Flame War: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

After a time, the flames may abate, but usually [http://www.cracked.com/article_16656_6-brainwashing-techniques-theyre-using-you-right-now_p2.html more because of exhaustion than anyone actually getting a point across.] Once everyone has recovered their stamina, all it takes is one innocent (or [[Troll|not-so-innocent]]) person bringing the subject up to [[Internet Backdraft|start things all over again]].

 

 

God help you if you actually start discussing [[Ban on Politics|politics or religion]].

 

See [[Misplaced Nationalism]] for a specific form. See [[Internet Backdraft]] for more specific examples of ways to start big ones.

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== Anime and Manga ==

* The original Anime Flame War: "Anime is just Japanese for "cartoons" vs. "Anime is a special artform all its own and utterly and completely different from Western animation".

** Calling ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' canon to someone who disapproved of it, due to its splintered relationship to the past two ''Dragonball'' series.

* Fansubs (and by extension, piracy): Good or bad?

 

* The incessant "[[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|Who can beat up whom]]" arguments. [[Superman]] vs. [[Thor]]? [[Batman]] vs. [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Wolverine]]? It's all been done.

* Go to any comics related imageboard and make an original post and type in the magic words: [[Watchmen (comics)|"THEY TOOK OUT THE SQUID!"]] accompanied by the appropriate spoiler pic. The original poster will then see the resulting thread grow into a bitter, flaming hot discussion between fans fruitlessly debating on whether or not [[Zack Snyder]]'s controversial decision was a good idea. The debates just parallel the regular discussions about Ozymandias' controversial decision!

** Then there's fans of lesser-knowns, such as Isaiah Bradley, John Walker, William Naslund, Jeffrey Mace and Scott Summers as Cap from an alternate future reality...

*** Even better, ask whether Civil War was idiotic [[Character Derailment]] that should be retconned and forgotten, or a legitimate storyline that should continue to leave its impact on the Marvel universe. The flames ''will'' fly, and the only thing that comes close to a consensus was that the event [[Canon Defilement|sucked]] (and that is a source of a debate between some factions).

* Try and ask comic fans who a superhero's true love is. You ''will'' get a long, twisting thread of responses screaming that [[Catwoman (comics)|Catwoman]] is the person [[Batman]] is meant to be with or [[Wonder Woman]] is the only one who deserves him; declaring either that [[X-Men|Jean Grey and Scott Summers]] are OTP or that people should move on and accept Emma Frost; or fighting over whether [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson's]] retconned-away marriage can be salvaged in the future or is [[Ruined FOREVER]]. Then there's the heroes who don't have alternate potential love interests, who some fans will insist should not have any love interests at all (yes, even supposed untouchables like [[Superman|Clark Kent and Lois Lane]]). And don't even start considering the personality changes and deleted characters and relationships between [[Pre Crisis]] to [[Post-Crisis]] continuity if you're talking about DC. It is impossible to please everyone, no matter what you do.

* Take a panel from any Big Two superhero comic, from any era, and ask fans what they think. You will be beset by arthouse snobs insisting that everything before the [[Modern Age]] is crap, [[Silver Age]] nostalgists complaining that a scene has the wrong character dynamics (or characters), Marvel fans whining about DC characterization, DC fans whining about Marvel narration, old school fans complaining about modern continuity, new fans whining about four-color artwork, people insulting thought bubbles, people insulting the lack of thought bubbles, people hating on a character, people hating on a different character, irrelevent complaints about the writer/arc/future continuity/past continuity thrown, etc, etc, etc. Superhero comics doesn't have a [[Broken Base]]. It has a shattered base where each shard represents one single fan's opinions.

 

 

* The [[IMDb]] Top 250 list. There are a few films that didn't make the list, and had their fair share of [[Fan Dumb]], [[Hate Dumb]] and [[Fan Hater]] in their forums, but when a film actually makes the list, or worse... the Top 10, expect the worst.

