History Main / MediationBackfire

** In another episode, Marge nags at a group of Autobots and Deceptions expies to end their war. TimeSkip to a short time later where it's revealed that they teamed up to ''conquer the planet''.

* Witness any police intervention in a domestic argument. (Or anybody else's, but the police are the only ones professionally obliged to stick their heads over the parapet.) What they tend to really hate about such jobs is that even when one partner is clearly being abused, they'll often [[StockholmSyndrome firmly take their abuser's side]].
* This can happen on many internet forums. Trying to end a FlameWar between two or even more users will result in them to take out their frustration on you with heaping insults. Considering that [[InternetJerk it's the internet]], this is no surprise at all.
** This can be particularly amplified when it comes to political, religious, and ideological disputes. Those who take the "centrist/moderate" position often fall victim to this trope.

Subtrope of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, and related to UnwantedAssistance and ContemptCrossfire. Inversion of AppleOfDiscord, when a third party makes two allies ''start'' arguing - this is about making two arguers temporarily join forces against the intruder. Compare/contrast EnemyMine (when two mortal enemies join forces to defeat a mutual threat) and GenghisGambit (where the mediator deliberately invokes this). Contrast ReconcileTheBitterFoes and ThreateningMediator (where the belligerents are united in their fear of the mediator).

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "Showdown at Dark City," Ash and his friends decide to break up a gang war between rival gyms that's destroying the titular city. After he gives them TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, the leaders of both gyms bury the hatchet--and decide to attack Ash. Good thing [[HospitalHottie Nurse Joy]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext was there to save the day]].

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[[quoteright:231:[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peace_09.jpg]]]]

-->'''Revy and Roberta:''' (''simultaneously'') STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THIS!

(''both Ranma and Akane send him airborne'')\\

* In the ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' comic strip, [[KindheartedCatLover Sakaki]] once sees two cats about to fight. She instantly rushes in to stop them, but since [[AnimalsHateHim the affection is one-sided]] [[TheWoobie on Sakaki's part]], they both settle for chomping her hands instead.
* This is a pretty common fate for anyone who steps in between [[Anime/TenchiMuyo Ryoko and Ayeka]]. The biggest one comes towards ''Tsunami'', who finds her explanation about herself and Sasami interrupted because the two are more worried that [[SheIsAllGrownUp Tsunami is gonna be Sasami in the future]] and when she tries to get their attention, they both tell her to shut up!
* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "Showdown at Dark City," Ash and his friends decide to break up a gang war between rival gyms that's destroying the titular city. After he gives them TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, the leaders of both gyms bury the hatchet--and decide to attack Ash. Good thing [[HospitalHottie Nurse Joy]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext was there to save the day]].

* In an early ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' comic strip, activist Mark Slackmeyer tries to quiet down an unruly crowd of disorganized and divided protesters by having them unite under a common goal, and they end up shouting "KILL THE MODERATOR!"
* One ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/21/1d/8f/211d8f8955850921439eb311355deacc.jpg strip]] sees an exchange of snowballs over Snoopy's dog house while he's lying on it. He stands up and gently cautions, "peace." Cue a ''hail'' of snowballs striking him from both sides.

* In the Creator/RobertAsprin book ''[[Literature/MythAdventures The Sweet Myth-tery of Life]]'', Guido describes this as an inevitable result of getting involved in a domestic dispute. As previously shown by Skeeve in ''Hit or Myth'', when he got the reluctantly married king and queen to get along by telling off both of them. (And wisely brought bodyguards when he did it.)
%%* {{Invoked|Trope}} by Creator/{{Saki}} in "Excepting Mrs. Pentherby".
* In ''Literature/DresdenFiles'', Harry tries to defuse what's about to go down between Ebenezer [=McCoy=] and Jaren Kincaid. He ends up with a gun pointed at his face and his spine.
* Discussed and defied by the Feegles in ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'' - "Any man who interferes with the arguin' of women is gonnae find himself with both of them jumpin' up and doon on him in a matter of seconds".
* Invoked by Phule in the first ''Literature/PhulesCompany'' book, where he tells his feuding lieutenants to find common ground "even if it's just what an unreasonable son-of-a-bitch your commanding officer is".

