo's stance is on the genre for more flaming action.
- Any mention of Hunters seems to have that effect.
- For more flaming, tell everyone that you think Metroid should have more multiplayer and online.
- Go to Tomb Raider Forums and say that either Core Design or Crystal Dynamics suck. Watch the fur fly.
- Also, Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness have divided the fanbase. There are Legend fans who hate Angel of Darkness and vice-versa. The Angel of Darkness fans tend to be more bitter and outspoken towards Legend because Legend was developed by new developers Crystal Dynamics, and "Only Core fully understands Tomb Raider!" because "They made the classics!", casually forgetting that Core's interpretation of the Tomb Raider series changed radically over the six games they developed, and that Legend is much closer to the style of the original game than Angel of Darkness ever hoped to be.
- There's a lot of debate over which game has the worst Lara. In Angel of Darkness she's a Jerkass, in Legend she's full of Wangst.
- Enjoy pain? Just go to any Zelda forum and bring up Sheik's physical gender. Hope you already wrote your will.
- Hell, do it just about anywhere!
- Despite not being popular in the Super Mario Bros universe, if you're bored enough, go to any Mario related forum and talk about how Birdo is really female or is totally male. Expect to see reponses that include "translation errors" or "Birdo was always male because the manual said so."
- GuildWars, go on one of the major forums and make a thread ranting about how high end Pv Pers are elitists for refusing to help newer players and how people in Heroes Ascent are killing their game type by refusing to let low ranked people play with them. You are in for a world of hurt.
- Alternately, say something positive about the assasins and especially the skill Shadow Form.
- Saying "inscriptions should be applied to the first two campaigns" works as well.
- Mention any EA game from
Spore Mass Effect onwards and SecuROM on the same sentence. You can expect carnages on the damage done by that DRM, the morality of pirating and the wazoo.
- Or just Mass Effct full stop.
- Or, heck, bring up EA in general, particularly if you bring up anything speaking in their defense, or otherwise question their internet Butt Monkey status.
- Bring up Warhammer in a Warcraft forum or vice versa, note the similarities, and enjoy the fireworks. In an attempt to prevent fires, many WAR posters started calling World of Warcraft "that other game", The Game That Shall Not Be Named (TGTSNBN).
- In a similar but even more flammable way, mention Warhammer40000 in a Star Craft forum, and without any further action on your part, it will inevitably devolve into a massive flame war between the two settings.
- And may your deity of choice watch over you if you mention Tyranids and Zerg in the same sentence.
- I dare anyone to go to a serious Metal Gear forum, and say you liked Raiden... before his Took A Level In Badass in game 4. Or better yet, better not, in case they break out the Nikitas and Stingers.
- And another fun one: "Is Solid Snake gay?" Or "In Metal Gear Solid 4, was he jealous of Otacon for getting attention from Naomi, or of Naomi for getting attention from Otacon?", which usually (but not always) comes under the same banner. Even jokes about the Ho Yay tend to start fights - Kojima himself invoked massive fanboy rage when he joked at a game developer conference that a conversation between Solid Snake and Campbell sounded 'romantic' in the French dub.
- Surprisingly, the announcement of a new Metal Gear game being multiplatform has been relatively quiet in regard to console wars, but everyone hates Raiden again... after begging to play as him in MGS 4.
- The fastest way to piss of the NIS fan base is by being a graphics whore.
- Pick somewhere, anywhere, doesn't matter, just go to someplace on the internet and even suggest that Dan Hibiki is a joke character. You will have multiple Dan Devotees crawling out of the woodwork to explain to you how he's just as serious and valid as any other fighter and you had better show some respect to the greatest street fighter EVAR.
- Due to the causes of its delay, discussions about Islam around anything related to LittleBigPlanet.
- Or worse, the user-created content intellectual property and/or moderation debacles. Especialy ludicrous with the latter since Sony does remove levels based on other intellectual property, even those that they own.
- Mention something positive about “DLC” that is already coded on a game's disc. You'll get your spine ripped.
- =DLC= in general is sometimes enough.
- If you want to see the true IQ level of people on a forum, talk about how good it is to have old games up for sale on current gen consoles (Example: Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console) or that remaking/porting over an old game is a good idea. Expect to see nostalgic fans demand you to go buy the original game and console and others say how you are stupid to pay for overpriced ROMs and to go and download free ROMs from the internet.
- And while we're on the subject of ROMs, bring up the topic of whether or not pirating them is against the law or totally justified.
- Suggest a change to Eve Online that would make piracy more difficult or borrow from other MMOs.
- This is because it immediately brings a different flamewar to everyone's minds, one that rages on nearly every MMO, not just Eve: I think this should play more like the other game.
- They also have sleeper cells in pretty much every internet forum for flaming you should you ever say something negative about it's interface, newbie unfriendlyness or griefability.
- Go on the GameFAQs board of Street Fighter IV and suggest that the game may be actually pretty decent and that Capcom isn't conspiring to kill the franchise. You're in for a whole world of pain. Though considering what the GameFAQs boards are like, that's no surprise.
- If you value your life, do NOT say anything positive about Wii Music. Apparently, nobody is allowed to even remotely enjoy the game, since doing so will cause Nintendo to make more casual games, thus games are Ruined FOREVER!
- Go into a messageboard or blog comment thread based around a Gran Turismo game and bring up Forza Motorsport, or vice-versa. Or bring up how much more fun arcade racers like Burnout are. Or mention that you've been playing super-technical PC racing sims like GTR and Live For Speed for years and know for a fact that they are more true-to-life than any dumbed-down, arcadey console “sim” racer.
- One can easily start a flame war on virtually any gaming forum by voicing any opinion on whether or not graphics and eye candy are crucial to enjoyment of a game.