* [[Highlander]]. The [[Broken Base|broken and divided fanbase]] of this series is purely LEGENDARY; take ANY issue and you'll be met with about 6(+) different factions of fans who all stick to their own individual continuities and will flame anyone who dares disagree with them/think their version is better/think differently/come up with their own take/etc.

** [[Kamen Rider]] vs [[Super Sentai]], [[Super Sentai]] vs [[Power Rangers]], [[Kamen Rider Black RX|Original]] [[Kamen Rider Ryuki|Riders]] vs [[Masked Rider|American]] [[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight|Adaptations]], and Tokatsu fans of all series banding together vs extreme Type 2 [[Eagle Land]] shmucks who think anything that isn't in English and portrayed behind an American flag is "Stupid foreign bullshit that can't hold a candle to [[Naruto the Abridged Series|sports and American Idol]]". People on the latter team usually become instant [[Acceptable Target|targets]] of anti-American{{spoiler|-entertainment}} [[Hatedom]].

** Ultraman fans vs. Toei-only fans.

*** Either way, you ''have'' to pick a side. Appreciation for ''all'' of the man's work is '''unthinkable''' and '''[[Fandom Heresy|blasphemous]]'''.

* ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]''. Now let's all calmly walk away and move on with our lives.

* [[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]] vs [[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight Rises]]. The possibility of liking both movies? [[Sarcasm Mode|The very idea...]]

** In fact, the mere mention of The Dark Knight, regardless of your opinion, is enough to start [[Fan Dumb]] and/or [[Hate Dumb]] tearing at each others throats. Casual comic-book movie fans could never be more embarrassed.

 

 

* [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]] seems common... all ''too'' common.

 

== Literature ==

* Pick an event in a ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book. Any event, major, minor, irrelevant, plot-related, character-related...''any'' event, in ''any'' Harry Potter book. It is guaranteed that someone, somewhere, at some point in time, has had a flamewar over something about that event.

** One of the most notable events: the Epilogue.

* [[Shakespeare]]: greatest playwright of the Reformation, or complete fraud? And if Dear William didn't write his works, then who did -- [[Francis Bacon|the guy who died of chills contracted while stuffing chickens with snow]]? [[Christopher Marlowe|The secret agent of the crown killed in a bar fight]]? (incidentally, this makes this trope [[Older Than Steam]], as the discussion has been going on for some time now)

* Please, never ask anyone what their favorite ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' character is, or it will lapse into a never ending debate of Jayfeather vs. Hawkfrost vs. [[Harry Potter]].

** Go on the [[Warriors Official Forum|official forum]] and mention that Cinderheart is the best character ever and not a [[Mary Sue]], or say she is a horrible [[Mary Sue]]. Alternately, mention Lionblaze's mate. Hey, they burned down my house!

* [[Star Trek: The Original Series|Kirk]] vs [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Picard]] is a classic that shows up less often now. If only because people prefer to complain about [[Star Trek: Enterprise|Archer]] and [[Star Trek: Voyager|Janeway]].

** Then there are those who think that [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Sisko]] was the greatest captain EVAR and refuse to accept any and all Star Trek that isn't completely serialized like Deep Space Nine was.

** In general, discussions about whether the New Series is better than the Classic Series or vice versa have a good probability of ending up as one of these.

** Another common, yet pointless debate common on forums is [[I Am Not Shazam|whether the first name of the protagonist is 'The Doctor', or 'Doctor Who']].

** Interestingly, study of one of the most active boards during the switch (and, more importantly, one of the few to have archived their posts), Usenet group alt.tv.mst3k, reveals comparatively little flame warring over Joel/Mike. It seems that, for at least one board, much more anger and vitriol was spilled over whether certain elements of the show were sexist and if Jim Mallon had been instrumental in "forcing" Joel out.

