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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''[[We Didn't Start the Billy Joel Parodies|We didn't start the flame war]]'
''Peeps were hatin' on it 'fore I left my comment''
|'''College Humor''', [http://www.collegehumor.com/video/3980096/we-didnt-start-the-flame-war "We Didn't Start the Flame War"]}}
Something about the anonymous nature of the internet makes people [[GIFT|behave in ways that they wouldn't when face-to-face with people]]. What starts as a minor disagreement like "how to [[Shipping|ship]] two minor characters," or "what constitutes [[Canon]] or [[Fanon]]," escalates until the users are insulting each other, flinging expletives and profanities and shouting at the top of their virtual lungs. Inevitably, someone will be [[Godwin's Law|compared to]] [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]].
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]].
In fandom related communities, a lot of the flame wars are the result of a [[Broken Base]], [[Fandom Rivalry]], [[Fandom Heresy]], or other [[Fan Dumb]]
God help you if you actually start discussing [[Ban
This trope is also known as a [[Holy War]]. Not to be confused with [[The Crusades|epic wars]] where Crusaders [[Kill It
See [[Misplaced Nationalism]] for a specific form. See [[Internet Backdraft]] for more specific examples of ways to start big ones.
----
{{examples}}
== 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".
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* [[Animation Age Ghetto]] can often rile up Flame Wars, especially when it comes to Anime.
* [[Subbing Versus Dubbing]]. The issue is aggravated by the fact that some DVDs are released as sub-only.
* Character names when a series is being translated [[Spell My Name
* Asking "Why is ''[[Naruto]]'' such a crap Anime" on any anime forum gets 3 different responses; non-fans saying it is, fans saying it isn't and a 3rd group that actually look at the question and point out its foibles and short comings, and try to answer it logically and factually. The 1st and 2nd group will fight, and the 3rd inevitably joins in, and can take either side.
** Just ''try'' pairing ''any'' two characters together: 90 percent of the time, you'll get [[Ship
** ''Never'' try to favor Hidan or Shikamaru above the other. The [[Scars Are Forever|scars will last a lifetime...]]
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' ... so many to count, but simply ... Frieza Saga VS Cell Saga VS Buu Saga.
** 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?
* ''[[Hellsing]]'' Anime VS ''Hellsing'' Manga/OVA. And, [[Internet Backdraft|may Alucard have mercy on your soul if you mention you like]] ''[[Fandom Heresy|both]]''.
* Dissing the [[Memetic Badass|great Kamina]] from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' brings swift destruction upon you.
* Discussing ''[[One Piece]]'' vs. ''[[Naruto]]'' (and sometimes ''[[
* One of the ''most offensive [[Fandom Heresy|heresies]]'' you can use towards an anime is calling a [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] [[Bowdlerise|dub]] of one good.
==
*
* The incessant "[[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|Who can beat up whom]]" arguments. [[
* Go to any comics related imageboard and make an original post and type in the magic words: [[Watchmen (
* Ask a group of Marvel fans who they like more - new [[Captain America (comics)]] (Bucky Barnes) or old Captain America (Steve Rogers) - then get out the marshmallows.
** 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...
** Ask any Marvel two fans who was right in [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]], [[Iron Man]] or [[Captain America (comics)]]? Then duck.
*** 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 (
* 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.
* DC fans have a division over the New52 relaunch. One side loves it, one side unreservedly loathes it and all it stands for, and the [[Silent Majority]] likes certain aspects. [[Dan
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* The flames burn hot in the debates between the original versions of the ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy and the special editions. Likewise with the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.
* 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.
* [[
* Tokusatsu
** [[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.
* You are only allowed to like either the Pre-''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** This baffling attitude comes from his older fans thinking that he [[Money, Dear Boy|"sold out"]], and that the ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** Also, his newer fanbase may be more fond of the Splatter films he made early on. They tend to think his older fans are snobs.
*** Either way, you ''have'' to pick a side. Appreciation for ''all'' of the man's work is '''unthinkable''' and '''[[Fandom Heresy|blasphemous]]'''.
