History Main / AwakeningTheSleepingGiant

** John ends up on the wrong end of this trope as the series goes on and he continues enraging the High Table with his breaking of their rules and utter refusal to die. This trope finally reaches its apogee in the fourth film [[spoiler:when the Table assumes wartime footing and grant full power to [[AristocratsAreEvil the Marquis]] with the order to get rid of John Wick once and for all. The Marquis promptly deploys the High Table's secret armies and and goes full scorched Earth on anything and anybody who ever sheltered Wick. John finally accepts that the only way he is going to get out of this mess ([[SuicideMission and it's a very long shot]]) and save what friends he has remaining is to follow the High Table's rules and [[ChallengeTheChief challenge the Marquis to a duel]].]]

** Sega (or more specifically, Sega of Japan) did this when Sony approached them after the 1991 [=CES=] to help them make the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, since Sega was Nintendo's fierce rival. Sega of America was more than willing to work with them, but when they pitched it to Sega of Japan it was shot down, mostly on the basis that [=SoJ=] fought with [=SoA=] on nearly every decision they made. Unlike Nintendo, [[HeadInTheSandManagement Sega of Japan]] forgot that Sony was a major electronics manufacturer that made the [=MSX=], the Walkman, and other devices, and had game development experience through Creator/SonyImagesoft. While Sega bowing out of the console-manufacturing market wasn't entirely Sony's doing (more Sega of Japan/America in-fighting was the major factor), the UsefulNotes/PlayStation costing $100 less than the UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} killed interest in it completely, and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 following up on the success of the original was enough to seal the death of the UsefulNotes/{{Dreamcast}}, forcing Sega out entirely.

--->You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! [[MilesGloriosus You people speak so lightly of war]]; you don't know what you're talking about. [[WarIsHell War is a terrible thing!]] You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it… Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth -- right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail.

** In the backstory episode, "[[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning In The Beginning]]," Londo is pressured to provide info on the mysterious Minbari for Earthforce so they could do an armed probe of their territory. Londo agrees, but pointedly warns them that the Minbari are not to be underestimated, and comments that "I hope you do not wake the Dragon." Of course, the Human force is led by a trigger-happy idiot who does precisely that, and suddenly Earth is in a crushing HopelessWar against an overwhelmingly superior foe on a genocidal crusade against Humanity.

* ''Literature/TreeOfAeons'': Aeon has a longstanding policy of non-interference in other countries' business, so long as they don't attack him. He actually approves of conflict between them, since it results in rapidly gaining levels, which means more individuals strong enough to make a difference in a fight against an invading demon king, which is what he really cares about. Those who don't want such a war are welcome to emigrate to the Central Continent, where Aeon rules with a velvet glove over an iron fist, providing unparalleled security and technological advancement at the cost of a relaxed-but-always-watching police state. But eventually, thanks to his efforts against the demons, the world has been safe from external attack long enough that the other continents' wars against each other can really escalate, and they start to stir up propaganda against ''him'', to the point where a crusade is about to ignite, apparently having forgotten or never believed just what he's capable of. [[spoiler:He controls or is closely allied with nearly all the individuals in the world over level 100, including all of the level 150 domain holders, and is personally over level 200. He has void mages capable of going anywhere on the planet nearly instantly, which no one else in the world has. He is constantly training his "Valthorns" against the strongest demons they can find, preparatory to fighting demon kings that could previously only be defeated with divinely aided heroes. And the heroes themselves, since they have a divine mission to fight demon kings, are inclined to agree with his perspective. Aeon's ''first'' proposal is to simply kidnap every single ruler of every other nation and make them sit down and talk, then exile any who don't cooperate to a demonic world so they can get a taste of what true war is like, and those who have any realistic idea of his capabilities have no doubt he can do it; the heroes find it hilarious that "Aeon's going to catch all the naughty boys and send them to the naughty corner."]]

** Literature/TheCulture, from the eponymous novel series, are PerfectPacifistPeople... ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes Until you piss them off]]''. A quote from ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'': "You might call them soft, because they're very reluctant to kill, and they might agree with you, but they're soft the way the ocean is soft, and, well; ask any sea captain how puny and harmless the ocean can be."

** Literature/TheCulture, from the eponymous novel series, are PerfectPacifistPeople... ''[[BewareTheNiceOnes Until you piss them off]]''. A quote from ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'' "You might call them soft, because they're very reluctant to kill, and they might agree with you, but they're soft the way the ocean is soft, and, well; ask any sea captain how puny and harmless the ocean can be."

* Another [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]] example: in the non-Culture novel ''TheAlgebraist'', the Dwellers (in gas giants) have a reputation for wiping out civilizations that piss them off...but they don't care what the inhabitants of rocky Earthlike planets do to each other as long as they leave the Dwellers alone. One of the book's many subplots concerns trying to persuade the Dwellers to help defeat an invasion fleet ''before'' they get around to attacking the local gas giant.
** Banks is fond of this trope. The entire plot of ''Consider Phlebas'' is driven by the fact that the Culture and the Idirans have to tiptoe carefully around the Dra'Azon, a very powerful species who happen to have designed the planet they are fighting over as a sort of museum.