* Visit a [[Supernatural]] fan community and mention that you like Ruby 2.0/Lisa/any chick that's been within 50 feet of [[Jensen Ackles]] and Jared Padalecki, up to and including their wives. Every hair you have will be singed off.

* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] was well known for Buffy/Spike vs Buffy/Angel ship wars that got into flame war territory on occasion.

 

** Plastic sugery. Does this invalidate a singer's talent? Are the male idols who get it better than their female counterparts?

* Comparisons of [[Opera]] singers, especially dead ones, can spawn enormous flame wars among enthusiasts. Ask an opera buff on his opinion of Maria Callas vs. Renata Tebaldi or Mario Lanza vs. Jussi Björling. Or just read the comments to some opera clips on [[YouTube]].

* [[Justin Bieber]]'s "Baby" video had been flamed by an internet group The "Metal Militia" on September 1, 2010. Bieber himself has taken a lot of fire for his popularity, and, in the eyes of some, mediocrity.

* In the [[Vocaloid]] fandom Kagamine fans are known for really long arguments over whether the two are twins, lovers, [[Brother-Sister Incest|both]], or each other's reflection in the mirror.

** There's also the ongoing battle between [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|hardcore Miku fans]] and [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|people who hate her for being too popular/overexposed]].

** Jazz split many times before the 80s. Bebop was controversial when it first came out, and Bossa Nova made jazz safe again for the mainstream. Then you have free jazz, which still has its detractors. And jazz fusion...

** Far worse in the previous half of the century, although debates still flare up on any subjective topic.

** Tradition vs Innovation is staple of any form of classical music.

** [[wikipedia:Editor war|EMACS vs. VI]]. Wanna disrupt any technical forum you like? Wait for someone to mention EMACS or VI and then casually say one of the following (depending on which is mentioned first): "I really don't like EMACS. Alt-Meta-Shift-Bucky-Bucky-One is just not a user interface." "VI really lacks anything to recommend it as a developer's editor. Between the anemic scripting capabilities and the hideous, irritating modal setup, you can't get anything done without your editor biting your fingers off." Then just sit back and watch the flames leap up until either the forum is rendered absolutely useless or the mods step in and start kicking butt. While expressing their own preference. (Bonus points if you can get the mods fighting each other!)

*** Lots of other editors, from very lightweight to overcomplicated, somewhat eased, or at least blurred, this.

** C vs. C++.

** "Which Linux distro is better?" or "Linux vs. Windows" or "Microsoft is evil/no it isn't/yes it is" can generate epic flame wars sometimes.

* Mac vs. PC. Est. 1981.

** Macs first appeared in 1984.

*** Unless you count the Apple Lisa, which predated the Mac by a few years. Or the Apple I, II, III, etc., which were driven by CLIs instead of the now-standard GUIs.

* CLI vs. GUI. Command line users trumpet the superior freedom and customization options of a CLI, while graphical users like to have things like a window system and a mouse.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In many communities, discussing game mechanics or strategy at all has been known to incite shrill rage from [[Scrub|players]] who feel the focus of these games should be on "roleplaying" to the total exclusion of mechanics.

* "Traditional" role-play games (generally speaking the ones with a [[Dungeon Master]]) vs. the new "Narrativist" movement. Don't dare to say that "Everybody should choose the way of playing he likes the most". You have been warned.

* [[Character Alignment]]. Applies to alignment of given characters, what alignment system to use, and how to use it.

* An experiment you can do at home, but probably shouldn't: start discussing morality or Lunars on an [[Exalted]] forum. Odds are good within thirty posts everything will be on fire. Thirty posts after that someone will come and burn your house down.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'':

** [[Viewer Gender Confusion|Talking about what sex Sheik is]] will likely garner heavy flaming from the conflicting groups, despite [[Word of God]] on the matter.

** The timeline. Both before ''and'' after the Hyrule Historia confirmations. [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|Let's stop here.]]