* ''[[Avatar (
* Awards. [[Academy
* [[The Avengers (
** 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.
== Fan
* [[Ship
* Any fansite devoted to ''[[One Piece]]'' will burn to the ground if someone says the forbidden word: Zolo.
* Want to see mushroom clouds erupt all over the area? Go to a ''[[Daria]]'' fan board and type in the following words: [[Berserk Button|"I like Tom Sloane."]]
== Literature ==
* [[
** Also, whether Legolas had blond or brown hair.
* 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.
* Discussion on any [[Expanded Universe]]. On the official [[Dungeons
* [[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
* ''[[Twilight (
* Please, never ask anyone what their favorite ''[[
** 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!
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[White Collar]]'' fans have been known to come to virtual blows over Hilarie Burton's character Sara Ellis. Half of them think she's a strong, independent woman who is just too much for misogynist fangirls who hate seeing Neal Caffrey locking lips with another girl. The other half think she's an annoying cliché who only exists to give the main character a love interest. Don't want to take my word for it? Just check out the comments on [http://collarcorner.livejournal.com/8283.html this thread.]
* [[Star Trek:
** Then there are those who think that [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
* A specific example from ''[[
** 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']].
** Really, anything about ''[[
*** And perhaps most vehement of all - discussions of whether the Doctor is really [[No Biochemical Barriers|"half human on his mother's side"...]]
**** [[Word of God]] smashed that one in Series 4, the Meta-Crisis Doctor being referred to as the First Half Human/Half Time Lord.
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** 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.
* ''[[Glee]]'' fandom has this in
* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] was well known for Buffy/Spike vs Buffy/Angel ship wars that got into flame war territory on occasion.
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== Music ==
* Name any genre of music and associated subculture, any, and flame wars will ignite. Particularly volatile topics are: what is acceptable as heavy metal, which school of blackmetal is true/kvlt and how to 'define' goth.
** Mentioning that you like [[
** Indie music tends to bring up flame wars about whether something is indie enough. Did a band sell out or not? [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|Are they too popular to like without hurting your indie cred?]] However, "Is their music any good?" seems to be overlooked too often.
* Old school rap [[The Eighties|80s]] and [[The Nineties|90s]] vs. The new stuff. The discussion starts off civil enough, then everything goes to hell. Exemplified by fans of the new stuff calling the other group a bunch of old out of touch whiners with a [[Nostalgia Filter]], and the former calling the latter group a bunch of white kids pretending to be black over the internet, or a bunch of suburban/dumb girls/uncle toms etc who like popcorn [[Glam Rap]] cause they can't hack real serious [[Hip Hop]]. It has gotten real personal in some cases, even outside the internet.
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** 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]].
* My favorite violinist vs. yours. ''Period!'' Go to any Youtube video on any virtuoso and just see the comments unfold below.
* [[
* 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.'' The entire fanbase [[Broken Base|more or less split wide open]] in the 80s, with one side embracing the more commercialized aspects of jazz-rock fusion and smooth jazz introduced in the 70s, while the purists vehemently hating them. These days, smooth jazz generates ire from [[Dead Horse Music Genre|either side of the fence]], but the purist debate on what jazz is supposed to be rages on.
** 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...
* Indian music - Tradition vs. Innovation. Religious vs. Non-religious themes. "Authentic Performance" of ragas and compositions. Commercialization. Raise any of these and you're just asking for it.
** 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.
* Any genre of classic music - Four words. Historically Informed Authentic Performance. Opinion wars have been known to end up more hysterical than historical.
* [[
* [[Two Words: Obvious Trope|One band:]] [[Linkin Park]]. To wit, [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|"Old Sound vs. New Sound"]], [[Hate Dumb|"Manufactured Boy Band]] vs. [[Fan Dumb|Badass Nu-Metal"]], [[Alternative Rap|"Fort Minor]] vs. [[Post
* [[Green Day]]: Either anything after ''Dookie'' is bad, or only their new stuff is good, or anyone who likes ''[[American Idiot]]'' is a noob and a sell-out, or anyone who likes ''21stCenturyBreakdown'' is also a noob and a sell-out, or if you like the band period, you're a fag who doesn't listen to "real" rock music.