* Played with on ''Series/{{Frasier}}''; Frasier sits Roz and Julia down in the cafe to try to get them to make nice, and when they find common ground insulting him, he graciously leaves them to it. The moment he's gone, though, they both get up to leave, and are bickering again before they reach the door.
* In the ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' episode where [[EvilOldFolks Grandma Ida]] loses a leg [[PetTheDog after saving Dewey, one of her grandsons, from being run over by a truck,]] Lois forces her oldest son, Francis, to take care of Ida until she fully recovers, citing that since he's unemployed at the time he has plenty of time to do so. Francis tells Lois that's a terrible idea because of how much they hate each other, but Lois responds that she doesn't care what it takes for them to get along but he's going to stay with Ida no matter what. When Francis starts pointing out Lois' flaws, Ida adds several other flaws that she's noticed while raising her.
* In the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One With The Racecar Bed", Ross' attempts to endear himself to Rachel's father (who already didn't like Ross ''before'' he found out he'd gotten Rachel pregnant out of wedlock) aren't going well. Rachel's attempts to get them to try and warm up to each other segue into a conversation about Rachel's "specialty" chiropractor, and the two soon find common ground... criticizing Rachel's questionable life choices.
-->'''Ross:''' Wow, this is going so well! Did ya see us? Did ya see?\\
'''Rachel:''' ''(miffed)'' Yeah, honey, I was standing right there. [[SarcasmMode Why don't you just tell him about the mole I haven't gotten checked yet?]]\\
'''Ross:''' ...Excellent! ''(walks off)''

* ''Theatre/WestSideStory'': Tony's attempt to break up the rumble between the Jets and Sharks at Maria's request only serves to raise everyone's tempers, until the situation devolves from what could have been a begrudgingly-honorable, non-lethal fistfight to a knife fight that leaves both Bernardo and Riff dead and sets of the tragic chain reaction of the final act.

* In the ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1622.htm version]] of the scene in Arthurian myth where Sir Beloberis de Ganis gets between Lamorak and Meliagrant, who are dueling over whether Morguase or Guenevere is fairer, pointing out that any knight would consider his own love to be the fairest, they both take this as an insult and turn their lances towards ''him''.

* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig Zagged]] in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Over A Barrel": Pinkie Pie tries to settle tensions between the settlers and the buffalo with a song-and-dance number. They briefly agree... that it's the worst song they've ever heard... and then go back to fighting. Later, just as the buffalo are about to give up their stampede, she reprises it... and they decide to go through with the stampede as a result.

** In [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus chapter 2]], when Moses sees two Israelites fighting with each other, he tries to break it up through mediation, and one of them ends up shouting, "“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" That resulted in Moses running for his life and hiding out in the wilderness of Midian for forty years.

* In the ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' comic strip, [[KindheartedCatLover Sakaki]] once sees two cats about to fight. She instantly rushes in to stop them, but since [[AnimalsHateHim the affection is pretty much one-sided]] [[TheWoobie on Sakaki's part]], they both settle for chomping her hands instead.

* In one ''Webcomic/DorkTower''/''Shop Keep'' strip in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'', Bill is tired of the wargamers, roleplayers, boardgamers and cardgamers calling each other "freak" and "weirdo", and explains to them all that they can all get on, as illustrated by the fact he enjoys playing ''all'' those games. The entire shop concludes that he's a freak and weirdo.

** In [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus chapter 2]], when Moses sees two Israelites fighting with each other, he tries to break it up through mediation, and one of them ends up shouting, "Who appointed you as a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you did the Egyptian?" That resulted in Moses running for his life and hiding out in the wilderness of Midian for forty years.
** [[Literature/BookOfProverbs Proverbs 26:17]] states, "Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own."

* This trope, along with TheMasochismTango, is the entire point of the Edward Albee play ''Theatre/WhosAfraidOfVirginiaWoolf''. George and Martha attack each other at every turn, but take more delight in ganging up to tear apart the innocent young couple they invite round for drinks, ([[TheAlcoholic lots and lots]] [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl of drinks]]). It's heavily implied they do this all the time to keep from killing each other.