* ''Literature/TheCulture'', from the [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]] novels. From ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'': "You might call them soft, because they're very reluctant to kill, and they might agree with you, but they're soft the way the ocean is soft, and, well; ask any sea captain how puny and harmless the ocean can be." Or, if that's a bit flowery for you, there's the universal adage of the civilizations which have dealings with them; "Do not fuck with The Culture." See ''Literature/ConsiderPhlebas'' and ''Look to Windward'' for what happens when those civilizations don't follow that advice. Someone phrased it as "The first rule of dealing with The Culture is that you do not fuck with The Culture. The ''second'' rule of dealing with The Culture is that you do '''not''' fuck with The Culture. The last rule is that ''you don't fuck with The [[OhMyGods godsdamned]] Culture!''"

** Perhaps a more literal example takes place at the climax of Luffy's rematch with Kaido, where [[spoiler:a [=CP0=] agent, under orders from the Five Elders, [[UnwantedAssistance interferes in the fight]] so that Luffy can't defend himself from Kaido's strongest attack]]. As a result, [[spoiler:not only does this fail to kill Luffy, he ''[[OneWingedAngel awakens]]'' his Devil Fruit, whose true name is revealed to be the [[PhysicalGod Hito Hito no Mi]], [[RealityWarper Model: Nika]]. That is, the ''[[GreaterScopeParagon Sun God Nika]]'', the Warrior of Liberation and the antithesis of everything the World Government's oppressive regime stands for. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This is the very outcome]] [[NiceJobFixingItVillain the Five Elders were trying to prevent]], by the way; for reference, they believed going to war with a pissed-off Kaido [[LesserOfTwoEvils was preferable]]]].

* ''Literature/TreeOfAeons'': Aeon has a longstanding policy of non-interference in other countries' business, so long as they don't attack him. He actually approves of conflict between them, since it results in rapidly gaining levels, which means more individuals strong enough to make a difference in a fight against an invading demon king, which is what he really cares about. But eventually, thanks to his efforts, the world has been safe from external attack long enough that the other continents' wars against each other can really escalate, and they start to stir up propaganda against ''him'', to the point where a crusade is about to ignite, apparently having forgotten or never believed just what he's capable of. [[spoiler:He controls nearly all the individuals in the world over level 100, including a bunch of domain holders over level 150, and is personally over level 200. He has void mages capable of going anywhere on the planet nearly instantly, which no one else in the world has. He is constantly training his "Valthorns" against the strongest demons they can find, preparatory to fighting demon kings that could previously only be defeated with divinely aided heroes. And the heroes themselves, since they have a divine mission to fight demon kings, are inclined to agree with his perspective. Aeon's ''first'' proposal is to simply kidnap every single ruler of every other nation and make them sit down and talk, then exile any who don't cooperate to a demonic world so they can get a taste of what true war is like, and those who have any realistic idea of his capabilities have no doubt he can do it; the heroes find it hilarious that "Aeon's going to catch all the naughty boys and send them to the naughty corner."]]

** Not just the Romulan involvement in the Dominion War. The entire Dominion War itself could be considered this from the Dominion's perspective, as they ''severely'' underestimated Federation technical prowess and industrial capacity, to the point that Federation engineers became an entire army of {{Memetic Badass}}es in the eyes of the Dominion, who witnessed the Federation turn just about anything they could get their hands on into a starship and cranking their industrial base up a notch, to the point that one Vorta claimed a Federation engineer could "turn rocks into replicators". Not to mention the original Dominion contingent had no idea how [[HumansAreWarriors warlike]] humanity could become when the need arose. (Their Cardassian allies were considerably smarter in this regard, however).

** Perhaps a more literal example takes place at the climax of Luffy's rematch with Kaido, where [[spoiler:a [=CP0=] agent, under orders from the Five Elders, [[UnwantedAssistance interferes in the fight]] so that Luffy can't defend himself from Kaido's strongest attack]]. As a result, [[spoiler:not only does this fail to kill Luffy, he ''[[OneWingedAngel awakens]]'' his Devil Fruit, whose true name is revealed to be the [[PhysicalGod Hito Hito no Mi]], [[RealityWarper Model: Nika]]. That is, the ''[[GreaterScopeParagon Sun God Nika]]'', the Warrior of Liberation and the antithesis of everything the World Government's oppressive regime stands for. [[HoistByHisOwnPetard This is the very outcome]] [[NiceJobFixingItVillain the Five Elders were trying to prevent]], by the way; for reference, they believed going to war with a pissed-off Kaido [[LesserOfTwoEvils was a preferable outcome]].

** Perhaps a more literal example takes place at the climax of Luffy's rematch with Kaido, where [[spoiler:a [=CP0=] agent, under orders from the Five Elders, [[UnwantedAssistance interferes in the fight]] so that Luffy can't defend himself from Kaido's strongest attack]]. As a result, [[spoiler:not only does this fail to kill Luffy, he ''[[OneWingedAngel awakens]]'' his Devil Fruit, whose true name is revealed to be the [[PhysicalGod Hito Hito no Mi]], [[RealityWarper Model: Nika]]. That is, the ''[[GreaterScopeParagon Sun God Nika]]'', the Warrior of Liberation and the antithesis of everything the World Government's oppressive regime stands for]].

