History Main / UnacceptableTargets

* While both series have suffered heavy SeasonalRot, bashing on the golden eras (for the former, it's usually up to and including the movie, and for the latter, it's usually up to and including ''Videogame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'', which qualify as well, see Video Games example above) of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' are HUGE no-nos around hardcore cartoon fans.

* One of the reasons the Gene Deitch-directed ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoons are so reviled is due to them giving Tom a FatBastard owner who often gave him a heavy thrashing even at the slightest provocation, and the very highly received change to the ''Tom and Jerry'' formula far before is changing of the animal sounds to human sounds.

* Despite the fact that ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' makes jokes at characters in the series who have disabilities, it's generally better received because (1) The jokes generally have nothing to do with their disabilities (though it may appear that way when they are first introduced as a grotesque figure with a silly voice), and (2) The only time someone makes fun of a character's disability, they're usually shown to be a {{Jerkass}}, with Cartman usually making such jokes. A popular reference is the Tourette's syndrome episode, which shows the disability in its form beyond HollywoodTourettes, with the only exception being Eric Cartman, which is justified since he's faking it. Another example is Jimmy and Timmy who have become part of the regular cast and weren't treated as gimmicky one-shot joke characters.

One of the most unforgettable Chinese people in the Chinese-speaking community was the famous Hong Kong singer Wong Ka Kui. He was the youngest member and the co-founder of the famous (and now-disbanded) Beyond team, but he died in an accident in a Japanese game show in 1993 at the age of 33. Please note that any insults and mockery of Wang will get you intense backlash from the Chinese-speaking community (and the Canton-pop fanbase).

Since Gandhi laid the foundations for modern India and ended British rule, he is extremely revered over there, and any mocking of him will get you skinned alive.

** The most egregious example of people messing with these guys and regretting it are the writers of a short-lived, [[BlackComedy "edgy"]] ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' [[FollowTheLeader copy]] on Australia's Creator/NetworkTen, known as ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Tench_Tonight David Tench Tonight]]'', which Murray and Anthony appeared on. When the animated (not to mention [[{{Jerkass}} crude and loudmouthed]]) host joked about killing [[BigFriendlyDog Wags the Dog]], [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dorothy the Dinosaur]] going savage during a concert and turning [[FunnyOctopus Henry the Octopus]] into sushi, Anthony almost passed out and Murray (as well as the rest of the audience) thought that [[DudeNotFunny none of these "jokes" at their expense was funny]], to the point where the writers had to formally apologize to the band.

SacredCow is a SubTrope to this. Contrast with AcceptableTargets. Compare with EvenEvilHasStandards, JesusWasWayCool, HundredPercentAdorationRating, TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, and DudeNotFunny. Some situations can result in heavy UnfortunateImplications, {{Double Standard}}s, PositiveDiscrimination, and ValuesDissonance in which TheRival or the counterpart of the Unacceptable Target can become AcceptableTargets.

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* Believe it or not, yes. Online references to Franchise/WinnieThePooh are often blocked because of a running joke about how President Xi Jinping resembles Pooh. However, it doesn't stop some people living outside of the Chinese mainland mocking the president Xi.

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* Once UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher died, plenty of people who felt screwed over by her government started rejoicing, and the press [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2307104/Margaret-Thatcher-death-party-This-lack-respect-dead-disturbing-new-low.html reacted]] [[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-death-etiquette in disgust]]. (The latter article even compares this attitude to their obituary of controversial UsefulNotes/HugoChavez: "To the millions who revered him –- a third of the country, according to some polls –- a messiah has fallen, and their grief will be visceral. To the millions who detested him as a thug and charlatan, [[SpeakIllOfTheDead it will be an occasion to bid, vocally or discreetly, good riddance.]]")
** On the week of Thatcher's death, the song "Ding, Dong, the Witch Is Dead" from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' skyrocketed to the top of the pop charts in Britain. A campaign to get a pro-Thatcher indie song from the early '80s to the top didn't work out nearly as well.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is well-known for its incredible hand-drawn animation that emulates [[InkblotCartoonStyle cartoons from the 1930's]]. The game was a passion project for brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer - [[DoingItForTheArt they were so dedicated to the project]] that they ''mortgaged their house'' to fund it before receiving funding from EA later on. Between the game's [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt fluid animation]], [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic fantastic big band/orchestral soundtrack]], and tons of subtle details and references, players everywhere have poured out their praise on this game, especially in an era where hand-drawn animation is a dying art form in an industry dominated by CGI and other digital forms of animation. This praise was only exacerbated by the ''Delicious Last Course'' expansion, in which the animation and music are widely agreed to be ''even better'' than in the base game.

* Do not say you hate ''Series/YoGabbaGabba''. It will not end well.
* Do NOT say anything negative about ''Series/TheSunnySideUpShow'' and ''Series/TheGoodNightShow''. It also won't end well. If you do, fans are within earshot.

* In Aung San Suu Kyi's official Facebook statement about Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar in January of 2020, president Xi's name was auto-translated from Burmese to English as "[[https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/18/facebook-xi-jinping-mr-shithole Mr. Shithole]] [[note]]"Xi" and "shi" are prouncuned similarly[[/note]]". Facebook later apologized for the [[BlindIdiotTranslation auto-translation error.]]