* Witness any police intervention in a domestic argument. (Or anybody else's, of course, but the police are the only ones professionally obliged to stick their heads over the parapet.) What they tend to really hate about such jobs is that even when one partner is clearly being abused, they'll often [[StockholmSyndrome firmly take their abuser's side]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

Subtrope of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, and related to UnwantedAssistance and ContemptCrossfire. Inversion of AppleOfDiscord, when a third party makes two allies ''start'' arguing - this is about making two arguers temporarily join forces against the intruder. Compare/contrast EnemyMine, when two mortal enemies join forces to defeat a mutual threat and GenghisGambit (where the mediator deliberately invokes this). Contrast ReconcileTheBitterFoes and ThreateningMediator (where the belligerents are united in their fear of the mediator).

Subtrope of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, and related to UnwantedAssistance and ContemptCrossfire. Inversion of AppleOfDiscord, when a third party makes two allies ''start'' arguing - this is about making two arguers temporarily join forces against the intruder. Compare/contrast EnemyMine, when two mortal enemies join forces to defeat a mutual threat and GenghisGambit (where the mediator deliberately invokes this). Contrast ReconcileTheBitterFoes.

[[folder: Web Comics]]

** In a ColdOpen, J.D. gets an earful from Carla and Elliot after commenting on their argument. When he realizes what he's gotten into, an ImagineSpot shows him pulling a lever that rewinds time to before he to involved. [[HereWeGoAgain He makes the same commments and gets roped in again]].

Subtrope of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished, and related to UnwantedAssistance and ContemptCrossfire. Inversion of AppleOfDiscord, when a third party makes two allies ''start'' arguing - this is about making two arguers temporarily join forces against the intruder. Compare/contrast EnemyMine, when two mortal enemies join forces to defeat a mutual threat and GenghisGambit (where the mediator deliberately invokes this).

** In [[Literature/BookOfExodus Exodus chapter 2]], when Moses was forty years old and sees two Israelites fighting with each other, he tries to break it up through mediation, and one of them ends up shouting, "Who appointed you as a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you did the Egyptian?" That resulted in Moses running for his life and hiding out in the wilderness of Midian for forty years.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' Hank and Cotton, his father, have been more antagonistic lately in the days leading up to Christmas, and wanting to do a good deed, Peggy and Bobby try to get them to get along better, but their efforts do little to decrease the tension. Things escalate when Mr. Strickland offers Hank a promtion and a raise, prompting Hank to say "I love you" to Strickland. When the Hills volunteer to help build a house for an underprivileged family, Cotton throws a tantrum and insults Hank by reminding that he said "I love you" to another man. Peggy, thinking that if Hank say "I love you" to Cotton will make him stop, encourages Hank to say something, and Hank uses the opportunity to say "dad, I hate you!" As Cotton trashes the house further, Peggy and Bobby ask Hank to reconsider what he said, but Hank responds that he's been waiting years to say that, and feels happy to have finally said it, and when Bobby says that he doesn't really mean that, Hank says that nowhere is it written that a father and son have an obligation to love one another. Hank and Cotton only make peace thanks to former president Usefulnotes/JimmyCarter, who was building another house nearby as part of his Habitats for Humanity organization, who was asked by Bobby to mediate the argument because he thought that Carter's initials on his overalls (J.C.) meant UsefulNotes/JesusChrist.

* Literature/TheBible (Proverbs 26:17) -- "Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own."

[[quoteright:231:[{ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peace_09.jpg]]]]

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1623901261037331800
%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:225:[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peace_0.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:225:"Was it something I said?"]]

* This can happen on many internet forums. Trying to end a FlameWar between two or even more users will result in them to take out their frustration on you with heaping insults. Considering that [[{{GIFT}} it's the internet]], this is no surprise at all.

* In the Robert Asprin book ''[[Literature/MythAdventures The Sweet Myth-tery of Life]]'', Guido describes this as an inevitable result of getting involved in a domestic dispute. As previously shown by Skeeve in ''Hit or Myth'', when he got the reluctantly married king and queen to get along by telling off both of them. (And wisely brought bodyguards when he did it.)