- Kanji's sexual preference in Persona 4 is up to the interpretation of the players. As a result, you have people arguing that he is, without a doubt, 100% straight/gay/bi. This situation is made worse when Shipping enters into the equation since Kanji's sexuality would naturally determine whether he can be with Naoto or not. Of course, Naoto is a potential love interest for the main character, so Ship To Ship Combat will ALSO get involved.
- On that note, never ever bring up Naoto in a schoolgirl uniform unless you want to spend the next few hours of your life arguing fiercely about heteronormative gender roles, feminism or pointless fanservice. And God help you if you voice your approval for it.
- In fact, just mention Persona 3 or Persona 4 around people who liked the first (or second) one better, and tend to have a really snotty attitude towards people who entered the series at P3 or P4.
- Two freaking days after a Famitsu scan of Persona 3 Portable' release, and the forums are starting to heat up. Damn.
- Saying something bad about EV training or IV Breeding, saying you competitively battle Pokémon you don't do these with, or even admitting you don't EV train can make you hated by many Pokémon fans.
- Saying that you care for your Pokémon emotionally can be a death sentence.
- Talking about where Pokémon eggs come from, or even Pokémon breeding without it being related to IV breeding is basically against the law in Pokémon society.
- Having a male Gardevoir, male Lopunny or basically any masculine or feminine Pokémon that doesn't look like the gender it is "supposed" to be will make many fans laugh at you.
- Simply mentioning that you use ubers in your team is a surefire way to start a flame war.
- NEVER ask whether or not fans think Lucario is a Legendary Pokémon. Officially according to the games, he's not, but... fans of the Anime will tell you otherwise....
- Three words: Random number generator.
- Which Eeveelution (IE: The numerous evolutions of Eevee) is the best? Don't ask. You'll never get an answer that doesn't result in a billion flames in response.
- Asking whether or not (Insert Pokémon here) is over-rated will cause flaming as well? Examples include Mewtwo, Charizard, Dragonite, Pikachu, and Blastoise among others.
- Never casually ask whether fans think the classic games (Generations 1 and 2) are better than the new games (Generations 3 and 4). One side is surely bound to get heavy flames from the other and vice versa.
- On the subject of Legendaries, go and claim that Suicune, Entei, and Raikou are dogs/cats. Enjoy the heat!
- Of course, if you REALLY want to start something... just ask whether or not Pokémon could be considered childish. Even on a Pokémon-related forum this topic will almost certainly lead to a flamewar. This is probably due in part to the Broken Base.
- Arceus is getting a lot of this lately. Either he's the ultimate legendary pokemon (IE: Pokegod), is just another legendary (albeit a very powerful one), or simply some lame gimmick that Nintendo thought up for yet another random event. Fans will never fully agree on either one.
- Likewise, many a flamewar has started due to people asking whether or not Arceus is the anscestor of all Pokemon or if Mew is.
- If you don't know how to RNG abuse, then you are a noob who doesn't deserve to know.
- Go to the Earthbound forum. Find one of the threads where people have posted negative reviews of the game from Game FA Qs. Next, suggest that Earthbound might not be for everyone. You may want to wear body armor for this one.
- Don't mention the words “Improved Anvil” within the Infinity Engine modding community, unless you've brought enough marshmallows for everyone to roast once the flame war gets going. Also, the words “Black Wyrm's Lair” are a very handy attractant for both the admin of that message board and his troll nemesis, who will also start a flame war.
- Controversial game reviewers get this at times, especially ones that invoke Eight Point Eight.
- Here's a fun one for all you Touhou fans: First, create a hack for the original games that completely changes the playing experience (newer graphics, invincibility cheats, what have you.) Now, post it to the fan community. The blood that will be shed soon afterwards will be enough to keep Remilia happy for decades.
- Or, say that you want to buy the physical copies of the games instead of torrenting them. Or, mention that you use any kind of input besides a keyboard to play.
- "Isn't Touhou an anime?"
- Mention Touhou on a forum about shmups that isn't dedicated to Touhou.
- Copy Protection, especially DRM vs Piracy.
- Go to a PC gaming website, and suggest that a given First Person Shooter is as good on consoles as it's PC counterpart. Then run.
- There are several buzzwords that will start a fight on a GunZ The Duel-driven board, but god help you if you say an automatic-fire weapon is a good weapon. If you do bring it up, not even an invulnerability to flames will save you, because the flame war that will spark will be fought with hydrochloric acid vats.
- One should never mention that they find knife-gimping a cheap tactic that ruins the fun of the game...(knife-gimping is when a player uses a knife's alternate attack which knocks the opponent down, then rapidly switches to a powerful gun and gets easy headshots. This is pretty much a guaranteed kill even when on full health.)
- The Knights Of The Old Republic fandom has evolved over the years into a partially Broken Base. Go somewhere where a lot of the fans hang out and bring up whether or not the first game or the second game is better.
- Another fast way to start a big kaboom in that fandom is to ask what Revan or Exile's alignment or gender were. Que massive DisContinuity on both fronts.
- Granted, these are mostly vocal minorities as the majority of fans seem to like both just fine. But the minorities are very vocal.
- The announced MMO by Bio Ware made it worse. Whether you like it or hate it, it's a guarentee a flame war will erupt if it is invoked.
- If you want to see the savageness of fanboys, just go to any Nintendo based forum and proudly state that you approve of Nintendo's direction with casuals/casual gaming and how it doesn't need HD graphics or super online. Expect to see phrases like "true gamer" and "sold out to the casuals" being thrown around.
- Gaming becoming popular wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to get more of their games, and we were supposed to keep getting our games. Why can't it be like that?
