Conflict Ball: Difference between revisions
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In a nutshell, it's a character having a conflict for reasons that are either weak, or contradict previous characterization.
For example: Why is [[The Lancer]] [[Commander Contrarian|disagreeing]] with [[The Big Guy]] on the way to [[Storming the Castle|infiltrate the enemy base?]] The Lancer actually suggested similar plans before. In fact, it's The Lancer's favorite kind of plan, so why is he disagreeing with it now? He never says. It's just so The Lancer can [[Ineffectual Loner|go off on his own, screw up]], [[Distress Ball|get captured and be rescued]], and then [[An Aesop|learn a valuable lesson]] [[The Power of Friendship|about teamwork]], that he will [[Aesop Amnesia|just forget]] the next time he is handed the
As we all know, [[Conflict]] is the driving force of a story. As we also know, [[Sturgeon's Law|not all writers are good at pulling it off]]. So we often get conflict either out of nowhere or based on trite or contrived reasons. Much like [[Poor Communication Kills]], this is done to keep the plot moving, or at the least to [[Railroading|Railroad]] it to where the author wants it to go.
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== Comicbooks ==
* The [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]] in [[Marvel Comics]]. Many characters are fighting over the issue of a [[Super Registration Act]], but insist on [[Let's You and Him Fight]] with some of their fastest friends rather than getting their act together to prove their case (pro or anti) and finding a solution that doesn't result in very necessary heroes being hunted down like dogs, or ''more'' battles as the pro and anti sides fight and invariably give villains free rein in the chaos. In the end, the Pro side got [[Designated Villain
** Also, one of the ''leading advocates'' of the new [[Super Registration Act]], [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]], had previously [[Aesop Amnesia|singlehandedly thwarted an attempt at what was apparently the exact same thing]]. While it's hard to be sure since Marvel never bothered to tell readers ''exactly'' what was in the new version (or the old one for that matter), and it was inconsistently described from one comic to the next, the only thing we know for sure is different between the two is that the version Reed ''supports'' involves [[Designated Hero|permanently imprisoning violators in what amounts to]] '''[[Designated Hero|Hell]]''', while the one he opposed did not.
*** Which was, infuriatingly, never really explained, except with some blanket implications that lots of supers on the Pro side did it because it was "rational" given the political climate. This of course falls straight into the
* In a [[Black Panther]] comic, T'Challa is explaining his plan to take out a vampire infested city to Luke Cage, Brother Voodoo and Blade. Blade tells T'Challa that just because he runs a country doesn't mean he can tell him what to do. Cage says Blade is being difficult for no reason since he doesn't have a plan. Blade admits to it and says he just doesn't want to be part of a team. So T'Challa tells Blade to go off on his own and this immediately puts him in a good mood, so good he gives Luke Cage one of his guns before leaving.
** Blade and John Blaze also traded the conflict ball around in the various Midnight Sons series. One notable example was after Blade had a possession exorcised and returned with information vital to the team but Blaze wouldn't hear any of it and threatened to shoot him.
* The Lehrigen arc in ''[[Elf Quest]]'' pushed this to pretty extreme levels: Scouter's rebellion against Ember was not only extremely out of character (although he has been [[Flanderized]] into a complete asshole over time), but pretty much against everything the elves stand for.
* In the ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' series, Huntress is a living
* Oh, dear sweet merciful Xenu, Archie's Sonic The Hedgehog comics have had this ''[[Up to Eleven|A LOT]]'' under [[Writer on Board|Ian]] [[Running the Asylum|Flynn]], but the crowning moment of this came during 178-179. In those two issues, the House of Acorn imprisons Tails' parents for wanting to reform the government ('Cause ''that'' makes your monarchy look benevolent, [[Sarcasm Mode|right?]]). Sonic sides with the monarchy instead of...you know...his best friend, to the point that Sonic gets into a fight with Tails for daring to break his parents loose! Tails makes some rude comments toward Sonic during the fight, [[Wangst|yelling at him for leaving him behind on important missions, and blah blah blah]]...except that's not why he's fighting Sonic, it's really because Sonic took Fiona away from him. Yep, that was the core reason. Not his parents, just the passing love interest who not only wasn't even ''the same Fiona'' that Tails loved (that was a robot duplicate of her), but also who, just a few issues ago, was [[Face Heel Turn|revealed to be a bad guy.]]
