Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"[[Stiff Upper Lip|I fear that]] all we have done is to [[Trope Namer|awaken a sleeping giant]] and [[This Means War|fill him with]] [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|a terrible resolve]]."|[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Attributed to]] '''Naval Marshal General Isoroku Yamamoto''', after the attack on [[World War II|Pearl Harbor]]}}

In most conflicts, there are a variety of neutral parties. From the [[Precursors]] to the [[Retired Badass]] to the [[King in Thethe Mountain]] to the [[Hidden Elf Village]], they always exist. And there's usually one that can [[Curb Stomp Battle|kick the shit out of]] [[Melee a Trois|both other sides at the same time]], [[Cherry Tapping|using only a kitchen whisk]] [[Improbable Weapon User|and a sheet of tissue paper]]. But... they're not involved. So don't ask them for help, because [[Obstructive Code of Conduct|they will refuse to get involved]].

* The Flying Pussyfoot arc of ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano!]]!'' would already have been [[Gambit Pileup|a clusterfuck]]: A cult, a bunch of [[Ax Crazy]] mafia goons, and a gang of delinquents were all planning to attack the train, which also happened to be carrying three immortals, the wife and daughter of an influential senator, and a [[Badass Bystander|surprisingly badass]] agent of ''[[Knowledge Broker|The Daily Days]]''. However, one of those mafia guys made a huge mistake: he killed the elderly conductor Tony, then tried to kill a {{spoiler|younger conductor when he found out}}. Unfortunately for him, his would-be victim was {{spoiler|Claire Stanfield}}, a [[Charles Atlas Superpower|nigh-unstoppable]], [[Ax Crazy]], [[Crazy Awesome]] [[Badass]] [[Professional Killer]] and [[Torture Technician]] who did not appreciate someone murdering his mentor. [[Gorn|Carnage ensues]] as the Rail Tracer makes its merry, blood-soaked way up the length of the train.

* In the original [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]], Darkseid is somewhat of a example of this.

== FanfictionFan Works ==

* Moloch from ''[[Aeon Natum Engel (Fanfic)|Aeon Natum Engel]]'' fits the trope, and it didn't end well for anybody, Moloch included.

* In ''[[Renegade (Fanficfanfic)|Renegade]]'', the Batarian Hegemony did this to the Global Defense Initiative by continuously supporting pirate and slaver raids into GDI territory in an effort to impede their colonization efforts. [[Disproportionate Retribution|GDI expressed their disapproval quite violently.]] In addition, [[Word of God]] is that the Scrin {{spoiler|are apparently trying to avoid doing this to the Reapers.}}

* While the governement was favorable to help the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, the Earth Alliance in ''[[The Dilgar War (Fanfic)|The Dilgar War]]'' is initially neutral between the Dilgar and the League, save for a little tidbid: the Dilgar were to not invade the Markab and the Mentab. When the Warmaster Council vote to invade the Markab to reach the Vree ([[Ignored Expert|with Jha'dur saying that attacking the Markab was an immensely stupid act exactly because Earth protected them]]), the Dilgar curbstomps the Markab fleet only to meet Earthforce and a [[Macross Missile Massacre]] of [[Nuke'Em|nuclear weapons]] ([[No Kill Like Overkill|about a dozen nuke for every ship the Dilgar had in that battle]]).

* The United States as per the final voice over of the trope quote in ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!]]''. Maybe Yamamoto never said it - but he should have.

** In Peter Jackson's [[The Lord of the Rings (Filmfilm)|film adaptation]], the ents decided ''not'' to intervene -- untilintervene—until Merry and Pippin steered them toward the site where all the trees had been burned down.

* This is the premise of the next few ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'' Novels, with the giant in question being a ''massive'' star nation whose populace comprises 80% of all of humanity in the galaxy.

* [[The Culture]], from the [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks]] novels. From ''[[The Culture/Use of Weapons|Use of Weapons]]'': "You might call them soft, because they're very reluctant to kill, and they might agree with you, but they're soft the way the ocean is soft, and, well; ask any sea captain how puny and harmless the ocean can be." Or, if that's a bit flowery for you, there's the universal adage of the civilizations which have dealings with them; "Do not fuck with The Culture." See ''Consider Phlebas'' and ''Look to Windward'' for what happens when those civilizations don't follow that advice.

* Another [[Iain M Banks|Iain M. Banks]] example: in the non-Culture novel ''[[The Algebraist]]'', the Dwellers (in gas giants) have a reputation for wiping out civilizations that piss them off...but they don't care what the inhabitants of rocky Earthlike planets do to each other as long as they leave the Dwellers alone. One of the book's many subplots concerns trying to persuade the Dwellers to help defeat an invasion fleet ''before'' they get around to attacking the local gas giant.

* The protagonist becomes the ultimate Even Bigger Neutral by the Third (and last) Part of ''[[Tranquilium]]''. He has some very long-term plans in operation, but mostly he just [[Orcus Onon His Throne|sits there, confusing enemies and allies alike with his apparent inactivity]]. Then a [[Path of Inspiration|cult]] kidnaps his son to either use him for or blackmail his father into working with their occult plans. The father arrives and dismantles the entire cult, dashing their last chance to carry out their scheme in the process and finishing with a ([[Knight in Sour Armor|jaded]]) good guy version of the [[Hannibal Lecture]].