* ''Literature/TreeOfAeons'': Aeon has a longstanding policy of non-interference in other countries' business, so long as they don't attack him. He actually approves of conflict between them, since it results in rapidly gaining levels, which means more individuals strong enough to make a difference in a fight against an invading demon king, which is what he really cares about. But eventually, the world has been at peace long enough that the other continents start to stir up propaganda against him, to the point where a crusade is about to ignite, apparently having forgotten or never believed just what he's capable of. [[spoiler:He controls nearly all the individuals in the world over level 100, including a bunch of domain holders over level 150, and is personally over level 200. He has void mages capable of going anywhere on the planet nearly instantly, which no one else in the world has. He is constantly training his "Valthorns" against the strongest demons they can find, preparatory to fighting demon kings that could previously only be defeated with divinely aided heroes. And the heroes themselves, since they have a divine mission to fight demon kings, are inclined to agree with his perspective. Aeon's ''first'' proposal is to simply kidnap every single ruler of every other nation and make them sit down and talk, then exile any who don't cooperate to a demonic world so they can get a taste of what true war is like, and those who have any realistic idea of his capabilities have no doubt he can do it; the heroes find it hilarious that "Aeon's going to catch all the naughty boys and send them to the naughty corner."]]

* ''Literature/TreeOfAeons'': Aeon has a longstanding policy of non-interference in other countries' business, so long as they don't attack him. He actually approves of conflict between them, since it results in rapidly gaining levels, which means more individuals strong enough to make a difference in a fight against an invading demon king, which is what he really cares about. But eventually, the world has been at peace long enough that the other continents start to stir up propaganda against him, apparently having forgotten or never believed just what he's capable of. [[spoiler:He controls nearly all the individuals in the world over level 100, including a bunch of domain holders over level 150, and is personally over level 200. He has void mages capable of going anywhere on the planet nearly instantly, which no one else in the world has. He is constantly training his "Valthorns" against the strongest demons they can find, preparatory to fighting demon kings that could previously only be defeated with divinely aided heroes. And the heroes themselves, since they have a divine mission to fight demon kings, are inclined to agree with his perspective. Aeon's ''first'' proposal is to simply kidnap every single ruler of every other nation and make them sit down and talk, then exile any who don't cooperate to a demonic world so they can get a taste of what true war is like, and those who have any realistic idea of his capabilities have no doubt he can do it; the heroes find it hilarious that "Aeon's going to catch all the naughty boys and send them to the naughty corner."]]

* David Weber's ''Literature/OutOfTheDark'': when the alien invaders are about to make the human race extinct, someone on Earth [[spoiler:(Count Dracula)]] finally decides to come out of his self-imposed exile and show them what ''real'' monsters can do.

* The first and final books in the ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheJerleShannara'' trilogy build up the GeniusLoci within Mephetic castle as a truly ancient, truly badass threat too selfishly neutral to bother with the cast anywhere but on its own turf. For most of the plot, the spirit's only interest is the grudge it carries against Bek Ohmsford for stealing from it. [[spoiler: In the final showdown with BigBad the Morgwar, Bek tricks the spirit into believing the warlock is him, thus bringing all of its rage down upon the Morgwar and crushing him to death within its walls.]]

* Done twice in ''Manga/FairyTail'', by the same person, in the same story arc, and pretty much at the same time. While attempting to simultaneously capture Zeref and annihilate Fairy Tail, Grimoire Heart, and specifically their leader Hades, manage to piss Zeref off to the point where he stops doing his best to avoid all life forms and proceeds to track Hades down with the intent to kill him. It's then revealed that Hades has also managed to draw the attention of Acnologia, a murder-happy dragon capable of destroying continents.

** Red-Hair Shanks, Luffy's idol, appears at the Paramount War and declares that unless everyone stops fighting, ''he'll'' take them on, ''everyone'' drops what they're doing and the most epic conflict of the series ends not on a bang, but a whimper.

** In Totto Land, if anyone defeats one of Big Mom's Sweet Commanders, Big Mom's retribution is to unleash ''all'' of her forces on the perpetrator. Later on, Brook succeeds in getting into the treasure room. Big Mom is so infuriated that she ''personally'' shows up to get him. [[spoiler: After Luffy's gang escapes Totto Land, foiling Big Mom's Germa assassination, causing her palace to collapse, and beating ''another'' one of her Sweet Commanders, Big Mom decides to screw the BalanceOfPower and chase after Luffy into Wano... where ''Kaido'' is based.]]

* For Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}}, Creator/{{Sony}} became this after Nintendo ditched Sony for the UsefulNotes/{{SNESCDROM}} add-on and Sega rebuked them afterwards. Before this, Sony was "only" a general electronics manufacturer whose only involvement in video games was the UsefulNotes/{{MSX}}, the [=SNES=]'s sound chip and the development team Creator/SonyImagesoft, but they had no interest in making a console of their own. After, they were the first manufacturer to overtake Nintendo's popularity (and did so multiple times) and became one of the biggest console manufacturers in the world, eclipsing all their other electronics businesses.
** For Nintendo's part, they contracted Sony to help develop the develop a CD-ROM add-on to the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem titled the "Play Station", after their work making the system's [=SPC700=] sound chip. However, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi realized that the wording of their contract meant Sony would have full ownership and profits over the add-on's games. But rather than re-negotiating the contract, Nintendo secretly went to Phillips (who helped co-develop the CD-ROM with Sony) to make a second version. Sony didn't find out until Nintendo revealed the partnership at the 1991 Consumer Electronics show, enraging the company into striking out on their own (Sony realizing they had the ability to make a standalone console of their own). This resulted in the creation of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, one of the most successful lines of video game consoles of all time that beat out the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube.
** Sega (or more specifically, Sega of Japan) did this when Sony approached them after the 1991 [=CES=] to help them make the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, since Sega was Nintendo's fierce rival. Sega of America was more than willing to work with them, but when they pitched it to Sega of Japan it was shot down, mostly on the basis that [=SoJ=] fought with [=SoA=] on nearly every decision they made. Like Nintendo, Sega of Japan forgot that Sony was a major electronics manufacturer that made the [=MSX=], the Walkman, and other devices, and had game development experience through Creator/SonyImagesoft. While Sega bowing out of the console-manufacturing market wasn't entirely Sony's doing (more Sega of Japan/America in-fighting was the major factor), the UsefulNotes/PlayStation costing $100 less than the UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} killed interest in it completely, and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 following up on the success of the original was enough to seal the death of the UsefulNotes/{{Dreamcast}}, forcing Sega out entirely.