* In Aung San Suu Kyi's official Facebook statement about Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar in January of 2020, president Xi's name was auto-translated from Burmese to English as "[[https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/18/facebook-xi-jinping-mr-shithole Mr. Shithole]]"[[note]]"Xi" and "shi" are prouncuned similarly[[/note]]. Facebook later apologized for the [[BlindIdiotTranslation auto-translation error.]]

* It's never a good idea to say anything negative about ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' or Steve Burns.

It's generally not a good idea to make fun of any sort of disability. If you do, expect anything from DudeNotFunny to people wanting to chew you out/kick your butt. Note, however, that persons with disabilities can and do poke fun at ''themselves'' (Josh Blue, for instance, has cerebral palsy and gets good laughs at its expense). It's also okay to satirize negative portrayals of disability to show that the people who made the original piece are bigots. For example, an Autism Speaks infomercial has gotten this '''in spades'''.

* In April of 2022, Ukraine has tweeted a video celebrating the defeat of fascism and features the portraits of the three major Axis leaders of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, one of them including Emperor Hirohito. However, after complaints from Japanese, Ukraine apologized and posted an edited video which removed Hirohito.

Iwata, combined with DeadArtistsAreBetter, is more or less impossible to make fun of nowadays, due to stories about his [[SugarWiki/GeniusProgramming expert programming skills]] and how he took pay cuts from his salary instead of lay off workers, which is a large contrast to how other companies prefer to have mass layoffs or hire and fire developers in a short timespan, something that Creator/JimSterling has taken note of multiple times. There also the fact that Iwata's last communication with fans was in response to the backlash at Nintendo's E3 2015 announcements, which was Iwata promising that next year would be better. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see next year, and to this days, fans are still bitter about how [[PartingWordsRegret their last words to Iwata was them being angry and complaining]].
* Scott Ramsoomair used Iwata's death as a quick joke in one ''Webcomic/VGCats'' in which Leo and Aeris loudly proclaimed it to secure a win in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''; the backdraft can be described as "flame unto a dry forest", and the comic was edited quickly to remove the offending gag.

!!'''Arahani and nuns'''
In UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, arahani and nuns were a part of the religion for many decades. But according to the Buddhism, you can't think of disrespect and insult them or for worse, raping them, or this will not gonna end well for all the enterity. ''Ever.'' Please kept that in mind.

* If a musician died young, it's usually a bad idea to criticize their music (see also: DeadArtistsAreBetter) because people who ''do'' like them will treat you like you just sprouted horns and a tail. God help you if you say in public that you don't care for music made by Music/JohnLennon, [[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]], Music/FreddieMercury, Music/KurtCobain, Music/JimiHendrix, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/AmyWinehouse, or countless other dead musicians.

* Creator/CDProjektRED once enjoyed unacceptable target status for making the highly-acclaimed ''Videogame/TheWitcher'' series, operating ''Website/GOGDotCom'', and not using {{UsefulNotes/DRM}}. However, they lost this status ''hard'' after the release of ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', since the game could be charitably described as "buggy and not up to all the promotional promises" or uncharitably described as "a disaster". Not to mention the reports of unhealthy work demands on CDPR employees, and as well as the cancellation of ''[[VideoGame/{{Devotion}} Devotion's]] launch on GOG.com in December of 2020 due to an placeholder asset controversy (see "Specific people" folder and "Xi Jinping" section for other details). ''Cyberpunk 2077'' has improved a lot with updates and the anger has mostly died down, but CDPR are still considered fair game for criticism and mockery. The lesson: Gamers are a fickle bunch.

* Creator/CDProjektRED once enjoyed unacceptable target status for making the highly-acclaimed ''Videogame/TheWitcher'' series, operating ''Website/GOGDotCom'', and not using {{UsefulNotes/DRM}}. However, they lost this status ''hard'' after the release of ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', since the game could be charitably described as "buggy and not up to all the promotional promises" or uncharitably described as "a disaster". Not to mention the reports of unhealthy work demands on CDPR employees. ''Cyberpunk 2077'' has improved a lot with updates and the anger has mostly died down, but CDPR are still considered fair game for criticism and mockery. The lesson: Gamers are a fickle bunch.

Hồ Chí Minh was a prominent (yet controversial) Vietnamese leader and communist revolutioner during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the liberation of French Indochina, and UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, in which he have leaded his Vietnamese army to drive out the Japanese, French, and the Americans. He has died before the Vietnam War even ended. After the war, the communist-liberated Saigon was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City in his honor. He was still remembered by many Vietnamese to this day, so any criticism (or insults) of him will make the entire Vietnamese population angry at you, and even you have a chance where you get trouble with authorities there.

* Used in-universe in ''[[WebComic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dr. McNinja]]'', with "Nasaghasts" that ruthlessly hunt down and destroy anyone who threatens or tries to harm an astronaut. Doesn't matter why you do it; if you do something mean to an astronaut, you're going down.

