History Main / AttackBackfire

* In the seventh issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Doctor Destiny (John Dee) tries to kill Dream by destroying Dream's ruby. But instead of destroying Dream, this action restored Dream's health by releasing Dream's power from the ruby.

* In the seventh issue of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Doctor Destiny (John Dee) tries to kill Dream by destroying Dream's ruby. Instead of killing Dream, destroying the ruby restored Dream's power and health.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E2TheHandOfFear "The Hand of Fear"]] the MonsterOfTheWeek uses possession to invade a nuclear power plant and expose itself to hard radiation. The RAF's solution is to nuke it.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]], the MonsterOfTheWeek [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seems to enjoy]] the sonic screwdriver.

[[folder:Pinball]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->'''Cain:''' ''HEAL!''
-->'''Cain:''' Oh no, it didn't work, I just healed it!

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'', this happens in ''[[Franchise/MortalKombat Goro]] vs. [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Machamp]]''. Specifically, Goro burns Machamp with his Dragon's Breath. This turns out to be a very bad idea, as it triggers Machamp's Guts ability, boosting its power.
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', Hazel attempts to electrocute Nora... whose semblance allows her to [[FeedItWithFire convert electricity into physical strength]]. She then proceeds to throw him off her and deal a solid hit with her hammer.

This is for when something that is used against a particular character is either beneficial and/or pleasant to that character or at least perceived by that character as such.

* Zig-zagged in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' when [[spoiler:Lust]] breaks a waterpipe to soak Mustang's gloves, [[WeaksauceWeakness rendering his fire alchemy useless]]. His array still works, however, so he simply breaks the water down into hydrogen and oxygen, and how has even ''more'' material to work with than before. [[KillItWithFire Then he borrows Havoc's lighter.]] [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the lighter is damaged in the following explosion, and they still don't realize just how potent Lust's HealingFactor is, so she's able to surprise them while they're looking for her body. At that point, the element of surprise and the loss of the gloves gives her enough of an edge to stab both Mustang and Havoc.]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]], the MonsterOfTheWeek [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seems to enjoy]] the sonic screwdriver.

* In ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'', this happens in ''[[Franchise/MortalKombat Goro]] vs. [[Franchise/Pokemon Machamp]]''. Specifically, Goro burns Machamp with his Dragon's Breath. This turns out to be a very bad idea, as it triggers Machamp's Guts ability, boosting its power.

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', Dragon/God/Devil Slayer Magic also let the user replenish his health and magic by eating the same element as their own. This is first seen in Natsu's battle against StarterVillain Bora, with the latter engulfing Natsu in purple flames, only for the latter to literally devour the fire, commenting on its terrible taste.

!! Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode ''Vincent and the Doctor'', the MonsterOfTheWeek [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seems to enjoy]] the sonic screwdriver.

[[folder:Pinballs]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Karma finally comes for [[spoiler:Izaya]] when they try to [[spoiler:kill off Shizuo]]. His plan was to [[spoiler:suffocate Shizuo on a building undergoing construction and then blow him up]]. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:Celty intervened]], leaving [[spoiler:Shizuo in an area filled with his [[WeaponOfChoice large, metal poles]] and an even stronger need to murder the informant]].

See also ShootingSuperman, where rather than backfire it does what the audience expects: nothing.

* ''Literature/TheAtrocityArchive'' has Bob and the OCCULUS team following the threat through to a frozen world where [[StupidJetpackHitler the Nazis summoned a Great Old One to win WWII... and it didn't end well for them]]. The plan is to retrieve the hostage, then leave a nuke to blow the site, and the threat, sky high. [[spoiler: At least, until Bob realizes that the threat feeds off of energy and entropy, meaning blowing up a nuke would give it enough strength to force its way through to our world.]]

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/{{Dazzler}}'' when she was blackmailed into being a research subject at Project: Pegasus the villain Klaw who was also a prisoner there (as the project studied supervillains with energy-related powers) thought he'd use Dazzler due to her naivete to escape, not realizing her power was to absorb an infinite amount of sound and store it to convert into light. Being a creature of pure sound energy all his attack did was push her power into overdrive resulting in his being completely consumed by her.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheTwelveTasksOfAsterix'', one of the tasks is beating Cilindric, the German, a tiny man with a blackbelt. He easily throws Obelix around while explaining to a curious Asterix that he uses the weight and speed of Obelix against him. The more Obelix tries to hurt Cilindric, the more easily does the guy defeat him and the duo only beat him by Asterix provoking a lesson in the fighting technique to use it against the man himself.

-->'''Jarvis:''' Power at 400% capacity.\\

-->'''Captain America:''' [''impatiently''] Are we done here?
* A literal version occurs in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.

* In one of the ''Literature/BloodSword'' gamebooks you could try dealing with a huge Djinni by blasting it with the Orb of Fire. He finds it refreshing and it doesn't end well for the character attempting it...
* In ''Literature/PresterJohnSaga'', you can encounter two Magma Men. If you try to attack them and use the Eye of Horus (a magical amulet that shoots a OneHitKill surge of red energy) the blast won't harm them, but will turn them into Diamond Men, making them even more dangerous than before.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Mermaid Man mistakes Spongebob for evil and attacks with his trademark Water Balls. Spongebob isn't affected by it, because as a sponge, he absorbs it. Then he and Barnacle Boy use their Raging Whirlpool, Spongebob and Patrick only enjoyed the ride because it was just plain weak.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', enemies referred to as 'Class-5' such as Gigabyte and the Web Virus cannot be attacked with energy weapons because they will just feed on the energy and grow stronger.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Shushu]] [[SealedEvilInACan Rubilax]] has this as his power: normally he's a bulky but small demon, but each physical blow he'll receive will cause him to grow bigger and stronger. The more he's hit, the bigger he becomes. [[spoiler: This is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turned against him twice]].]] In Season 2 there's the greater Shushu Anathar, who can perfectly replicate all kind of magic used against him, including Rubilax's own power. At one point he even makes himself larger by hitting himself with Rubilax.