* Pyrrhus (he of the PyrrhicVictory) did this to Rome. Before facing him, Rome was a regional power in the largely barbaric Italy, mostly concerned to keep the Gauls and other hostiles away, trade with their neighbours and the then-ally Carthage, and defend their Italian allies. Then Tarentum got in a squabble with one of Rome's allies and, [[OhCrap realizing they were completely outmatched]], cashed in a favour that Pyrrhus owed them, and by the end of the war, in which they had defeated a major Hellenistic power whose army was led by ''the'' greatest general of their time, the Romans realized they could conquer the Mediterranean, and were now inclined to try.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei:'' As a general rule, in Megaten, [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks The Great Will and Lucifer Are Both Jerks]], and they're jerks with very specific and very differing ideas on how things should be run. Most if not all of the games revolve around them trying to get a leg up over the other and inevitably humanity gets involved, usually when the two factions decide to use our world as their latest battleground and us as food, cannon fodder, patsies, vessels, sacrifices, or worse. Unfortunately for them, the canon Neutral endings have them learn the hard way that there was, in fact, a giant sleeping amongst humanity, A giant who doesn't take kindly to the cosmic entities screwing with their world and the people they care about, a giant who turns the angels and demons to their own side and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaughters gods and demons]] with them before they're even at the midway point of the games, a giant who stares into the eyes of the gods of old and makes them blink. Who is this giant? [[PlayerCharacter You,]] who usually starts off as an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent just going about their life when Armageddon hits.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In the fight between Emperor Belos and the citizens of the Boiling Isles, The Collector initially is not involved in this fight. Then, Belos decided to betray The Collector and renege on a deal that they had made. The heroes are overjoyed as The Collector defeats Belos in a CurbStompBattle. [[EvilerThanThou And then learn that there was a VERY good reason that The Collector was sealed away for so long...]]

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Khal Drogo really didn't care all that much about Westeros, until Robert tried to have Daenerys assassinated. Then he becomes hell-bent on vengeance. [[spoiler:This was deliberately engineered by Varys, who sent the assassin. But then he dies of an infected wound and a blood magic ritual [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone wrong]] ([[GoneHorriblyRight or right]], depending on who you ask) [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority and his horde falls apart]]]].

* In ''Fanfic/{{Renegade}}'', the Batarian Hegemony did this to the Global Defense Initiative by continuously supporting pirate and slaver raids into GDI territory in an effort to impede their colonization efforts. [[DisproportionateRetribution GDI expressed their disapproval quite violently.]] In addition, WordOfGod is that the Scrin [[spoiler: are apparently trying to avoid doing this to the Reapers.]]
** GDI is outright called "An Awakened Giant" after the Turians woke GDI when they attacked Shanxi. Of course, the Giant was never really sleeping as much as unaware there were other aliens besides the Scrin, given that they have ''{{M|ilitaryMashupMachine}}ARVs'' in ''fringe colonies''.

