With Us or Against Us: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[One Piece]]'', but not if you are a main character: your [[Badass]] status allows you to be supportive or enemy of the World Government with abandon. Neutral countries, on the other hand, have to accept Government leadership, or their whole population will be deported and enslaved. Because the alternative is pirates, so...

* The Atlantic Federation of ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' does this with regards to [[The Kingdom|Orb]]. Orb has a mass driver, which the Atlantic Federation needs, so they give them this trope as an ultimatum.<ref>Admittedly, this was done mainly by [[Villain with Good Publicity|Muruta Azrael]]; the other leaders of the Atlantic Federation were very reluctant to go along with it</ref> It happens all over again in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', (albeit done by [[Western Terrorists|Blue Cosmos]]/[[Ancient Conspiracy|Logos]] this time) when the Destroy Gundam is unleashed on the western Eurasian Federation for being too sympathetic to ZAFT. Durandal also pulls this at the end of the series, stating that anyone who doesn't agree to his Destiny Plan is a threat to world peace, in with the aforementioned terrorists and deserve to be eliminated via [[Kill Sat]].

* In the ''[[Shaman King]]'' anime, this is the reason [[Knight Templar|the X-Laws]] hunt down Yoh and his friends. Like Marco said, they become "too powerful to let [them] be."

 

== Comic Books ==

* ''[[Spider-Man]]: [[Brand New Day]]'' has [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Extermist]]. To him, you are either with the heroes or with the villains, and anyone who dares to criticize superheroes or even laugh at them is evil and schemes to blur the line between good and evil—and therefore, must be eliminated. He even tried to kill the guy who made a website dedicated to laughing at Spider-Man-- {{spoiler|who happened to be [[Self-Deprecation|Peter Parker]]}}.

 

* Parodied in ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'', where the splinter groups against the Romans [[We ARE Struggling Together!|hated each other as much as the Romans]]. While this was originally intended as a satire on the increasingly-fractured British Left in the late '70s (the Pythons were all for [[British Political System|Labour]] at the time, although [[John Cleese]] has since become a Lib Dem), it turns out that the Jews in Jesus' day really were quite fractured and always squabbling against themselves instead of the Romans.

* The page quote is from ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]''.

'''Pirate:''' Can he do that?

'''Jack:''' He's religious; I believe it's required. }}

 

== Literature ==

** And any nations or cities that chose neutrality in this war get the worst fate. In short, the series, from the time the [[The Empire|Imperial Order]] shows up, is one long [[False Dichotomy]].

* In ''The [[Illuminatus]]! Trilogy'', Hagbard Celine says, "People who say, 'You are either a part of the problem or a part of the solution' are usually the former."

{{quote|Some people would be asking: Whose side are you on? If you're not with us, you're against us. Huh. If you're not an apple, you're a banana!}}

* In ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'', Borsk Fey'lya sees his political rivals as his enemies. He's not above leaving them to die, and thinks that everyone else thinks in similar terms. Thrawn in fact counts on Fey'lya acting this way to paralyze the New Republic and dispose of the people who pose a real danger to him, like Admiral Ackbar.

* In the [[Left Behind]] books, during the Tribulation, it eventually comes down to joining God or joining the Global Community, as both sides end up squashing any sign of neutrality on the issue.

 

* The basis of [[Stephen Colbert]]'s life philosophy. "You're either with us or you're against us. It is either Coke or Pepsi. You're either gay or you fight it." Finally he states he divides the supermarket into "cheese" and "not cheese". He also tends to badger people, including guests, who do not fall into one of his two categories, with "Pick a side--we're at war."

* [[Deep Space Nine|''Commander'' Kira]], tells this lesson to the Cardassians when they've started a rebellion. She's reminded in the same episode that Odo (her lover) used to be against the Bajorans while the Cardassians were occupying her planet.