** Some villains, like [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} Tony Montana]], make it clear that just because they're outlaws [[EvenEvilHasStandards doesn't mean they don't have morals]]. Even if they've [[MoralEventHorizon crossed the line]] in other actions, they'll do so [[WouldntHurtAChild just as it doesn't involve harming children]].

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*** Interestingly enough, ''Mother 3'' is actually looked at with a generally ''very'' negative fan sentiment from its home country, as explained halfway through [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2012/11/earthbound-central-qa-5/ this Q&A article]] from [=EarthboundCentral=] — perhaps, in America, due in large part to being officially unreleased, and the massive work of the fan-translation project several years later, ''Mother 3'' is seen as a Sacred Cow and Unacceptable Target in the West...but in Japan, that particular installment is ridiculed, bashed, and hated on the Japanese internet. Often. With many Japanese fans even considering Itoi to be "a washed-up old hack". Quite a strange example of region-specific aversion in the case of ''Mother 3''. However, of course, ''Mother 2''[=/=]''[=EarthBound=]'' is still very much true to this trope no matter which side of the Pacific you reside on, as is ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER|1}}'' to a lesser extent...unless you want to mock the extreme difficulty of the first game, particularly the final area or if you are [[WebOriginal/{{Chrontendo}} Dr. Sparkle]] (He noted that it were mainly the pop culture elements that made the game unique and that it would otherwise have been a generic RPG and that the game had lots of flaws. He still said that it was the one of the two best games of the episodes (tied up with ''Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti'')).

** If you don't care for the ''Videogame/{{Kirby}}'' series, it's okay, but if you openly say you ''hate'' it, chances are high you will be bashed as "edgy" for hating cuteness.

* Creator/{{Valve}} games, particularly ''Videogame/HalfLife'', including the spinoffs ''Opposing Force'' and ''Blue Shift'', ''Videogame/HalfLife2'' and its episodes, ''Videogame/{{Portal}}'' and [[Videogame/Portal2 its sequel]], ''Videogame/TeamFortress2'', and ''Videogame/CounterStrike'', with the exception of CS:GO (due to the mockery associated with the often toxic esports community, its skin and crate based economy breeding scammers and in response, strict market or gameplay limitations, also controversial changes Valve done to the game), Counter-Strike Nexon Zombies (due it being a blatant [[PanderingToTheBase pandering]] AllegedlyFreeGame with poor balancing), and ''Videogame/{{Artifact}}'' (due to being something nobody asked for as well as pricey entry price for card games).

** Special mention goes to ''Videogame/Left4Dead'', where ''Videogame/Left4Dead2'' were criticized hard for being a quickly-made sequel made to cash in the then-new IP while it was three years after Episode Two of Half-Life 2 ended in cliffhanger, but it died down as Left 4 Dead 2 turns out to be an EvenBetterSequel and all contents from the first Left 4 Dead is available to Left 4 Dead 2 as of 2011, two years after its initial release.
** Then came 2020, where ''Videogame/HalfLifeAlyx'' was released, as not only the game is well-made and praised by pretty much everyone who can afford VR and the game, but the game managed to tease continuation of Half-Life with a twist nobody expected.
** In the subject of fan-games, ''Videogame/BlackMesa'', as it succeeded to bring in ''Half-Life'' to modern sensibilities, to the point that Dario Casali, long-time Valve developer who also worked on ''Half-Life: Alyx'', used ''Black Mesa'' as a reference to readjust to the series during development after finding out it's more fun to play with than the original ''Half-Life''.
* Despite negative stereotypes among common gamers concerning [[AllegedlyFreeGame free-to-play]] [[BribingYourWayToVictory games]], {{Videogame/Warframe}} has been praised as an example of Free-to-play game done right, with surprisingly reasonable amount of monetization versus the unusually high production value and active community-developer relations of the live service-based MMO.
* Tied with ''The Simpsons'' example below, ''Videogame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' is well liked due to the game's nigh perfect attempt to recapture the feel and jokes of the show (though LighterAndSofter in attempt to make it family friendly, despite eventually rated Teen), amazing voice acting and soundtrack, and being a WideOpenSandbox that faithfully recreate Springfield, though it was split into three different sections.

Make no mistake, [[{{Hypocrite}} Felicity]] [[CreatorsPet Smoak]] is far and away the most hated character in the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' for many reasons, but her actress Creator/EmilyBettRickards is ''firmly'' off limits. She is seen as an outright saint in real life - she has raised money for charitable causes dedicated to fing auto-immune diseases, sponsored a scholarship worth upwards of $250,000 out of her own pocket, is very nice and personable to her fans, and did "[[ShownTheirWork tons of research]]" when she discovered Felicity would become paralyzed. If anything, she is the most pitied out of everyone involved with the show since she's had to watch her character's reputation go down the drain through no fault of her own.

[[quoteright:350:[[Creator/JimmyCarr https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8qyzo71ryzm11.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Some remarks use the whole matchbox to start fires.]]

* Conservative Folk album ''The Goldwaters Sing Folk Songs to Bug the Liberals'' was originally writen to mock John F. Kennedy's presidency. Once he lost his life at the hands of an anonymous assassin, any references to Kennedy were removed from the final album.