* In ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen'', [[HufflepuffHouse the Tampere Empire]] is the largest country on the continent, but generally it focuses more on the Far East than Inner Sea (the region where Arendelle and Weselton are). However, the Royal Council of Arendelle fears that if [[spoiler:Drachner will manage to take over the entire Inner Sea region]], Tampere will end up steamrolling them to stop this.
* In the backstory of ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'', the Moon colonists tried to take over Earth by carrying out guerilla superfighter attacks and demanding the feuding supranational blocs of Earth cede control. All that did was make the Earthnoids mad.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' novel-length story ''Fanfic/WithoutAHive'', this is what Queen Chrysalis does by (unsuccessfully!) attacking Canterlot, the capital of the strongest, most populous, and most technologically-advanced nation on its planet, led by a family of PhysicalGods. Equestria now knows the Changelings are real, considers them extremely hostile, and begins a systematic attempt to uncover Changeling spies. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Congratulations]], Chrysalis, on [[BrokenMasquerade breaking the Masquerade]].
* In ''Fanfic/OrderInChaos'' the Minbari are neutral to the war between the Centauri and the Orieni, and immediately warn both sides of respecting their neutrality. The governments are only too happy to obey, given they know just how more powerful the Minbari are... Then a group of Centauri [[SpacePirates raiders]] decide to try and make a quick buck by preying on Minbari shipping and steal technology to reverse-engineer, and Orieni explorers seeking to find some alternate routes to Centauri space accidentally violate Minbari territory. The governments find out only when couriers warn them that a Minbari fleet intruded a battle and ''[[CurbStompBattle crushed both fleets at the same time]]'', and then have to convince two other Minbari fleets they had no idea of what had happened and they have no reason to flatten their homeworlds. The governments succeed. Those Centauri raiders... [[TotalPartyKill Not so much]].
* The main premise of the fanfic ''Game of Thrones: Vendetta.'' When Talisa's father hears about [[NastyParty the Red Wedding]] and of his daughter's death, he heads for Westeros with [[AlwaysABiggerFish his sellsword army]] hell-bent [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge on avenging]] his daughter, as well as Robb and Catelyn Stark. Admiral Yamamoto's quote also appears at the beginning of the story. [[spoiler: Talisa's father wins, and every Lannister except Tyrion dies.]]
-->'''Bronn:''' ''[warning Tywin about Lucian Maegyr and his forces]'' The proof is right there. He destroyed House Frey and killed the Spicers. Not only is he going to wipe out Roose Bolton, but he will put your entire family to the sword...the Kingslayer, the Queen Regent, the boy King...everyone. He will do what Robb Stark failed to do: see whether or not you can shit gold.
* ''Fanfic/AThinVeneer'' kicks off when [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the Federation and Klingon peace negotiations]] get interrupted by [[Series/BabylonFive a group of refugees trying to escape the Earth/Minbari War]]. This wasn't sufficient to bring them into the war. The murder of twenty-five million beings from several major nations in a Pearl Harbor-style attack on a Federation colony, on the other hand, brings the Federation, Klingons, and Gorn into the Earth/Minbari War with a vengeance.
* ''Fanfic/TheEquestrianWindMage'': At one point during Season 2, Shining Armor reflects on his belief that [[BigBadEnsemble Ganondorf and Majora]] have done this with their invasions of Equestria, for while the ponies are peaceful by nature, they ''will'' fight to protect what's theirs.
* For most of ''Fanfic/OriginStory'', Alex Harris -- a [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Kryptonian]] trapped in the Marvel Universe -- is perfectly happy to keep her head down and not get involved in the "civil war" going on across the US between the superheroes. In fact, she only takes a side, finally, because she gets fed up with the fascistic pro-registration side constantly refusing to leave her and her partner Louise alone.
* In the WWE story, ''The Return-Remixed'', Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} is shown as being friendly with the Divas and the members of DEAR when he first returns. When Ashley Massaro (who had been shamelessly throwing herself at him, trying to get a date with him) tried to take out his girlfriend, new Diva Kennedi Korklan, Edge firmly threw his weight behind the Divas, helping them become the Diva Army and bringing in [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]] to whip them into shape to fight DEAR.

* In ''Fanfic/EarthsAlienHistory'', the [[Series/{{V1983}} Visitors]] destroying entire cities is described as this, as it forces Series/{{Torchwood}} to dispense with secrecy and unveil [[SuperweaponSurprise hidden weapons emplacements]] in order to counterstrike and destroy them.

* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Norlock]] was perfectly content to stay in his castle minding his own business. Then Dib accidentally blew his castle up, causing him to [[VillainTeamUp ally with Zim]], upping the latter's threat level considerably.
* In ''Fanfic/AbsolutePowerSucksAbsolutely'', Maxime is content to live something resembling a normal life while doing small favors for others through his RealityWarper powers. He doesn't want to join the Justice League but he also doesn't want The Light after him or anyone he cares about. He breaks his neutrality once [[spoiler:he realizes that he could have prevented thousands of children from being killed if he had acted sooner during the Split World incident. That's when he decides to reveal himself to the United Nations and offers to resurrect every single one of the victims of the event.]]

* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': A completely unintentional version in the first sequel, ''Diplomat At Large''. Years before, the hippogriffs had suddenly recalled all their people from around the world due to their kingdom being attacked by the Storm King as part of his plot to take over the world. When Twilight finds out the cause of this recall, she sends Celestia a letter about it... resulting in Equestria and its allies immediately gearing up for war with the Storm King.

If the entity is an individual, then they won the SuperpowerLottery, and it's likely they are a MartialPacifist or that they don't see the conflict as something they need or want to get involved in. Sometimes an individual may be involved in the conflict but [[WillfullyWeak sees no reason go all out to resolve it.]] This trope can often cross over with CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass if the character is [[PersonOfMassDestruction extremely]] [[OneManArmy powerful]] but doesn't showcase their abilities unless the [[ItsPersonal bad guy(s)]] [[ThisIsUnforgivable set them off.]] Compare SealedBadassInACan, if the "sleeping" is in the character of an involuntary confinement and someone breaks the prison. If the neutral party is actually ''smaller'' than the two fighting powers, but still enough to alter the balance of power greatly, this overlaps with KingmakerScenario.

* This was Celestial Being's plan to achieve world peace in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. If a large scale military conflict ever erupted, they would show up and [[CurbStompBattle decimate both sides.]] The idea is to discourage war by ensuring that everyone loses, and then to bring unity by [[EnemyMine becoming the common enemy of all military powers.]]

