History Main / SillyReasonForWar

* Played for absurdly dark laughs (if not flat-out chillingly straight) with the {{Trope Namer|s}} GeneralRipper in ''Film/DrStrangelove'': his reason to send bombers into Russian airspace with orders to nuke everything that moves is because, essentially, he's blaming them for his sexual hangups. Specifically, he assumed the feeling of post-orgasm lassitude was a plot by Communists to sap--or at least defile--Americans' "vital bodily fluids."

A SubTrope of SeriousBusiness. Related to HumansKillWantonly and FantasticRacism. See FelonyMisdemeanor for when it's humans acting like this, and it doesn't (usually) end in war. Compare PretextForWar, where two sides seize upon any reason they can to go to war, without actually caring about the reason itself. When it's a mere domestic squabble, it might be a ToiletSeatDivorce. See also BlueAndOrangeMorality, which can potentially justify this trope. Sometimes, the real reason is the pride of the rival parties. If so, this would be HonorBeforeReason.

** And she already ''gets'' a pretty large one (which she is using to bankroll her rebellion - why her father is still paying her allowance while she's rebelling is never brought up), which is why her father is so worked up about her demands -- a raise from from 50 gold a month to 200 gold a month is ''not'' chicken feed. Even Lina and Naga think her father is justified in being annoyed when they find out she wants quadruple her monthly allowance.

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' did an anti-prejudice story based on "The Parable of the Good Samaritan" involving two towns on neighboring mountain peaks called Flibber-o-loo, where people wear shoes on their heads, and Jibberty-lot, where people wear pots on their heads. The two towns were locked in an endless war of launching shoes and pots at each over whether shoes or pots were the better headgear. After a boy from Jibberty-lot rescues a man from Flibber-o-loo, the war ends and the two towns switch to throwing flowers and candy at each other.

* PlayedForDrama in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. On the surface, the Civil War is about religious freedom, the Empire having signed a treaty with the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Thalmor]] outlawing the worship of Talos. The Stormcloaks accuse the Empire of being oppressive elven puppets, and the Empire accuses the Stormcloaks of being racist traitors. The thing is, the Empire never really enforced the Talos ban except in the most flagrantly public cases, and before the Civil War just about every home in Skyrim had a shrine to Talos so they could worship in private. And [[ScrewYouElves EVERYONE hates the Thalmor]]. So in practice, the war is between those who want to worship Talos openly and make war on the elves now, and those who want to worship Talos in private until the Empire has the strength to fight the elves later. To make things even worse, some characters imply that the late High King Torygg may very well have agreed with Stormcloak leader Ulfric about openly defying the Talos ban, if Ulfric had just asked him instead of [[MakeMeWannaShout Shouting]] at him until [[YourHeadAsplode his head exploded]].

* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' starts with a dispute over tariffs that make the Trade Federation upset enough to blockade Naboo as a means of protest. It could possibly have been resolved peacefully (the blockade itself is perfectly legal) had Darth Sidious (aka Senator Palpatine) not been a TreacherousAdvisor to them who convinced them to take their grievance much further into unethical and immoral actions, which eventually triggered the Clone Wars, [[ThePurge Order 66]], and Palpatine's rise to power.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jumanji}}'': One episode is centered around the conflict between two warring tribes, one of giant black ants and one of giant red ants, with Judy, Peter and Alan caught in the middle. The former accuse the latter of stealing their "Black Bahoot" and the latter accuse the former of trying to steal their "Red Bahoot". The "Bahoot" turns out to be an apparently useless big ball of slime that, what do you know, happens to be colored black ''and'' red. This is supposed to teach an Aesop on getting along... [[AesopAmnesia until the episode ends with Judy and Peter arguing over who gets the last remaining cookie]], [[HereWeGoAgain just as they were doing in the beginning of the episode]].

* In ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch2'', it's revealed that the yo-kai have been engaged in a civil war that's lasted hundreds of years, with the field being split into the "Bony Spirits" and the "Fleshy Souls". The two sides really don't like each other, and you're told the war began due to either side finding the opposing factions' beliefs disgusting. Then you find out that this disgusting belief is [[spoiler:whether cream or custard filled doughnuts are better, and Arachnus and Toadal Dude's argument over which type of doughnut would be the best birthday present for Lord Enma eventually dragged the other Yo-kai into this]]. Nate/Kate mentions how much of a silly it is to even argue about something like that, let alone have a war over it, particularly since they're basically the same thing anyway.

* The "pro-/anti- Skub" comic from ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'', in which a brawl breaks out over two guys love/hate (PRO-SKUB vs ANTI-SKUB) of a brand of lotion. In certain circles, "Skub" has becomd a byword for pointless bickering over nonsense.

* The "pro-/anti- Skub" comic from ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'', in which a brawl breaks out over two guys love/hate (PRO-SKUB vs ANTI-SKUB) of a brand of lotion.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE60TheIceCreamWars The Ice Cream Wars]]", two ice cream makers become embroiled in a conflict fought with actual (if food-shooting) tanks, all because one of them dropped a recipe in his ice cream and though the other stole it.

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' did an anti-prejudice story involving two towns on neighboring mountain peaks called Flibber-o-loo, where people wear shoes on their heads, and Jibberty-lot, where people wear pots on their heads. The two towns were locked in a ForeverWar of launching shoes and pots at each over whether shoes or pots were the better headgear. (It was also an adaptation of "The Parable of the Good Samaritan".)

* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' did an anti-prejudice storyline involving two nations on the other side of a mountain who were at war because one of the nations wanted to wear shoes on their heads, and the other wanted to wear cooking utensils on their heads. (It was also an adaptation of "The Parable of the Good Samaritan".)

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': In one episode, the chargers go to a planet where it looks like the (comically identical) aliens are fighting over being different colors. Each gives group gives the "self-defense" excuse, then it appears to be a religious squabble, and ''then'' both generals admit to using war as a scapegoat for all their problems. In the end, Ben pulls a TakeAThirdOption by accidentally destroying the giant statue of their former united leader (while trying to paint it purple to stop the Blue vs. Red war), turning both sides against him. The episode ends with the same little alien girl who wrote to Ben asking for help at the beginning, writing him a letter about how much she hates him now (but she does reveal that her world [[ZeroApprovalGambit has finally found internal peace as they unify against their new common enemy]]).