- Because one produces more revenue than the other. Guess which one?
- Want to annoy fans when it comes to video game difficulty? Either proudly state that all games should be very punishing and difficult for the sake of having a good challenge or make games easier to reel in more new players to the series.
- For added fun, go to SMWCentral and mention that you like Kaizo Mario World anywhere but its designated Kaizo board. Or even better, make a Kaizo-esque hack of Super Mario World and then complain on the boards when it doesn't get accepted. To cause aneurysms, mention the phrase "Stacked Munchers" and how you don't mind seeing them.
- Want to see Nintendo fanboys explode in rage? Suggest the idea that Nintendo should adopt the achievement (Xbox360) or trophy (PS 3) system because it adds more replay value. Replies will include "How did you play games before achievements?" and "Achievements don't give you anything."
- Need a source of ignition fast? Go to the Command And Conquer forums, and say any unit is over/underpowered. For increased damage, suggest balance changes.
- Even better. Claim you like where EA has taken the franchise. Praise C+C Generals for being an excellent addition. You can also claim EA is an evil empire that runs on the tortured souls of former Westwood employees and have the same effect.
- Better yet, argue which games are canon. You could scour the Earth with but a fraction of the flames.
- Wow, all this and the mention of Zelda was about Shiek's gender. The wars I've seen about the timeline between games have been...interesting. The debates between Linears and Splitists have been pretty much laid to rest in the Splitists favor on the forum side of things. You Tube, however, is a different story. Meanwhile, the actual order of the games remains a complete enigma. Go onto most sites and say anything about the placement of The Minish Cap and settle in for one hot summer and a nasty nuclear winter.
- And let's not forget the fact that Miyamoto HIMSELF has admitted that he has an outline of the timeline of the Zelda series, indicating that they are interconnected. How they come together will remain a debate until this information is found.
- It's too obvious if you walk into a forum for Prototype or inFAMOUS and mention the other. Instead, try to suggest that both are good and deserve to be played for being good instead of how they measure up to the other. And then run like hell.
- Some context helps with this one: both games are sandboxes where the protagonist is a man with recently inhereted superpowers in an otherwise normal world running around a huge urban setting. The similarities end there, but their release dates being two weeks apart has sealed both games in a neverending loop of Epic Rage from fans of one who would rather talk about how much better the game they like is, instead of admitting that entire genres can have more than one decent product. Popular arguments repeated ad nausea include which protagonist is stronger, which setting is better, whether or not inFAMOUS being a PS3 exclusive "obviously" makes it better or worse, and which storyline is more interesting. Please note that at the time of this writing, Prototype isn't even out yet.
- Once Valve announced a sequel to Left 4 Dead, the fan base had divided and exploded in a fury because A) the sequel is coming one year after the release of the first game and B) has content that people say should have been in the first game. Many have called Valve a sell out and the more extreme people have formed a Steam group to gather all the displeased fans and call for a boycott (so far having over 30,000 members). If you want to see the fan base get pissed off, just tell them to suck it up, don't buy the game, or say you support a sequel. Expect replies like "not a true fan" or having someone claiming you're just a console gaming scrub.
- To rub more salt in the wound, Valve has recently claimed that the boycott has not worked since they gotten more pre orders for the sequel than they did for the first game. Mentioning this to the boycotters is a surefire way to provoke angry fanboy rage.
- Chrono Cross and its status as a sequel to Chrono Trigger. There are sites that will calmly discuss many of the above points and yet get into violent disagreement over the issue.
- It's also not a good idea to ask whether or not Square Enix was right to issue a cease-and-desist order to the Fan Sequel Crimson Echoes, or whether or not the creators of the game were right to comply with the cease-and-desist order itself. You'll get passionate arguments from both sides of these debates.
- If you really want to watch the fireworks, go to a Spyro Forum, and start talking about how wonderful Sierra's reboot of the series is and talk about how how sexy Cynder is. In no time will you have the "classics" fans vs. "legends" fans wars going on.
- For even more sparks, say that Sierra has the better soundtracks than the stuff of the classics by Stweart Copeland, you're bound to have a few nasty words being tossed back and forth. Of course, if you really have the nerves, ask if they actually even listened to both soundtracks.
- At the Ace Attorney fansite, Court Records, arguing about how the cast from games 1-3 should fit into game 4 got so bad that it had to have it's own Designated topic where it eventually dissolved into arguing about how the timeline was broken, how one character isn't the same in this game as he is in this game, as well as few other things.
- This event made it so mere mentions of this can cause it to happen again and again.
- Say that your favorite Ace Attorney soundtrack is not the first game's. Go on!
- Say you liked Apollo (or his game) better.
- Is Yuri a hypocrite? Were his murders of Ragou and Cumore justified? Is Estelle's desire to see the world a good thing or selfish? Is the 360 version an Obvious Beta? Ask at your own peril.
- Continues in arcade games, particularly their arcade ports. If you think games need unlimited continues, you're a scrub who can't play the game right. If you're fine with limited continues, you're a Stop Having Fun Guy.
- And for that matter, the only super-platforms of video games that exists are P Cs, consoles, and handhelds. Do NOT acknoledge the existence of arcade games made after Street Fighter II.
- Find a Tales community where a sufficient amount of people have played both the original and the remake of Tales Of Destiny. Then discuss Rutee's worth as a character. For added blazing, discuss the merits of her relationship with Stahn, especially compared to Stahn's relationships with Philia and Leon. Dymlos couldn't have created hotter flames if he tried.
- Who was the red-haired man at the end of Tales Of The Abyss? If you value your life, don't ask.
- For that matter, debating between Asch and Luke in general can generate some massive heat.