* [[PC vs. Console|PC gaming vs. console gaming]]. If the two are even brought up in the same paragraph, it always has to be a competition.

** In a similar vein, [[Downloadable Content]] for video games. No one can agree if they benefit gamers or rip them off.

** Almost anything involving ''[[Final Fantasy]]'', such as which one sucked, which one was awesome, whether they're the best thing since sliced bread or the sign of everything wrong with the game industry today.

** Calling any ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' character [[Emo]], but especially protagonists like Cloud and Squall, is asking to be burnt to ashes, just to be put back together so you can be burnt down again and again.

** Kefka Vs. Sephiroth.

** Another sensitive issue is whether or not a few people [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|pirating games]] really hurt game developers. Topics also somehow get morals involved.

** [[DRM]] is the new big one, unique in that there are very few people actually supporting it, yet the Angry Internet Men somehow manage to start a flame war anyway.

* Say ''anything'' about [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]. Really, almost ''[[Broken Base|ANYTHING]]''. Good, Bad... it doesn't matter. The haters and trolls will burn anything positive and piss on the ashes, and the [[Fan Dumb]] loyalists of the franchise will not only feed the Trolls by commenting back, but they'll burn the slightest negative comment too- even constructive criticism of the more mediocre games of the series.

* Go to a forum with lots of fans of ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'', ''[[Mega Man X]]'', ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'', and ''[[Mega Man ZX]]'', and talk about ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]''. Go on. I dare you.

* ''[[Fallout]] [[Fallout 1|1]]'' and ''[[Fallout 2|2]]'' fans vs ''[[Fallout 3]]'' fans. No, you're not allowed to like both at the same time.

* Behold, the inner workings of [[Nasuverse|Kinoko Nasu's]] fans:

'''Poster E:''' [[Fanon Discontinuity|There is no Tsukihime anime.]] }}

** Repeat ad nauseum.

** And it all comes crashing down when fans of [[Persona 2]] or, better yet, more traditional [[Shin Megami Tensei]] games enter the fray. Like Fallout, you are NOT allowed to like them all.

* One of the more famous subjects for a flamewar is: "Which is better, ''[[Halo]]'' or ''[[Call of Duty]]''?" It's a particular favorite on [[YouTube]]. Hilariously, the flamewars between Halo: Reach fans and ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' fans are already starting... even though the games aren't actually out yet (Although Halo: Reach did have a multiplayer beta, which many fans are using as a somewhat credible excuse to base opinions on).

* Within the [[Pokémon]] fandom, there's fans of the first few generations VS fans of the later generations. Those who can appreciate all generations are often ignored in ensuing arguments.

** Likewise, people who think Ubers/Legendaries are perfectly legit to use in battle VS people who think using Ubers/Legendaries is cheating or an unfair advantage.

** The "genders" of Legendary Pokemon (despite most of them officially being genderless) is the source of many a flame-war...especially when it involves poor Mew.

** Whether certain Pokemon belong in the uber tier or not - almost every single one there has been subject to fights as to just whether or not it deserves inclusion.

{{quote|"Poster 1:" *Insert recent update here* sucks!

"Poster 2:" No, *Same update* rocks!

** New update? Rinse, lather, repeat. And [[Unpleasable Fanbase|"Fix this! Nerf that! Magic is unbalanced! Stupid Jagex!"]] is present all the time.

** Just ''mentioning'' Runescape can start a bonfire.

* ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' starts one whenever anyone dares to compare the first game to the second. Bring the marshmallows if you attempt to bring up the boycotters of the sequel and bring a flame retardant suit if you ever mention the balance of VS mode.

* Please... consider the consequences before asking, "Does [[Heavy Rain]] qualify as a video game?"

* ''[[Dragon Age 2]]''. Is it a passable sequel to the acclaimed [[Dragon Age Origins]], a dumbed down hack-and-slash that borrowed too much from the [[Mass Effect]] franchise or an [[Even Better Sequel]] that fixed many of Origins' problems? The world may never know.