** Whitebeard, The WorldsStrongestMan and former equal of the Pirate King Gold Roger, is acknowledged in-universe as a CoolOldGuy who just wants to chill on his ships with his crew/surrogate family. But when the World Government announces their intention to publicly execute one of his men, the world panics because Whitebeard is AFatherToHisMen, and that the Government has basically declared war on a man who can ''create earthquakes at will'', with an armada of powerful pirate crews at his beck and call.

** HYDRA and Lucius Malfoy unwittingly did this when they let Gravemoss slaughter [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService MI6]] and decapitated [=MI13=] -- all it achieved was to leave the young, ambitious, and utterly ruthless Peter Wisdom in command of [=MI13=] and in prime position to take control of, essentially, Britain's entire counter-intelligence apparatus and military response to HYDRA's threat. The result is a much leaner, more up to date, and more effective counter to HYDRA that plays a key role in its downfall, and as of the sequel, controls most of supernatural Britain, having the diminished Ministry largely at its mercy.

** Asgard normally stays out of Earth politics, and indeed, politics of the mortal universe at large. However, this trope is the reason that its status as the universe's chief superpower is largely undisputed and most people leave Earth alone (Thanos excepted -- and he's on Odin's hit-list), is because when something happens that sufficiently pisses them off (like trespassing on Earth or screwing with humanity), they will not so much step in as step ''on''. For examples, see what they did to the Dheronians after they served as Thanos' pawns in destroying Krypton, those Kree briefly responsible for restarting the Terrigenesis experiments on Earth, and the Red Room after they [[spoiler: kidnapped Harry, who, it is to be remembered, is Thor's son and thus a Prince in direct line to the throne]]. The answers are, respectively, [[spoiler: near genocide]], demanding the heads of those responsible and receiving them with grovelling apologies, and [[TheScourgeOfGod something that would have fit quite nicely in the Old Testament]], plus Loki's methodical murder spree. And then there was the incident with the Skrulls...
* While the government was favorable to help the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, the Earth Alliance in ''Fanfic/TheDilgarWar'' is initially neutral between the Dilgar and the League, save for a little tidbit: the Dilgar were to not invade the Markab and the Mentab. When the Warmaster Council vote to invade the Markab to reach the Vree ([[IgnoredExpert with Jha'dur saying that attacking the Markab was an immensely stupid act exactly because Earth protected them]]), the Dilgar curbstomps the Markab fleet only to meet Earthforce and a MacrossMissileMassacre of [[NukeEm nuclear weapons]] ([[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill about a dozen nukes for every ship the Dilgar had in that battle]]). The losses sustained in that single battle where more than anything the Dilgar had lost before in the entire war, and cost them the war.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' novel-length story ''Fanfic/WithoutAHive'', this is what Queen Chrysalis does by (unsuccessfully!) attacking Canterlot, the capital of the strongest, most populous and most technologically-advanced nation on its planet, led by a family of PhysicalGods. Equestria now knows the Changelings are real, considers them extremely hostile, and begins a systematic attempt to uncover Changeling spies. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Congratulations]], Chrysalis, on [[BrokenMasquerade breaking the Masquerade]].

* ''Fanfic/AThinVeneer'' kicks off when [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry the Federation and Klingon peace negotiations]] get interrupted by [[Series/BabylonFive a group of refugees trying to escape the Earth/Minbari War]]. This wasn't sufficient to bring them into the war. The murder of twenty five million beings from several major nations in a Pearl Harbor-style attack on a Federation colony, on the other hand, brings the Federation, Klingons and Gorn into the Earth/Minbari War with a vengeance.

** The multiversal Storm Empire adheres to PragmaticVillainy for this exact reason: they're far stronger than anything the Alliance has faced thus far, but are also aware ''much'' bigger fish than themselves are lurking out there in the multiverse and ''will'' wipe them out should they accidentally disturb them. As such they stick to their own worlds they conquered and avoid actions that may tick off forces stronger than themselves.
** The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' version of Chrysalis's attack on the Isle of Pony ends up resulting in that universe's previously hidden populations of Pegasi, Unicorns, Flutterponies, and Sea Ponies to decide they can't stand by doing nothing any longer and [[TheCavalry make themselves known on the Isle's behalf.]] They were planning to make FirstContact anyway, but Chrysalis's actions resulted in them doing so decisively against her via military force.

* ''Fanfic/GuardiansWizardsAndKungFuFighters'': [[MasterSwordsman Archduchess]] [[OneManArmy Galiene]] [[NeverMessWithGranny Sebille]] was happily [[RetiredBadass retried]] in an out of the way island... until the Sack of Torus Filney left her daughter and son-in-law prisoners of the Rebellion, which was enough to spur her to action against them.

* In ''Fanfic/HowTheLightGetsIn'', [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Dean]] was happily a stay at home dad, (semi)content to leave the vigilante life to his wife [[Series/{{Arrow}} Laurel]]. Then Damien Darhk murdered her. Dean then quickly demonstrated that angering a Winchester is the absolute ''last'' thing you should ever do; and not only destroyed Darhk's organization (with [[spoiler:Nyssa's]] help), but let hell, particularly [[TortureTechnician Alistair]], back into his dead to properly punish Darhk for it.

** The Remix version also has Adrien actively working against Lila from the start. Marinette leaving made him realize that he's fallen into a PacifismBackfire. His efforts are an uphill battle (owing to a mixture of Lila's manipulations, his own reluctance to use what he deems underhanded methods and the class' refusal to believe him) but he does slowly start making in roads to dealing with Lila. Especially because his support helps Marinette deal with her complicated feelings about the whole mess.

