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Alice confronts her husband Bob about an affair with Carol. Bob cannot refute her, so he says something that he knows will make her angry at someone else, then proceeds to watch while Alice rants or gets in a fight.

Bob has just played this on Alice. Basically, this trope is when two people are quarreling and one gets the other mad enough at a third party to escape any consequences. Manipulative Bastards tend to be fond of this, and Bob may be pressing Alice's Berserk Button—but carefully enough that she doesn't go off on him. Compare Apple of Discord, which can achieve this less immediately but in greater scale.


Examples:

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     Film  

  • Jack does this in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest:
    Norrington: Do excuse me while I kill the man who ruined my life.
    Will Turner: Be my guest.
    Jack Sparrow: Let us examine that claim for a moment, former Commodore, shall we? Who was it that, at the very moment you had a notorious pirate safely behind bars, saw fit to free said pirate and take your dearly beloved all to hisself, eh? So whose fault is it really that you've ended up a rum-pot deckhand what takes orders from pirates?
    Norrington: Enough!
    [He slashes at Jack, who somersaults off roof, Norrington turns to Will]
    Norrington: Unfortunately, Mr. Turner... HE'S RIGHT!

     Literature  

  • Standard operating procedure for Harry Dresden of The Dresden Files. He usually smarts off to things much more powerful than he, pissing them off so they'll act in anger and make a mistake or give him an opening to work with.
    • In one of the side stories, Harry is facing off against a Grendelkin, and manages to win by pissing off a horde of Malks and aiming them at the monster by casting an illusion spell on Grendelkin to look like Harry.

     Live Action Television  

  • In one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Warren pushes his sexbot's berserk button and aims her at Buffy by claiming to love Buffy.
  • On Friends Ross & Monica start telling on each other to their parents, each one-upping the other on their outrageous behavior, in a back-and-forth, continually failing version of this trope.
    Monica: And Dad, y'know that mailman that you got fired? He didn't steal your Playboys! Ross did!
    Ross: Yeah, well, Hurricane Gloria didn't break the porch swing, Monica did!
    Monica: Ross hasn't worked at the museum for a year!
    Ross: Monica and Chandler are living together!
    Monica: Ross married Rachel in Vegas! And got divorced! Again!
  • Scrubs: JD says something to anger Carla, but before she gets to yell at him, he turns it around on Dr. Kelso, who's very confused by it.
    J.D.: It's not like nurses know everything.
    J.D.'s Inner Monologue: Uh oh. Carla's gearing up to explode. Save yourself. Attempt the casual side switch. [J.D. discreetly steps closer to Carla, looking innocent, and turns to face Dr. Kelso] And, you're there. Now, angry at Kelso.
    J.D.: Bob, how dare you!

     Tabletop Games  

  • In Legend of the Five Rings, one of jester's class abilities is provoking people into a fight. This can be as simple as making an enemy archer angry enough to enter close combat, but a jester can potentially provoke a person without bringing his wrath on himself—starting a fight he doesn't have to take part in.

     Web Original  

  • When The Nostalgia Critic and Linkara have just finished panning Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, and the Critic has compared Linkara's special effects to the movie's.
    Critic: Get over it, you comic geek! Your special effects suck.
    Linkara: Bat-credit card!
    Critic: A BAT CREDIT CARD?!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!!! [goes crazy and shoots things]

     Western Animation  

  • In an episode of American Dad!, Roger discovers that his latest persona, Ricky Spanish, is hated by everyone in town. A mob forms to chase him down. One of the members of the mob is Frankenstein, who is encouraging the mob to go after Roger so that they won't go after him.
  • Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender does this against Zhao in one episode. After realizing that Zhao has no self-control, Aang keeps intentionally irritating Zhao and dodging his fire punches until all the boats are burned.
    Aang: Jeong Jeong said you had no restraint. [jumps away] Have a nice walk home!
  • In the DuckTales (2017) episode "Last Crash of the Sunchaser," when assigning blame for the titular crash, Mrs. Beakly blames Scrooge, who was flying the plane at the time despite being unqualified to do so. Scrooge blames the boys, who distracted him. Louie blames Mrs. Beakly. After a beat, he admits he was just trying to "keep the blame train going."

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