* [[Modern Warfare]] and its ilk.

* A war within the [[Nintendo]] fandom has brewed since 2010 due to the influence of [[Sean Malstrom]]. On one side stand the "Orthodox" Nintendo fans, who just enjoy the games for what they are and tend to like whatever Nintendo gives them, on the other are the Malstromites, who tend to like only the Nintendo games that adhere to the Blue Ocean strategy. Things get heated in that the Malstromites tend to view those Nintendo games that do not adhere to the strategy as being actively destructive for Nintendo, and thus begin to flame games like [[Super Mario Galaxy 2]], [[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks]], or [[Metroid: Other M]], or even call for the firing of Satoru Iwata, Yoshio Sakamoto, and Shigeru Miyamoto, much to the dismay of Orthodox fans.

* ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'''s ending. 'Nuff said.

* Try to discuss what playing to win means in a game and you'll see forums tear themselves apart trying to decide who is right.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

* The mere ''mention'' of the [[Furry Webcomic]] ''[[Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'' is sufficient to earn a permanent ban on some forums. It is THAT controversial.

 

== Web Original ==

** '''NEVER''' mention that you like shows from all of those eras (First 2 together are alright, some people don't mind the 3rd era so much).

** ''[[Chowder]]'' VS ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' VS ''[[Adventure Time]]''

** I dare you to mention [[Out of Jimmy's Head]] in a forum dedicated to the true nature of Cartoon Network. {{spoiler|It is considered to be one of the worst shows of all time}}

** [[Adult Swim]] has a similar problem. Some people believe that when it was first made, it was either boring or excellent. [[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]], [[Family Guy]], [[Robot Chicken]], [[Venture Brothers]], and ohers are shows that are normally targeted.

*** Speaking of [[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]], there are many flame wars if the older ones or the newer ones are much better.

** [[Nickelodeon]] and [[Disney Channel]] have similar situations.

* The "TRUKK NOT MUNKY" mentioned in the page description above comes from just one of the incessant [[Transformers]] flame wars. Every single fandom can start a flame war between fans. [[Beast Wars]] and Beast Machines are the worst offenders (thus where the saying comes from), followed up by [[Transformers (film)|the 2007 movie]]. Are Optimus Prime's flames awesome or did Michael Bay rape your childhood? Then again, with people who tend to cry "[[Ruined FOREVER]]" at anything new, this should be expected.

* The less said about the [[Pixar]] vs [[Dreamworks Animation|Dreamworks]] debate the better.

* The ''even less'' said about the [[Pixar]] vs [[Unfortunate Implications|Women]] debate the better.

** And then you have [[Cupcakes]]. Sweet Celestia. The [[Internet Backdraft|storm of bile and venom]] this story can and has raised among Bronies is enough to make Nightmare Moon shudder.

** There's also those who think the show is inane, unfunny, ridiculous, and migraine inducing. Watching them take on the "Pegasis" and "Brony" camps is ''fun''. Make sure you have plenty of popcorn!

** It gets even worse in the [[Furry Fandom]], where the bronies often feel unfairly persecuted while the [[Hatedom]] is often genuinely afraid that MLP fans are a cult which will take over the fandom/the Net/the world. When bronies deliberately go around being as obnoxious, in-your-face, and persistently [[Fan Dumb]] as possible by insisting all ''must'' watch the show and [[Fan Myopia|how could you possibly not love it]], while the haters go out of their way to preemptively attack the show and its fans (including with crass art and imagery) when most fans are perfectly harmless and not [[Fan Dumb]] at all yet get lumped in with them anyway thanks to [[Vocal Minority|the actions of a few]]...you know that there's just irreconcilable differences between the extremists of both sides. Suddenly the [[Golden Mean Fallacy]], or at least neutrality, doesn't seem so illogical any more.