- Understanding Van's view and liking him as a character can get you mauled by Luke, Asch, and Sync fangirls all in one fell swoop.
- But none of those even compare to the debate over Anise. Is she a great character, or should she burn in hell? Since charred bodies can't speak, we shall never learn the answer.
- Want to know how to send a Resident Evil board into a frenzy? Just start a debate as to whether or not the heavier focus on action in 4 and 5 is a good thing.
- Try claiming Resident Evil 5 is racist.
- Mass Effect fandom itself is fairly even-tempered for the most part. But if you really want to get them riled up, mention either Kaidan Alenko (especially on the official forums), the asari or the 'Romance subplot in Mass Effect 2' for maximum flame fuel.
- Go to any SMT forums, and call Persona 3 and Persona 4 "Glorified Dating Sims", and duck!
- Or say you prefer Yuzu's Ending in Devil Survivor (for anything besides it's Sequel possibility), and pray that you won't be incinerated.
- Or, for more fun, mention who you let die in Devil Survivor. mention that you only killed Keisuke can lead to a lot of assburning.
- Go to a forum dedicated to competitive arcade gaming. Go to a thread for an arcade you don't go to, make a post for any reason whatsoever, and admit that you don't go to that arcade. Now, hope that you don't get verbally gangbanged.
- A great way to simulate the Conflict extrinsic in the Nethack forums is to start discussion on "Numeric pad versus HJKL" or something to that effect. Better make sure your AC is high enough and your resistances sufficient to handle the resulting uproar.
- Go to a Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune forum and ask whether or not dress-up parts affect a car's performance. If you're being asked instead, refer to the manual's take on dress-up parts (it says they have no effect). Go on, I dare you.
- Now Dissidia: Final Fantasy is trapped in the same "fighting game/not a fighting game" debate as Super Smash Bros. above... only its case has been amplified far more than it should have been due to the American version being released concurrently with Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, a traditional PSP fighter.
- Recently, players in Team Fortress 2 have seen hats at random and like Pokemon, they are so rare that people want to catch them all. This has lead to some people to use idler programs (making their characters controlled by an AI) to catch the hats without having to play the game. Valve responded to this by taking away some items from the cheaters and gave the legit hat grabbers a halo to wear. Fridge Logic to the extreme, the cheaters are pissed off about the halo thing and have flamed the players that obtained the halos. That's right, playing fair is somehow not the way to play. Some people have even gone as far as making mods where the halos are replaced by the word FAG. A surefire Flame War will brew up if you even talk about the halo.
- Monkey Island - was the Gainax Ending at the end of the second game supposed to be the definitive end of the series that was trampled over by callous cold-hearted corporate overlords? This causes a lot of people to come to serious blows, and this pretty much flares up every time someone revives the series for any reason.
- The use of the Hint Board on the Telltale Games site draws ire from the Stop Having Fun Guys who had actually demanded for the Hint Board to be shut down. Let's not even get into the Merfolks being "Too fantastic" for the voodoo-pirate and magical soft drinks pirate game.
- One of the biggest ways to kick up a fuss is to ask whether a hot console exclusive or console-exclusive bonus content will be ported to another system. Most fanboys of the system that exclusive belongs to will immediately lambast you with flames. The more rational amongst them will give you plenty of reasons why such a port will never happen, usually peppered with flames. You'll also probably be told that you're cheap and that you need to buy the original system, and/or will be told to go have your mommy buy it for you. This typically happens when PS 3 or 360 owners ask about things being ported to the other system, though it sometimes happens with situations like PSP games potentially being ported to the PS 2.
- Of course, if said port actually does happen down the road, expect an enormous backlash, with fans of the original system complaining about being "betrayed" by the company that decided to port over the game, and fans of the system the game is being newly ported to coming over with victorious "I told you so" remarks.
- Did you say you like Haze? Now you've done it; Master Chief is personally going to bust a cap in your balls, and kill your wussy PS 3-loving scumbag self.
- Go make a message board thread complaining about a feature. Say the word "skill" in any part of your post. It's like pressing X to die.
- So Dance Dance Revolution players, how about that safety bar?
- Bringing up the subject of limited online and friend codes to Nintendo Wii fans can be hazardous to your health. Mention that you think Wii games should have more comprehensive online modes/play and you'll either be labeled a Stop Having Fun Guy who wants Wii games to be havens for cheaters and griefers, or worse, you'll be told that you only want to play online so much because you don't have any real friends. Of particular controversy are the debates over the limited online play in Super Smash Brothers Brawl and the lack of online multiplayer in New Super Mario Bros Wii.
- Of course, this can cut the other way, with particularly zealous proponents of online play labeling Wii players as "mindless fanboys" or "casualfags".
- So PC gamers, how are ya feeling over the lack of dedicated servers in Modern Warfare 2?
- To elaborate: Infinity Ward removed the ability to host multiplayer matches on dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, switching to a more console-like matchmaking system. This move has infuriated everyone who's played a PC game online, which only amplifies the fire when unknowing console gamers weigh in to say they don't see the big deal, and then there are the poor confused people who don't have any idea what a dedicated server is. Personally, I blame Activision.
- Modern Warfare 2 fans are split on leaked playable scenes where the player controls a terrorist who intentionally shoots civilians at an airport. Supporters of the scenes herald them as artistic, while others are offended at the scenes, considering them "worse than GTA" and pleading for the scenes to be cut (which probably will happen).
- Go to any Space Channel 5 fansite and say that you like Chief Blank, I dare you to.
- Brady Games versus Prima Games.
- Just bring up the Nintendo Power magazine. Expect everyone to call it biased and how it ain't what it used to be.