* Pop-R&B vs. straight forward R&B. Some thinks that regular R&B doesn't even exist on mainstream radio anymore because of Pop-R&B. The flames come from arguments on whether or not the former pop artists are good singers, and or manufactured. Alternatively does that even matter and are the complainers out of touch?
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* Some truly ancient flamewars, all of which have been around for a couple of decades at least, some as long as half a century:
** Unix vs. ITS. Yes, ITS is in the dustbin of history because it was written for a platform which nobody has seriously used in something like 20 years. ITS grognards, however, will still go into a foaming rage at any hint that Unix might be a better choice. And Unix grognards will go into screaming hissy fits at any hint that perhaps the "innovations" they attribute to their favorite hack might have existed long before it.
** [
*** Lots of other editors, from very lightweight to overcomplicated, somewhat eased, or at least blurred, this.
*** Whether copy-paste via middle button is the greatest mouse related invention after the first trackball (and if yes, [http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/ClipboardsWiki should it use the common clipboard or separate "primary selection" one]?) or an infinitely [http://askubuntu.com/questions/4507/how-do-i-disable-middle-mouse-button-click-paste annoying] [[Easter Egg]]? ''That's'' a call for blood.
** C vs. C++.
** Lisp vs. a lot of C-derived languages. (Smalltalk as
*
** "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.
** There's also Mac vs. PC, or Elitist fags vs. Moronic man-children in the fanatics' eyes. Linux fans tend to be too dismissive of Mac and "macbook users" to argue with Mac fans, though OS Mach still being *NIX sometimes
** But since we have a choice, which desktop environment? Gnome, KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Compiz? That wasn't too hot, but things got much more lively when freshly baked Unity dropped in the middle of Ubuntu. Unity is very much [[Love It or Hate It]]
▲** But since we have a choice, which desktop environment? Gnome, KDE, LXDE, Xfce, Compiz? That wasn't too hot, but things got much more lively when freshly baked Unity dropped in the middle of Ubuntu. Unity is very much [[Love It or Hate It]] -- is it the desktop environment revolution or a pile of widgets glued with Mac love, not fit even for LiveCD?
* 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.
* iOS vs. Android. Used to be vs.
== Tabletop Games ==
* "Edition Wars" have become a special version of this with regards to [[Tabletop Games]]. Particularly vicious arguments come from comparing [[
* 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.
* In the ''[[Warhammer
** In case of Matt Ward, the peak of his "popularity" was an incident remembered as "Khornate Knights" (from his Grey Knights codex). Quoth [//archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/25448626/#25450236 one /tg/ regular] (and as you can see from the start of the same thread, even other GW developers openly mocked this) -
{{quote|It was a MASSIVE shitstorm when it came out. It got to point where the mods had to come down and consolidate the wardhate threads to one sticky.
Plus you used to be unable to actually say Matt followed by the word Ward for the longest times. }}
* [[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.
* [[Dungeons & Dragons|d20]] community has little flame wars over [https://funnyjunk.com/channel/dungeons-n-drags/Can+confirm+this+will+start+fights/cbDMMpo/ whether to write stats or modifiers] as footnotes to the other in character sheets.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[
** [[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.
** A really fun one: Take some ''Zelda'' Fans of various ages and drop the words "[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|The Wind Waker]] and [[It's the Same, Now It Sucks|Twilight Princess]]". The ensuing
** 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.
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** 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.
** The [[Final Fantasy]] main series is controversial enough, but if you [[Despair Event Horizon|bring up any of the spin offs]] (such as X-2 or any of the [[
** You get the gaming equivalent to classic rock elitists that pine for the days of [[Nintendo Hard
** 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.
*** (in a carefully innocent tone): What's with "Direct Rendering Manager"? <ref>translation: this ''also'' brings us to the part about Linux vs. Windows - see above - in no time, via old good "Wait, you guys are ''paying'' to install what you ''know'' is ''malware''?.." bait</ref>
* 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 (
** Even worse, talk about ''[[
* ''[[
** Who would have thought [[Nice Hat|hats]] could spark that much controversy?
** The Mannconomy Update (trading, item set advantages and the ability to buy items (you can still get them free)) can be thought of as Valve pouring a tank full of gasoline out and waiting for the community to blunder in with a lit match.