* Although it seems to show up less, people will fight over whether or not [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] qualifies as anime or not. (No, it does not matter that the creators said it wasn't.) And that's all we'll say about that.

** Pick a forum, any forum. Mention either [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|Kataang or Zutara]]. Then, ''RUN''.

 

== Other ==

* Parodied hilariously by College Humor in [http://www.collegehumor.com/video/3980096/we-didnt-start-the-flame-war this video].

** Which has, ironically, started flame wars in [[YouTube]] comments on "We Didn't Start the Fire" between College Humor viewers and Billy Joel fans.

* A great, and relatively new one, is a the Digg.com vs Reddit.com war. As well as Reddit vs 9Gag

** Similarly, go to the [[Tales of Symphonia]] board and make a topic about who Lloyd would be with (Lloyd x any character who appeared in the game).

* The mere mention of a certain girl whose name refers to a three dimensional container with six sides warrants your being perma-banned from the internet, and the planet. This statement may have been enough...

 

== Real Life ==

* The ''very existence'' of atheism has lead to huge flame wars over the Internet.

** Also whether atheism qualifies as a religion or not. The very definition of Religion can spawn very long and repetitive cat fights

* There are a number of countries that have tried to wipe out religion altogether in favour of atheism. Just mentioning this fact is often enough to start a [[Internet Backdraft|backdraft]] of truly epic proportions, despite it being historical fact.

** The internet has never let history get in the way of a good backdraft.

* We do not mention Iraq.

** The Middle East is a flame war hotbed. And, just like the Bible above, a hotbed for ''real'' wars.

* We don't talk about any region of the world around people who either dwell in that region or people who don't like that region. The war can be easily restarted on the internet if you feel up to it.

* The Su-27 [[Reporting Names|"Flanker"]] fighter plane and its derivatives.

** Nothing comes even close to the ones on the [http://f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewforum-f-22.html F-35] [[Reporting Names|"Joint Strike Fighter"]], and it's still only in testing! However opinions are becoming increasingly positive now that [[Take That|it's beginning to show what it can do]]. ''Enough said, please!''

* On some forums, discussing how tea should be prepared can lead to one of these. Heaven help you if you mention coffee being better than tea or vice versa.

* Homeschooling. Just use the word in an educator forum, and see what happens.

* Jews. Humanity is still that immature.

* Cameras can cause all sorts of flame wars, especially since people can easily invest tens of thousands of dollars into their equipment. Popular ones include 35mm vs medium format, film vs digital, and Canon vs Nikon.

* Sports, from the pros to the little leagues; ranging from which player is better, which team is better, or even which sport is better, and everything in between are common recurring flame wars. One example...

** Calling the former sport ''Soccer''; an abbreviation of As'''soc'''iation Football used to distinct the other ''footballs'' and coined by Charles Wreford Brown, an Oxford student (in England) said to have been fond of shortened forms such as ''brekkers'' for breakfast and ''rugger'' for rugby football, [[Sarcasm Mode|which everyone especially the English knows and understands]], is ''banned'' in most association football forums and in some parts of real life, and those that call it soccer are subject to being flamed massively. The Hatedom seems to be exclusive to United States citizens, however, considering that [[Double Standard|other nations that use "soccer" including Canada, Australia and Ireland,all seem to get a free pass for this however, even though they invented or adopted another football code sport that they also call "football" (Canadian, Australian Rules, Gaelic) or call association football both football and soccer]].

* Athletic training methods are very hotly debated. Try asking bodybuilders about whey vs. soy protein or whether yoga can be authentic when it's commercialized.

* [[Fox News]] - right and fair or batshit insane? The flames come roaring off of this one, even in relatively civil, mature forums.

* AK-47 vs M-16. There are many [[YouTube]] vids with this particular discussion, and it goes from state your opinion to savage internet backdraft and immature stuff that comes right from 4chan.