- No one is arguing that Media Watchdogs and Moral Guardians aren't absolutely right about Poop Socking being unhealthy. But whenever a law is proposed to require Anti Poop Socking measures in games or find ways to legally ban Poop Socking, watch the vigorous debates between people who think such laws are necessary to protect gamers and their possible dependents and people who think such measures are nanny-statist attempts to impinge on personal responsibility.
- Go to a discussion about Metal Slug and say that you like Metal Slug 4. For bonus points, say that you like it better than at least one other game in the series.
Web Comics
- A Modest Destiny by Squidi versus Penny Arcade's forums due to copyright concerns — more detail here.
- The webcomic Bitmap World has parodied the ending with a very literal interpretation of the event. (Spoiler, of course)
- Want to start a fight on this wiki? Refer to "El Goonish Shive" and "No Bisexuals" in the same discussion. There will be aftershocks for months. On the page for EGS, No Bisexuals is followed by a warning not to get started.
- Come to think of it, criticize EGS on this wiki and you can measure how long before it gets removed in the minutes.
- David Morgan-Mar wanted to use the correct terminology: is the Lego implement in this Irregular Webcomic strip a spade or a shovel? So he looked it up online and found that no one can agree on the difference between spades and shovels, if there even is one. His below-the-comic commentary on the confusion simply inspired more people to weigh in and further confuse the issue.
- One real sad one is 20% of the internet vs. the other 80%. What makes them fight so? The quality of Ctrl Alt Del. 20% says it's okay, 80% says... something else.
- Though this is obviously only about people that know/care about it.
- Badly Drawn Kitties and Better Days began as a joint effort to write the same characters at different points in their lives, until a notorious schism between the authors, leading to Take Thats such as Badly Drawn Kitties dropping a bridge on the lead of Better Days and the creator of Better Days turning a major character's somewhat prominent bisexuality into an Aborted Arc. Bring up either, anywhere, and you're likely to start a fight over who wronged whom; bring one up on the other's forum, and may God have mercy on your soul.
- Better shortcut than that: mention the reason that the two comics split, IE, the two creators ended their relationship. No, seriously, that's not a dig.
- In the official The Order of the Stick forum, you can raise a flame with several issues: Vaarsuvius' gender, the nature of the Monster in the Darkness, if Miko was meant to be Roy's love interest (or anything about Miko at all, really), Haley's mother nature, and if the webcomic is going to be upgraded to D&D 4e. Ironically, almost all points received the Word Of God about them, and most of the time the flame will be started by people claiming to be sick reading that issue AGAIN. Newbies are going to have hard times.
- And yet people will let any Epileptic Trees theory, no matter how ridiculous, fly. Personal favorites include: "Thog is a member of the orc tribe that captured Elan/Durkon/V", "Therkla is Haley in disguise" (WHAT!?), etc.
- Oh, and just do not mention what happened between Belkar and the Oracle. The mechanics of that incident are vague enough for people to interpret it in any one of several ways, and they're all convinced their view is the right one. Were the Oracle's attempts to placate Belkar genuine, i.e., did he think that Belkar ultimately did cause Roy's death? Was the Oracle pissing off Belkar so he would kill him? For some reason, the latter theory has somehow caused the Oracle to be labeled a Magnificent Bastard and the plan a Xanatos Gambit, even though "rile a maniac into murdering you" sounds like just about the worst plan in history.
- OBJECTION! The Oracle had clerics on speed dial for a resurrect!
- Vaarsuvius's alignment, and anything related, especially Familicide.
- Erfworld: Ansom's ability to beat Parson's schemes, and whether uncroaking the volcano was a Deus Ex Machina.
- Try to say something positive about Dominic Deegan on this wiki and watch the flood roll in.
- On the Misfile forums, just ask "The Infamous Pedal Question" or raise the issue of gender pronouns. Or call Hazelton's answer to the question an Asspull and see how many seconds until it's reverted.
- Over on the forums for the furry webcomic Las Lindas, a huge forum war erupted after this strip (as well as the strips that came before and after that one) were posted; fans were split over whether or not Miles deserved to get dumped because of what he did to Taffy (he'd been in a relationship with her for quite some time without any intimacy between them). Though it's been over a year since the "war" there, every so often, a new fan will join the forums and attempt to reignite it (longtime forum regulars are usually quick to defuse the situation, especially those who were at the center of the original "war"), and several forum members still hold small grudges against those who opposed their viewpoint on the situation.
- We'll just reserve this space for the fallout of Rachael and Mora's fight.
- Hell, the overall quality of the comic itself tends to spark rather heated debates, to the point where some of it has spilled onto this very wiki.
- Any discussion of the Les Yay in Gunnerkrigg Court. ("You're a homophobe!" "You're a Lolicon Yuri Fanboy!")
- Mention how much you love Megatokyo anywhere else than its official forum. Sit back and watch the wank. For a bonus, say that you think it got better since Rodney left.
- One needn't go outside the Mega Tokyo forums to get into a flamewar about MT. It's apparently popular, for those outside the "Story Discussions" and "SD Fanworks" subforums, to take a dump on the comic, even if without the comic the other forums wouldn't exist (it's not internet fairies paying the forum bandwidth, after all).
Western Animation
- Head over to the animation
Fan Dumb fandom blog Cartoon Brew and try to post a nice, mature, rational argument that motion capture technology is a valid form of animation when used well. We'll be behind you with the marshmallows...
- Heck, motion capture is a picnic compared to what happens if you even casually mention anything remotely connected to the question of whether cartoons should have scripts or storyboards, and whether non-artists should write for animation. From there it quickly devolves into a battle over John Kricfalusi, who's a very vocal advocate of storyboards, and who attracts very rabid fanboys and an avid Hatedom, the latter resulting from some of his Small Name Big Ego qualities.