* Narrowly averted in the first ''[[Command and& Conquer]]'':

{{quote| '''Seth:''' Kane's been loathe to attack America, but I feel that it's time, and that you're the one to do it. This is the Pentagon. A full frontal attack with your strongest forces should render their military center of operation-- '''[[Killed Mid-Sentence|*BLAM*]]'''}}

* In [[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]], the Evil Empire wakes up the sleeping magic creatures. They aren't happy about this.

** Along that same line, in [[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|VII]] humanity finally pisses of Mother Nature enough that she awakens the Weapons, literal sleeping giants. There is no [[Gaia's Vengeance|vengeance like a Gaia scorned]].

* Yukari Yakumo of ''[[Touhou (Video Game)|Touhou]]'' is a powerful [[Reality Warper]] who's normally too lazy to get involved in anything. However, in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'', [[Light Is Not Good|Tenshi Hinanai]] destroys and then subverts the Hakurei shrine, putting Yukari's precious Gensokyo Barrier in jeopardy. When Yukari finally catches her, we see for the first time just what Yukari looks like when she's truly angry.

* Begnion in ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius (Video Game)|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]''. There is a war between two similarly sized nations, immediately south and bordering both of them is one three times as big as the two put together.

* Both ''[[Galactic Civilizations]]'' and ''[[Mass Effect]]'' have a strange version of this. In both series, the humans are the galactic newcomers with little military to speak of, but our tenacity, bravery and the speed of build-up from token military into a powerhouse REALLY''really'' scares the other races. In ''Gal Civ'', the Drengin (an evil warrior race) are scared of the humans and in ''ME'' the turians (the resident galactic police race) generally don't harbor a grudge over the [[We Come in Peace, Shoot Toto Kill|First Contact War]], but rather because they're the big, bad military and while the humans are a much smaller force, we're just as good, and did it in a tenth the time.

* [[Played Straight]] and [[Discussed]] in the ''[[Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|Thundercats (2011)]]'' episode "Between Brothers" when the usualy pacifist Elephants, previously [[Obstructive Code of Conduct|constrained]] by a need to meditate on their every dilemma, decide to enter the fight against the [[Lizard Folk|Lizards]]:

{{quote| '''[[Keet|Wilykit]]''': You just woke a village of [[Shout-Out|sleeping giants]]!<br />

'''[[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|Ssslithe]]''': The elephants... [[This Cannot Be!|the elephants never fight]]!<br />

**** Rather disputable, considering his long-term aims and desires for revenge from [[World War OneI]]. Western Europe and beyond was not just a target of opportunity.

** In December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy implemented its 'southern strategy' before its fuel reserves ran out under the United States' oil embargo. Invading British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, they also took the American [[Banana Republic|Philippines]] and attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Cabinet had, however, made a grievous error: the USA's national pride was such that it would much rather fight an incredibly expensive war that had little to do with it than be seen to back down, especially not to a non-European power. The film depiction in ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!]]'' provides the [[Trope Namer|trope-naming]] quotation.

** Pearl Harbor was rather inept as a First Strike - but in all fairness, it was supposed to ''deter'' US entry into the war. <ref> Why 'inept'? Well, it did just enough damage to shock, enrage, unify, and motivate America like nothing else could, while doing as little truly significant damage as possible. Most of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor were relatively easily raised, repaired, refitted, and sent back into the war. In the biggest naval battle in history (Battle of Leyte Gulf), these [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] battleships utterly annihilated a third of the remaining Japanese fleet. Hundreds of aircraft were destroyed, but they were all very outdated or obsolete anyway. The massive oil reserves, submarine pens, intelligence/cryptology buildings, and most of the cruisers and destroyers were untouched, and none of the three fleet carriers were even there. And, because the attack took place in the middle of a very shallow harbor in warm waters, surrounded by military bases and a city, relatively few people died. So the end results? America began relying on what it had left, which turned out to be the most effective possible means to fight Japan--submarines, intelligence, and carriers with destroyer/cruiser support. Further, it made Japan extremely overconfident, as they thought that battleships were the true capital ships of the day, and that by destroying America's battleships, they had essentially struck a fatal blow. This actually also applied to America, who thought that it had taken far more crippling damage than it actually had, galvanizing its population and military like never before. As a result, you'd see marines, crews, and pilots alike going [[Beyond the Impossible]] against Japan. The only truly major damage done was to morale--which was remedied by the Doolittle Raid, whereby large (but stripped down) bombers would be launched from aircraft carriers deep in Japanese waters to fly over Tokyo, bomb some targets of opportunity, and try to reach Free China (some didn't even have enough fuel to make as far as Korea). This turned out to be the opposite of Pearl Harbor--extremely cost effective, a huge morale boost for America, a major blow to Japanese confidence (which caused them to call back their entire carrier force that was wrecking Allied assets near India for a while), and caused a lot of confusion for Japan (as they wondered where these heavy bombers had come from, since even the idea of launching them from a carrier would never even occur to them).</ref> The whole thing would appear to be a case of the Empire's top echelons believing what they want to believe, rather than what their intelligence analysts tell them. What's more, this [[Second Sino -Japanese War|wasn't the first time]] they had so grossly misread another country's motivations; that they even went to war with Britain and the Netherlands - and the USA - is a testament to this inability.

* Even American historians agree that the US's decision to declare war on the most powerful country in the world in [[The War of 1812|1812]] was a monumentally stupid thing to do.

[[Category:AwakeningCorruption The Sleeping GiantTropes]]