* ''[[
* Behold, the inner workings of [[Nasuverse|Kinoko Nasu's]] fans:
{{quote|
'''Poster B:''' Fuck you, I feel the opposite of you and like Unlimited Blade Works better.
'''Poster C:''' [[Tsukihime|Shiki]] can kill servants. Discuss.
'''Poster D:''' [[Word of God|He can not.]] [[Author Existence Failure|Nasu agreed, don't dig him about about it.]]
'''Poster E:''' [[Fanon Discontinuity|There is no Tsukihime anime.]] }}
** Repeat ad nauseum.
* Please don't ever mention Derek Smart. Especially in any relatively popular gaming-related forum. Especially ''especially'' on popular [[UseNet]] gaming forums.
* Common [[Super Mario Bros.]] Flame War Subjects:
** Bowser's Koopalings VS Bowser Jr
** Which Mario RPG Series is Better?
** [[Paper Mario (
** Bowser's RPG Personality compared to his Serious Personality in games like [[
* ''[[Persona 3]]'' vs. ''[[Persona 4]]''. Not as huge as the others, but it's there. Which has better characters? Which has a better plot? OMG, Persona 4 sucks because it has a happy ending! ...etc.
** And it all comes crashing down when fans of [[Persona 2]] or, better yet, more traditional [[
* 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
* ''[[Star Fox (
* 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.
** Don't ever ask the Pokémon fanbase what their favorite generation is, unless you want to be in the crossfire of 5 different teams trying to slit each other's throats. All you have to do is mention Generation III (II in some camps), sit back, and watch the comments of "[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|THE NEW GAMES SUCK]] [[Ruined FOREVER|THEY RUINED THE SERIES]] [[Nostalgia Filter|THERES ONLY 151 POKEMON]]" and so on fly.
** Many members of many ''[[
*** And now we have a new one concerning whether or not Lyra's cutsey new outfit is appropriate for super-serious Crystal, and whether or not Lyra should've been a new character.
** Millions upon ''millions'' of flame wars have resulted from the following question-"Is Rotom a Legendary?".
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** 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 2:" No, *Same update* rocks!
"Poster 1:" Get the fuck out of here! *Starts flaming* }}
** 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.
** Speaking of [[
* ''[[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.
* Mentioning the name [[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion|Oblivion]] in any way, shape, or form, will more often than not cause someone to [[Sarcasm Mode|kindly]] explain to you that everything after [[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
* [[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
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' has become this ever since a series of reviews were made popular, both of which torn into the main plot, highlighting what they perceived as faults. [[
* Battlefield vs. Call of Duty. 'Nough said.
* Many a flame war has been started by [[Assassin's Creed|Altair vs Ezio.]]
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* ''[[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 (
* Similarly controversial is ''[[Dominic Deegan]]''. Mention any of the
* ''[[Full Frontal Nerdity]]'' encourages us to contribute what we can with [http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=212 another take] on "I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC".
== Web Original ==
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** Speaking of which, some people say that [[Alternate Reality]] [[Dragonball Z]] has fallen apart. Do not ask on which your favorite episode is.
* [[Red vs. Blue]] demonstrated one of these in "The Internet Vs. Real Life" concerning politics:
{{quote|
'''Church:''' Look, that's just the way I feel about it.
'''Sarge:''' Well I disagree, but I respect your opinion.
'''--INTERNET--'''
'''Church:''' You deserve to DIE! Die and go to Hell and burn!
'''Sarge:''' Oh, yeah!? Well, I hope you get raped! Twice! Maybe then you'll feel different! Jerk! }}
** Also, to prep oneself for the internet, the hosts recommend "visiting your local middle-school chess club and passing out crystal meth and guns."