- Add Family Guy to this. Family Guy has become a good source of heated debate there for a while, only to come to a head in this blog post, with 105 replies and counting. Jerry Beck himself is a self-admitted hater of the show.
- Sure you don't mean Amid Amidi? While Jerry made it clear he's not a fan of the show, he did admit in one of his radio appearances that it can be funny sometimes.
- Maybe I do... but that particular post was by Jerry, who started the post by saying he hates it. They most like both hate it, but to different extents.
- Whether or not the animated Teen Titans is part of the DCAU. Really. Also whether or not Robin in this series is Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake or "just Robin."
- It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to debate Robin's identity though — it's confirmed he's Dick Grayson. Not that it stops them. This might be because the producer said he's not meant to be any one Robin, while one of the writers stated he was Dick Grayson.
- Speaking of Teen Titans, mention the very last episode of the series, and watch as the Shippers tear themselves into pieces.
- While some prefer to compromise between the two, "Is Azula a Magnificent Bitch who deserved A Fate Worse Than Death, or is she The Woobie who deserves a hug from her mommy?" will still start World War III at most Avatar The Last Airbender forums.
- The reason this is such a problem is because the show didn't actually explain why Azula is as nuts as she is. Zuko's backstory got tons of screen time, but Azula's didn't. One doesn't turn into an completely amoral Machiavillain without SOMETHING messing them up early on. If the show had showed what that something was, Azula might be easier to sympathize with. Of course, maybe she's just a Card Carrying Villain, in which case, she wouldn't deserve any sympathy.
- Also: energybending.
- Hell, Katara's the one character who's almost always bound to cause some sort of backdraft, generally over who she's shipped with, whether or not she's a bitch who has a knack for not getting in trouble for her mistakes, or if she's a bland canon-sue or a balanced, well rounded character.
- New issue even though the show ended months ago: the casting choices for the Live Action Adaption. Seriously, don't even try to mention or bring it up.
- Family Guy, The Simpsons, and South Park, all have very devoted, and very separate fandoms. Extolling the virtues of any of the other programs on a site dedicated to one of the particular shows is going to get you a quick ban, as will the mere suggestion that the other shows are anything more than a load of rubbish. Go on a forum for TV shows and put up something that is clearly in favor of one of these shows above all, you can set the world on fire.
- Oh, I don't know, most of the people I know love all three shows... But one or two or all of them have Jumped The Shark, depending upon who you ask.
- A Simpsons board. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER talk about the joke in Family Guy where Quagmire has sex with Marge and then kills all of the Simpsons members. NEVER.
- Even casually mentioning the Shipping Wars that occured within the Danny Phantom fandom are bound to open up some old wounds. See the "True Fan VS Anti-Fan" (AKA "Slash VS Non-Slash" AKA "Danny/Sam VS Danny/Vlad VS Danny/god-is-there-anyone-this-kid-ISN'T-paired-up-with?" AKA "Canon vs Fanon" AKA... you get the idea) debacle.
- Likewise, NEVER mention that you are indifferent to the fact that the series has been cancelled.
- The 72 original Futurama episodes versus the four feature-length direct-to-DVD movies. Three have been released so far, with plans to turn them into a sixteen-episode fifth season. Some are complaining the show is much more into Dead Baby Comedy now and is proceeding in a Family Guy direction — both in the respects that it was better pre-cancellation and that it uses more toilet humour/less witty scripting than before. As not all the movies have been released yet the debates haven't reached fever pitch. Give it time.
- Kim Possible: Is the title character a strong female heroine with who shows realistic character flaws over the course of the series? Or the victim of Chickification in favor of her You Suck sidekick taking a level in badass? There are enough people who feel strongly about this that flame wars spring up around the topic quite often. And let's not even start with Kim/Ron versus Kigo versus any other possible KP ship.
- Another option is start a war between Fight For Five and Fight Against Five (people who want/don't want a 5th season for the show).
- Kim's rival Bonnie: Does her crappy home life give her a good reason to belittle Kim and Ron at school? Some say yes and view Bonnie as a sympathetic character (and even an Anti Hero), others say no, claiming that a Freudian Excuse for The Libby is the most Warped Aesop in children's programming. Arguments between these groups are almost as fierce as the ship wars. Oh, and speaking of ship wars, Kim/Bonnie and Ron/Bonnie tend to be fairly popular couples amongst the fanbase, so rivalries with Kim/Ron and Kigo come into play quite often. Kim/Bonnie and RonBon are so popular in fact that fanfiction of canon pairing Junior/Bonnie is practically nonexistent.
- Simply say that Avatar the Last Airbender, Teen Titans or Code Lyoko are anime. If you want to commit suicide in a really painful way, say Winx Club is an anime, or even compare it to Sailor Moon.
- Which is always hilarious when one takes into account that Japanese refer to all hand-drawn or computer animation as "anime" (here's a hint, the term is a shortened form of the term animation), so if shown there all those shows (and every other western cartoon) will be called anime anyway by a Japanese viewer.
- Calling them "an anime from Japan" is more likely to get you laughed off the forum, however. Unless you are an actor cast in a live-action adaptation, that is, in which case the laughter will be mixed with cries for you to either learn more or be fired.
- What happened in the Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers fandom on St. Valentine's Day 1998 fits the description on top of this page perfectly. A new member stepped into the Acorn Cafe which was only six days old back then, posted special Valentine's Day greetings for Chip and Gadget, and launched the biggest flamewar in the fandom's history between the "pro" and "anti" Chip/Gadget factions, also known as Ranger War II or St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
- Go to an Ed Edd N Eddy fourm, and say you hate one of the three titular Eds. Oh boy...