** Also, Kira to Odo: "We used to have a saying in the resistance, 'If you're not fighting them, you're helping them.'" Kira holds a very dichotomised view of "collaborators", particularly in the days immediately after the Cardassian Occupation, and one which is challenged on several occasions through the course of the series.

* Russel Hantz tried this phrase on Sandra during ''[[Survivor]] : Heroes Vs. Villains''. Backfired spectacularly when Sandra immediately told him she was against him, something those on the Survivor Jury loved.

 

== Music ==

Or a thug for J. H. Claire }}

 

* [[The Bible]]: [[God]] Himself insists that You are are either With Him or Against Him.

** Example: Luke 11:23 ' "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." But in Luke 9:50 "Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you." Luke recounts both these which are attested in Mark and Matthew separately. One resolution of the problem is that Jesus thought anyone should be allowed to perform good work in his name so be inclusive, but on ideology you should be exclusive. Or the first is applied exclusively in "gathereth" vs. "scattereth" context.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* An unfortunate example happened with [[TNA]] Wrestling president Dixie Carter, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn13PwaRQ6s giving a big speech] to the wrestlers before an episode of iMPACT! in which she acknowledged the awful decisions being made by the company, and rather than do anything about it, told the wrestlers to shut up or leave. Either they were behind her, or they could leave the company. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100914095928/http://www.wrestlezone.com/editorials/article/it-just-keeps-getting-better-90269 This] [https://web.archive.org/web/20151011060434/http://www.vivekwwe.com/wwenews/1585-wwe-reacts-to-tna-president-dixie-carter-speech.html did] [http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/powelleditorials/article1008702.shtml not] [https://web.archive.org/web/20100114025750/http://www.wrestling-edge.com/tna-news/tna-wrestler-reacts-to-dixie-carters-speech-details-on-the-black-machismo-invitational.html go] [http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1257714323.php over] [http://www.zimbio.com/TNA+Wrestling/articles/UVojvt1i_cO/Industry+Weighs+Dixie+Carter+Speech well]{{Dead link}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140424001729/http://www.camelclutchblog.com/dixie-carter-paul-heyman/ with] [http://www.ukff.com/lofiversion/index.php/t116095.html anyone]{{Dead link}} at all.

* A [[Kayfabe]] example would be the [[Catch Phrase]] of [[The Nexus]]. You're either Nexus, or you're against us!

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' has a [[Church Militant|paladin Order of Samular]]. Once they hunted a demon and an elven community that happened to be between them—surprise! -- didn't allow a little army of human heavy cavalry to crash through their territory just so... "thus allying themselves with the evil tanar'ri". More than a generation (human) later elves were still upset about the resulting bloodbath and paladins "wary of elves and their unknowable, inhuman ways".

 

* ''[[The Crucible]]'': "A person is either with this court or against it, there be no road between."

* In ''[[A Man for All Seasons]]'', Thomas More does not like King Henry VIII's actions, but rather than complain, he keeps his mouth shut and refuses to say anything one way or the other. Unfortunately, Sir Thomas is widely known as one of the wisest and most honest men in the kingdom, and his silence makes his position on the issue pretty obvious to everybody. King Henry then lays down the gauntlet, and makes everyone in England swear an oath affirming his support of the King's actions, prompting the film's main conflict.

 

 

* In [http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2011/4/5/how-to-explore-your-emotions.html this] ''[[Basic Instructions]]'':

{{quote|'''Rick''': Your theory is a nice start, but I can break down my feelings even further. I have identified two basic emotions.

* Zapp Brannigan in ''[[Futurama]]'' views the Neutral Race this way. "With enemies you know where they stand, but with Neutrals, who knows?" Therefore he decides to crash the Planet Express ship into their capital. "Another heroic battle in the war between Good and Neutral!"

* Demona says this in the pilot of ''[[Gargoyles]]'': "If you are not my ally, then you are my enemy."

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:The Only Righteous Index of Fanatics]]

[[Category:Stock Aesops]]

[[Category:Politics Tropes]]