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* Many hotheaded RPG characters, whether heroes or villains, will be [[Hot-Blooded|more in the mood to fight]] when it makes more sense to talk, because the plot [[But Thou Must!|can't go further if they resolve things peacefully]].
* The entire population of Azeroth was handed one of these between ''[[Warcraft]] III'' and ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Nearly all the civilizations of Kalimdor, which includes forces from both the Alliance and the Horde, allied to fend off the Burning Legion and the Scourge by the end of the former game, but those alliances dissolve ''offscreen'' in the years between the games. The release of ''Wrath of the Lich King'', and the corresponding rise of the Scourge as a major threat once again, has caused a thaw in relations between the coalitions, but they still battle openly in some places. The main purpose of the war seems to be to have an excuse for the two sides to be in opposition.
** [[Creator's Pet|Varian and Garrosh]] are ''walking''
** The ''Wrath of the Lich King'' area of Grizzly Hills is of special note, as its main theme is that you must help your faction to gather as much of the Hills' plentiful resources as possible, while sabotaging the rival faction's attempts to do the same. Both factions want to use said resources to help them defeat the Lich King - which is to say that in Grizzly Hills, the Lich King's two main enemies are locked in a savage war over ''who will get to fight the guy they both actually came there to fight.'' With [[Too Dumb to Live|enemies like these]], the Lich King doesn't need any friends...
** In Icecrown, the Horde and Alliance each have a flying gunship specifically built to take on the Scourge, and yet are used almost exclusively against each other. This culminates in Icecrown Citadel, where they battle over who has the right to take on the Lich King. They do this even though the respective gunship captains are otherwise very sensible sorts who are perfectly aware that every Horde and Alliance soldier who falls in battle becomes a potential recruit for the Scourge.
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* The "ring of conflict" in ''[[Nethack]]'' is a conflict ball... for the group of monsters you're facing.
* Used as a joke in some of the ''[[Touhou]]'' games, especially fighting games. Often the fights are for improbable, ridiculous reasons. However, it's also clear that, ultimately, [[Blood Knight|these people just like beating the heck out of each other]]!
* During one infamous scene in ''[[Tactics Ogre]]', [[Schrodinger's Gun|your choice directly affects your best friend's choice]] to put the
* In ''[[Mega Man X]] 5'' many reploids you fight want to have a piece of your character for various reasons. While there are varying degrees of justification, the fact that several not in the throes of Maverick fever insist on doing this when the [[Colony Drop|giant space colony is coming crashing down]] is a bit incredulous.
** ''Mega Man X4'''s entire plot starts simply because Colonel would rather throw the entire Repliforce into a pointless war with the Maverick Hunters than simply ''turn off his [[Laser Sword]] when asked to come to the latter's headquarters''.
* The
* In ''[[Onimusha]]: Dawn of Dreams'', you must fight each one of your potential party members before they can join your party, mostly just because fighting is what the game is all about. This leads to some rather odd, out of character moments from each one before they join you. Roberto, for instance, acts like a complete [[Jerkass]] when you first meet for no particular reason, despite being a perfectly nice guy afterwards.
* The AI in ''[[Galactic Civilizations]] II'' likes to lob one of these your way if it gets bored. The galaxy is prosperous, quiet, and peaceful? A [[Random Event|Mega Event]] goes off in which one of your citizens assassinates the head of the Drengin Empire, plunging you into war! Which drags the Drengin's allies the Drath Legion into it, and thanks to their [[Manipulative Bastard|racial ability]] they convince the Yor to attack you too! But then the Altarians step in on your behalf, and use ''their'' racial ability to have the Iconians help out too, but ''that'' serves as the last straw for the Korx who team up with the Thalans...
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