- "What's under Edd's ha.....Oh, god, the flames! THEY BUUUURRRRNNNN!"
- Is Plank real or not? Danny Antonucci confirmed that he's just a plank. If that's the case, how did he drive that bus and told Johnny about the kitchen or special order that lobster?
- Say you like Out of Jimmy's Head, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, or Squirrel Boy.
- CN Real. Every time someone says they like it in a discussion, something catches on fire. It doesn't matter which discussion. Or if it's possible for the object to burn (burning bubbles? Sure, why not.)
- Another flamestarter: Tom McGillis Cartoons. Good, because their more mature humor means that CN is finally starting to realize its Periphery Demographic, or Bad because the realization of said demographic may or may not have inspired CN Real.
- Actualy, just saying the names of any shows that aired on there will start discussions about how CN sucks now and how much better it was back then. Which is, for the most part, everyone agreeing that CN sucks now. But then, inevitably, someone will say Which shows suck, then the flame wars start.
- Go to...well, pretty much nearly ANYWHERE on the Internet and say something that's even just slightly negative about Pixar. Even if you make just the tiniest criticism of one of their films, the Pixtards will be all over you like a fly on feces.
- Mention you like Dream Works more than you like Pixar. Apparently, according to some fans, this is a form of blasphemy and the only treatment is a massive flame attack against the unfortunate Dream Works fan.
- Apparently, this goes for people who like Pixar AND Dream Works equally. Sadly, according to the Internet, saying you like one automatically means you hate the other.
- Go to the Happy Tree Friends social network board and bring up shipping. The flames will be visible from space.
- Such choice pairings include Flippy x Flakey, Flippy x Giggles, Giggles x Cuddles and Shifty x Lifty Twincest... Also good (if not better) is claiming that Flakey is either a boy or a girl, and to a lesser extent whether it is spelled F-L-A-K-E-Y or F-L-A-K-Y, since Mondo Media changed their minds about that, too.
- Go anywhere that discusses The Fairly Oddparents and say you think Tootie has become insane thanks to Flanderization. Then duck.
Other
- For a change of pace take a group of amateur mathematicians and ask whether 0.999... (infinitely repeating) is equal to 1, or take a position on the subject. As it happens, the equivalence is mathematically correct, and anyone who disagrees with it is provably wrong; but there are nonetheless lots of people who have argued about it until they were blue in the face.
- Really, almost anything in some places.
- Browser Preference. You might as well be flying near a hurricane/doing aerobics beside lava.
- One should never even approach any computer science/geek newsgroup without taking much care about subjects that could generate a flamewar, such as:
- vi versus Emacs (UN*X text editors)
- Windows vs. Mac OS vs. free UN*X clones
- FreeBSD/NetBSD vs. Linux is especially vicious for some reason
- Plan 9 from Bell Labs vs. everything, just because.
- "User friendly" Linux distros like Linspire (formerly Lindows) and Ubuntu vs. other Linux distributions.
- There are debates on what to call the OS: is it Linux or GNU/Linux? Even Wikipedia isn't safe from this one, though generally articles for distributions will use the name used by the distribution it covers.
- (IBM) PC vs Mac. So (in)famous, Apple played upon it in their ads, and correspondingly somebody made a rap about it.
- C++ vs Java vs Python vs Perl vs <insert favorite programming language here>
Java for the Software Engineers under big blue,
C++ for the Maintainers on their hardware of stone,
Basic for Idiot Monkeys doomed to die,
Perl for the Dork Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Geekiness lies.
Perl to regex them all, Perl to grep them,
Perl to interpret them all and in the darkness compile them
In the Land of Mordor where the Geekiness lies.
- This programming troper has come to conclude that discussing programming languages is like discussing politics or religion: you don't do it. Unless you go to his college and use Java, which is only acceptable because it's the language of choice for its computer science department.
- ZX Spectrum vs Commodore 64 (old 8-bit home micros), which has raged unabated for the last 25 years.
- Amiga vs. Macintosh, which is almost as old.
- DAZ|Studio against Poser Just drop on any, any related forum and ask which one is better - in seconds you will have a flame burning for weeks.
- Whether software with little or no restrictions on use, modification, and distribution should be called free software or open source. Occasionally you'll even come across software licenses accepted by either the Free Software Foundation or the Open Source Initiative but rejected by the other organization (such licenses are never compatible with the most common free/open-source license, the GNU General Public License, which was accepted by both groups). The latest term is “FOSS” (Free and Open Source Software.)
- AMD vs Intel.
- Similarly to the Console Wars above, ATI vs. nVidia.
- Just trying to talk about computer specs or computer brands will always get a flame war going at some point. There will be at least one person screaming at someone for getting info wrong or just not knowing as much as they do.
- Having problems running a particular PC game? Post your specs. At least one part of your specs will cause everyone to make fun of your computer. I fucking guarantee you.
- Tank Goodness versus Humongous Mecha (Both sides will try to use science and technology to justify their opinion, and some try to compromise by pulling Masamune Shirow into the mix. We won't reveal which side always wins here, to avoid napalm-bombing.)
- Never mention Desert Eagles in gun forums. Never! Unless you're talking about plinking or target shooting, and even then, never on a serious target shooting board.
- Along these lines, though much less potent, never mistake a magazine for a clip on a gun forum.
- M16 vs AK 47, 5.56 vs 7.62, Kimber 1911 vs any other 1911. Interestingly, the only firearm that doesn't get flamed is the Mosin Nagant.
- Meta-parody: Cake vs Pie.
