Internet Tough Guy

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


/wiki/Internet Tough Guywork
You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet?
—Navy Seal Copypasta

Internet Tough Guys are people who will threaten anyone online who bugs them enough with physical or legal harm. These threats are always empty. These bullies couldn't fulfill most of these threats even if they wanted to. If you ever find yourself on the receiving end of these threats, just remember that most of these people are morons who wouldn't even be able to figure out your IP address.

Not surprisingly, Trolls love these morons. Rants, ineffectual threats, and anger being the stuff trolls live on.

Common Internet Tough Guy threats include:

  • Libel lawsuits (that would immediately be thrown out of court).
    • Lawsuits in general, even if the two parties live in different countries.
    • Bonus points if they threaten slander lawsuits instead.
  • Extreme violence against one or more people.
  • Extreme violence against the family of one or more people.
  • Calling people's parents (works best against the young).
  • When the ITG is also a Troll attacking the forum moderators/owners for suppression of the right to free speech (obviously this never works, as the First Amendment only protects against governments, as they'd know if they'd actually read it because "Congress shall make no law" is right at the beginning.)
    • A variation is when they threaten to use the U.S. Constitution or US statutes against non-American forum owners.
    • And, of course, it goes without saying that this sainted right is only for them and those viewpoints they express; they'll be quick as lightning to call for the banning of someone who expresses a viewpoint that they disagree with.

Compare GIFT.

Sometimes these threats can get really scary, though. There really are Axe Crazy people out there. And in rare cases, they actually can figure out where you live.