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Anything about the Simpsons. For a good description of the usual flame wars over the Simpsons, see the [[
* Traditional animation vs CG. Some of the arguments in the ''[[
** This has cooled down somewhat in the wake of ''[[
* [[Cartoon Network]] when it first started VS [[Exactly What It Says
** '''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 ''[[
** Some people thought the channel sucked RIGHT when it got its CN logo in 2004 and go on flame wars with people who think otherwise.
** I dare you to mention [[
** [[Adult Swim]] has a similar problem. Some people believe that when it was first made, it was either boring or excellent. [[
*** Speaking of [[
*** And some people will go on flame wars about how [[Cartoon Network]] would have been a channel if the [
** [[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. [[
** Bringing up the question of female Transformers on IDW's boards is guaranteed to start five-layer Flame Wars.
* Does [[Cars]] deserve its reputation as [[Pixar]]'s weakest movie? An opinion's an opinion, but there really are [[Hate Dumb|a lot of people determined to hate this film and its sequel.]]
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* 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.
* [[My Little Pony:
** And then you have [[
** 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!
** Casually bring up the show in a place that isn't brony-friendly, and 95% of the time the conversation/war will devolve into whether the show was originally intended for children or not, then devolve into ranting and fighting ''from the first few responses.'' <!-- The reason why doesn't matter for this trope, just the result. -->
** 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
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' and its shipping wars. If you even just ''mention'' the characters [[Die for Our Ship|Sam and Valerie]] in one sentence, you will inevitably unleash chaos in the form of 'x sucks and y belongs with Danny!'.
== Other ==
* [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny]] debates produce fuel for flame wars without fail, particularly because fans of some popular pairings, such as [[Star Wars]] vs. [[
* 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.
* Half the fun of visiting [[Image Boards|4chan]], where it tends to vary between "
* 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 [[
* 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...
** ...IrmaVonCube?
** ...{{spoiler|Boxxy}}?
** [[Too Dumb to Live|Cube?]]
* Here's something that you might want to try out. Look for a forum (preferably showbiz-related) that has a fairly large Filipino membership. Create a thread titled "[
* A little broad to fit anywhere else, but digital piracy as a whole. There's a reason the [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|page pertaining to the issue]] has been locked out of real life examples.
* Everything else. Even if it seems impossible to debate. [[Insane Troll Logic|Especially if it seems impossible to debate.]]
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== Real Life ==
* [
* '''Politics and religion.''' <small>'''[[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgement|That
* 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
* [[The Bible
* 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.
** It would be news indeed to most Irish historians, especially to those involved, to hear that there is actually a
* 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.
* Democrats vs. Republicans, in ALL forms of media.{{context}}<!-- Does this mean something if you live in the USA? It means nothing to the rest of the world. -->
* Along the same lines, the
* 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.
* [
* [[Edit War]] in any wiki, no exception.{{context}}
* Breastfeeding vs. formula feeding.{{context}}
* Homeschooling. Just use the word in an educator forum, and see what happens.
* Jews. Humanity is still that immature.
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* 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...
* [[The Beautiful Game|Association Football/Soccer]] vs [[
** 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.
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* [[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.
* Google for the original debate starting the Reformation (and so the Protestant church) in Europe. The rebuttals and counter-rebuttals are some very fine pieces of flaming. This is one of the cases where flaming indeed led to Holy War, continuing even today in some places. Also, it's sufficiently old to make this [[Older Than Steam]].
* 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.
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** 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.
* Knitting: Natural fibers vs. synthetic fibers. Animal-based fibers vs. 'vegan'-friendly fibers.
* 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]].
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* [[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.
* Never, ever, ''ever'' [[Internet Backdraft|bring up the earthquake in Japan]] (Or Japan at all, for that matter).{{context}}<!-- Which earthquake in Japan? --> Ever since the earthquake
* 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'''.
* Abortion.{{context}}
* 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.
* Environmentalism.{{context}}
* 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.
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[[Category:Insult Tropes]]
[[Category:The Internet]]
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