- There's a major flame war waiting to happen if Dane Cook is mentioned. You have people say he's funny, he's not funny, he's only funny because he stole jokes, that jokes really can't be stolen, or that he's only famous because he knows how to exploit the word of mouth method.
- The same may apply to Carlos Mencia.
- Whether or not an airplane on a conveyor belt could take off. It has been confirmed through multiple real-life experiments that yes, it does take off every time, and the scientific explanation is elementary. But someone will always misinterpret the question, repeating "the experiment didn't count because the plane moved and the plane isn't supposed to move" until the thread is locked.
- Chronicles of the Horse was once subject to a flame war so immense that it earned a name: "The Tennessee Walker Wars". More recently, there was a conflict so bad it resulted in the resignation of the admin and death threats being tossed around. Also do not mention Parelli, Rollkur and "Big Lick" Tennessee Walker Horses unless you are prepared to both receive and give flames. Also in the equestrian world: English vs. Western. Oh dear God, English vs. Western...
- The Monty Hall Problem is always good for an argument. In a rare real-life Flame War, when Marylin vos Savant answered it in Parade Magazine, thousands of letters were sent in to berate her for her "obviously" incorrect answer, including almost a thousand from Ph.D.s. Even people who know the correct answer can easily be fooled by variants which are mathematically equivalent.
- Part of that problem is that many people know the answer, but don't fully understand the math. That means that they don't know how to tell if a variant is mathematically equivalent or not.
- Try this on Marilyn's website. Good luck!
- Similar to the above, what NOT to do on Marilyn's website:
- Call Marilyn arrogant;
- Call someone else who mentions their IQ arrogant;
- Say Jarvik gives you the creeps;
- Mention the people who hate Marilyn;
- Claim that Kim Ung Yong or Chris Langan are smarter than Marilyn.
- If you do, duck and cover!
- Mercifully the merging of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car in 2008 finally shut up much of the mud-slinging between each side (not that there were many people left on either side). Woe betide any unwitting newbie who suggested to either side that there was any merit whatsoever in the other series.
- Seen on this Wiki and worse elsewhere: the debate around MarySues, their characteristics, their subtypes etc. Also whether there can be a Canon Sue and whether it's okay to declare a popular character or mythological figure one. Or heck, even discussing whether Mary Sue is really a Bad Writing Trope...
- Mention Boxxy on any popular site with knowledge of internet fads and its userbase will crack in half (support or destroy); 4chan's /b/ crashed under the sheer pain the flame wars over her were causing the server. Also, you'll likely get a temporary ban if you post anything about Boxxy on the chans.
- Furry Fandom, full stop. Mention it on any forum and try not to pass out from the smoke.
- Honey on Vegan forums - whether you can indulge or not. Some say it's an animal byproduct, therefore you can't; some say it's just spit, therefore you can.
- In rpg.net's Tangency board, do not express a strong opinion on any of the following topics: the existence of Bigfoot, the existence of God, breastfeeding, gay marriage, tipping at restaurants, the posters on any other gaming-related forum, banned former rpg.net users.
- Also Michelle Kwan. Don't go there.
- On a certain unnamed Image Board, a good way to start a flame war is to bring up the practice of circumcision. And if you think that's not enough, add in a preference for cut/uncut. Yay s'mores!
- In the Troper IRC Channel, the channel's topic often advises against discussing religion or Faster Than Light Travel. There is a very good reason for this.
- 1. Go into LJ's egl comm or any Elegant Gothic Lolita forum. 2. Mention brand replicas (bonus points if you bring up Bodyline). 3. Sit back, hit F5, and enjoy the fireworks.
- Disney. Toons Vs Tweens. State that 90s-early 2000s Disney cartoons like The Weekenders, Goof Troop, Tale Spin, Recess, Bonkers, or any other shows that were on when 'you-were-a-kid' that you can think of, are way better than the tween crap that Disney spouts now. Fans of Hannah Montana, High School Musical and other recent non-toon live-action productions will have a fit. People who agree with the statement will bash Eisner relentlessly, whether what's being discussed has anything to do with the him or not.
- Say ANYTHING about a major social networking site (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) I guarantee that the discussion will degrade into people ranting about how much they hate these sites and their hatred for anybody who uses them.
- Goku vs Superman. Just try sarting a topic saying either wins. Then you get Goku fanboys saying he is millions of times faster than light and can destroy the universe by powering up, and the Superman fanboys claiming Supes is omnipotent, and he is unbeatable. For added fun, try making a topic on who was the better hero. The flames will be hotter than Supes heat vision.
- Improve your spanish! Go to any film/show/anime dubbed in Spaniard Spanish or Latin American spanish, suggest that as you're familiar with the opposite accent the dub sounds a bit strange for you. Biggest Latin America vs. Spain war since the conquista result with all the injuries spanish language have create. Also woks with European/Brasilian Portuguese.
Real Life
TV Tropes Wiki
- Yes, even TV Tropes is not immune to this. Many Edit Wars have taken place over Macekre and what its definition is until we decided to not have any examples on that page.
- There were also battles over the "I Am Not Making This Up" page when it was deleted.
- Mary Sue.
- God Mode Sue.
- Debates rage over terminology, which words should be used and in what language, meaning and definition. Most bitterly of all, the FORKS vs. SPOON rename debates, like Dojikko vs Cute Clumsy Girl.
- Rape The Dog changing over to Moral Event Horizon.
- Magnificent Bastard seems to be going the same way as "I Am Not Making This Up"
- Do we really have to say it?
- Stop Having Fun Guys.
- Complain About Shows You Don't Like
- This page itself.
- Mainly, people not understanding that this is not a place to post trollbait...
|
|