* The Nelly/Spellman college controversy. Rapper Nelly's sister for all intents and purposes was dying of cancer (she needed a marrow transplant).. So Nelly and his sister created the "Jes Us 4 Jackie" foundation campaign, An attempts to educate African-Americans and other minorities about the need for bone marrow transplants, and to register more donors. The battle began when rap star Nelly was scheduled to appear on the campus of Spelman College. The black women's college was teaming up with Nelly to increase awareness about the need for more African-American bone marrow donors. But as the date approached, a opposing group of students decided that the video, Tip Drill, was far too sexually explicit and demeaning, and didn't want Nelly on the campus (They deny this saying they just wanted to discuss the controversy in addition to the marrow drive). Nelly did not think "it was appropriate at all for students to use that as a forum" . Unfortunately Nelly's sister died not long after, leaving Nelly enraged and bitter. Feeling that he might have potentially lost out on finding that one person who could have been a donor. Some believed that the women had unfairly targeted Nelly [[Not Quite the Right Thing|to the detriment of a good cause]]. The debate still rages on till this day. Was Nelly wrong?, was spellman being short sighted?, or all of the above? The world <s>may</s> will never know.

* Any group of people perceived as being politically incorrect; the epithets can still fly hard and fast when Germans are involved in a discussion if they express any opinion which isn't liberal. In the politically conservative corners of the Internet, anything that ''seems'' to be politically correct (or can be made to seem un-American / -insert-nationality-here) can cause similar reactions.

** Whether or not the feminist movement ignores minority women.

* Similarly, anything related to men's rights as fathers, men as domestic abuse victims, the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of [[The Unfair Sex]] [[Double Standard]], the fact that you never hear about 'deadbeat moms', the lack of funding for men's health issues as compared to women's health issues, and so on. You'll be lucky to get out of the room before you catch fire from the radiant heat coming off the discussion.

* Fat people: Compulsive, lazy, slobby people who just do nothing but eat, emotionally damaged people who use food to fill that void, or people who have a medical condition?

** Also, mentioning you find overweight people attractive is bound to get you involved in a pretty [[Incredibly Lame Pun|heated debate]].

* [[Big Badass Wolf|Wolves]]. There are countless rabid flame-wars of people either arguing that wolves are "beautiful" animals worthy of being protected at all costs, or that they are dangerous predators that should be exterminated. Likewise, there are people who believe wolves should be worshipped as "spirit animals" VS people who think wolves should be treated like any other animal.

** Also, never mention you find wolves to be overrated.

* Massive flame wars are started over whether pit bulls are horrible, bloodthirsty, unstable monsters that should be exterminated or loyal kid-friendly dogs that are twisted by their owners. There is no middle ground. Ever.

** Speaking of dogs, even something as non-chalant as the proper way to clean up dog ''poop'' is enough to start a flame war. Everyone has an opinion. '''Everyone'''.

* NEVER read the comments on political youtube videos for this reason.

* Proper fish care is bound to start flame wars ranging from the proper enclosure (IE: Goldfish bowl, tank, or pond?) to feeding to, well, everything else. Likewise, it's [[Internet Backdraft|generally not a good idea to ask/tell where you got your fish (especially if it's a big-name pet chain).]]

* There's a huge and ongoing flame war as to whether or not feeding a pet snake live food is humane. By that, we mean either it's cruel to feed a poor animal to a snake, that it's cruel to put a snake under stress by having it have to kill its food first, or that it's cruel to ''not'' let the snake eat live prey like it would in nature. Take your pick. Either way, someone is going to disagree with you.

* Gay/Lesbian couples wanting to adopt. Even single mothers or fathers who want to adopt. Whether or not a child should be raised by both a mother and a father or other combinations of parents.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PgsECLKde0&feature=g-all-u This] Youtube video's comments is a reminder of why you should never let racists/prejudice kids onto the internet.

[[Category:Insult Tropes]]

[[Category:The Internet]]