* In ''Fanfic/AnOrdinaryLife'' the Noraneko Foyer is this. Izuku, after being expelled in the aftermath of the 3-A Fiasco, is completely uninterested in getting involved in the Front/League conflict. Thanks to having mastered One For All, he is also one if not the strongest person in Japan. And besides him, his students possess macro-scale Quirks or skills to compensate their weaker Quirks and are fiercely loyal and protective of their beloved sensei Izuku. This trope is even referenced in the story by the name of the inn Aizawa, Toshinori, and Ochako stay at while visiting the city the Foyer is located for the first time: the Sleeping Giant Inn.

** ''Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep'': Godzilla is not on any side of the conflict, and is just a neutral third party tucked away in a deep sleep on the island. Once he wakes up, everything goes absolutely haywire for the previously untouchable Red Bamboo as neither they nor their giant crab are equipped to handle the radioactive reptile.

* ''Film/TheLoveBug'': In ''Herbie Rides Again'', although Grandma Steinmetz is threatened and harassed by Alonzo Hawk, she was initially fine to just let he and his men come and have Nicole send them off. That changes when Hawk decides to go even further and outright has his men steal every piece of furniture she owns. Once every piece is taken right back, Grandma becomes a true force to be reckoned with, culminating in redirecting the wrecking ball he was going to have knock down her firehouse so it goes to ''his'' home instead.

* The United States as per the final voice over of the trope quote in ''Film/ToraToraTora''. Maybe Yamamoto [[BeamMeUpScotty never said it]] -- but he should have, and (as noted in the Real Life section below), he ''did'' at least hold similar sentiments.

* By introducing late 20th-century technology and ideas in early 17th-century Europe, the time-traveling Americans of ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'' have awoken the interest of the Ottoman Empire: the mightiest military power of its time, ruled by a Sultan named [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Murad the Mad]], who is, according TheSpymaster Francisco Nasi, [[OhCrap as intelligent as he is insane and bloodthirsty]].

* ''Literature/{{Domina}}'': It goes both ways with the war between America and Domina. On the one hand, Domina is a very large independent city that greatly values its freedom, with millions of [[BioAugmentation bio-augmented]] soldiers who are willing to fight to defend it -- and they've been fighting ''each other'' for decades, so they're very experienced in killing. The American forces were expecting token resistance from criminal gangs, and instead find that they can barely make any headway at all. On the other hand, it is repeatedly pointed out that the only reason America is landing troops at all instead of just shelling the city is because they don't want to kill the entire city. [[spoiler:The Dagonites sinking the boats and the unexpected city shield]] make shelling the city harder than expected, but America still has nukes while Domina doesn't. In total war, America would inevitably win. [[spoiler:Luckily for Domina City, the American president didn't want a war in the first place, and was only convinced to when a Dominite exile told him it would be an easy liberation. Once the invasion stalls, he is willing to cut his losses and sue for peace]].

* In Creator/SMStirling's Literature/{{Emberverse}}, the Provisional Republic of Iowa is far away from most of the action and has no reason to get involved...[[spoiler: until the Cutters kill the Republic's ruler and try to kill his family, revealing how far their tentacles extend and infuriating the surviving leadership of the Republic]]. Since Iowa is a superpower in its own right, and can call on its local neighbors for additional troops and help, this makes the strike at Pearl Harbor look like genius.

* During the early ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novels, both the Manticorian and Havenite forces are very careful to avoid certain activities (such as planetary bombardment) that will attract the ire of the Solarian League, a star nation that comprises 80% of the human population in the galaxy. Later on, as conflict builds between Manticore and the Solarian League, it becomes obvious that the League, though huge, is no longer the military powerhouse it used to be: fifty years of [[LensmanArmsRace Manticorian/Havenite conflict]] has left the massive League navy [[CurbStompBattle hopelessly outclassed]]. It is also made clear that if that was the only problem the League was facing, it would ''still'' be the this trope -- the League is still technologically sophisticated, it's just that it has mostly gone to civilian tech (which doesn't help the military) or the Frontier Fleet (which is severely lacking in larger warships, and the way battle works in the Honorverse means larger ships have a major advantage over smaller ships), and the League is so massive that it has the space and industry to buy time to upgrade their ships of the wall and then roll over Manticore. The ''real'' reason why it isn't is that this particular giant is beginning to collapse. Book 19, though, shows that the League is not yet down for the count and is not above violating its own laws (such as the Eridani Edict prohibiting OrbitalBombardment or the Deneb Accords prohibiting [[SinkTheLifeBoats shooting at disabled ships or escape pods]]) to ensure its own survival. The League basically embarks on a campaign of terror and intimidation to force systems to stay in, despite the constitution permitting secession.

* Caladan Brood's warhammer in ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', aptly named Burn's Hammer, is an implement she gave him, so he can awaken her, if he so wishes. Luckily, he is aware what him wielding the hammer [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt will do]] and he treats his responsibility accordingly. Since Burn is the world itself, awakening this particular giant is generally a bad idea.

* ''Star Trek: The Great Starship Race'' reinforces this as the Romulan view of the Federation. The Romulan commander even outright compares the Federation to a very gentle looking furry giant who was sleeping and the Romulans as hunters after the giant's pelt. They had expected the giant to cower in fear when they attacked with their skinning knives instead the creature roared defiantly ready to fight tooth and claw to the death.
* In ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', the Kingdom of Farmus schemed against the Jura Tempest Federation, a country of monsters, because its growing prosperity made them a major threat to the their trade monopoly. Thus, they sent a small group to incite an incident in Tempest so that they could invade with the Imperial Holy Church under the pretext of "subjugating the evil monsters", which would allow him to both eliminate a trade rival and claim their vast riches. However, their plan relied on the monsters being weakened by a magic barrier that would surround the country and their leader being a pushover who would bend the knee to them. Once Tempest gets their act together, not only do they demonstrate that they're an army of evolved monsters perfectly capable of kicking ass ''outside'' the barrier, but Rimuru demonstrates that GoodIsNotSoft and [[spoiler:singlehandedly massacres the entire twenty-thousand strong invading army and uses their souls to become a True Demon Lord in order to send a message and act as a deterent for future invasions]].

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The neutral First Ones who do not deign to partake in the war between the Vorlons and Shadows turn out to be this. The Walkers of Sigma-597 are a prime example- by exploiting their old hatred of the Vorlons, Susan Ivanova manages to enroll them. During the climactic Battle of Coriana VI the Walkers basically roll in and blast the Vorlon planet killer ship with ease.
** In the backstory episode, "[[Recap/BabylonFiveFilm01InTheBeginning In The Beginning]]," Londo is pressured to provide info on the mysterious Minbari for Earthforce so they could do an armed probe of their territory. Londo agrees, but pointedly warns them that the Minbari are not to be underestimated, and comments that "I hope you do not wake the Dragon." Of course, the Human force is led by a trigger happy idiot who does precisely that, and suddenly Earth is in a crushing HopelessWar against an overwhelmingly superior foe on a genocidal crusade against Humanity.

** In "Face the Raven", this is ''narrowly'' averted when the Doctor learns [[spoiler:Clara '''must''' be Killed Off for Real within minutes]]. He threatens to expose and destroy the trap street ''and'' its residents over this, even though there's nothing that will accomplish aside from {{Revenge}}, and only Clara can talk him down from it. When all is said and done, the Doctor holds a bitter grudge against the person whose plotting with an as-then-unknown BigBad resulted in this disaster and warns them ''never'' to cross his path again. And [[spoiler:Ashildr is a ''functionally-immortal'' human, so she'll be living in fear until the end of time]]. As he says in "A Good Man Goes to War"...

* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' pilot, Apophis thought he was just kidnapping a host from a human population, albeit one with rather noisy projectile weapons instead of swords and spears. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Business as usual for the Goa'uld.]] As it turned out, he pissed off possibly the only civilization in the Milky Way with the exact combination of manpower, militarism, scientific knowledge, and [[CrazyEnoughToWork insanity]] needed to end not only his own tyranny, but that of his entire species.

** This is also a view of Starfleet and the Federation in general by other organizations -- the Prime Directive tells them to keep out of the affairs of other species, which includes other space faring races. However, when they are forced to be involved, they do everything they can to end the conflict. Sure, the Federation are the good guys, but when pushed...

** The Dominion were considerably more well-informed about the Federation than was believed. The Dominion had however achieved such a string of victories (going from their first attacks on Alpha Quadrant ships and colonies in 'The Jem'Hadar' to encounters throughout Season 5) against Federation ships that they 'knew' their technology was superior. They mainly underestimated the Federation's (i.e. human) resourcefulness to adapt so the Dominion's technological advantages slowly disappeared. Since Dominion tech was older (in terms of when it was developed), the Founders had settled into a pattern that held only so long as no 'equivalent' force could overcome their advantages (such as weapons that ignore shields, sensors that can detect cloaked ships etc). The Dominion's goal prior to the war was to ensure Romulan, Federation and Klingon separation, so that these three Alpha Quadrant powerhouses never formed a coalition against them. Those efforts mainly failed, and after the Romulans were tricked into joining the war, the Dominion faced an almost fully united Alpha Quadrant.

** Eve, the Mother of All Monsters, was satisfied with the natural order of things, where her children kill a few humans from time to time and in turn a few humans hunt them back. Then [[spoiler:Crowley, with the help of the Campbells, set up a base to torture Alphas]], which pissed her off enough that she escaped from Purgatory intent on destroying all of mankind.

* In ''TabletopGame/AxisAndAllies'' the USA has the highest initial industrial capacity of any of the warring powers, but aside from a few cut-off units in China (which are almost guaranteed to fall to Japan) they're on the far side of an ocean from everyone else, limiting their early actions to building up units or airstrikes. However, if they manage to get a beachhead in Europe or Asia it's basically over for the Axis.

** A weird mutual Awakening moment comes from the 6th edition [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] codex. The Tyranids attacked an Imperial world that turned out to be guarding a cursed relic from the Dark Age of Technology. After the Imperial defenders were slaughtered and the Tyranids got down to the business of [[PlanetEater consuming the world's biomass]], the artifact created a Warp Portal that unleashed a horde of daemons, which were none to pleased that there were no more human souls to harvest or Imperial icons to desecrate, and so took out their aggression on the Tyranids. The Tyranids took heavy losses, their HiveMind was forced to re-evaluate Chaos forces from "prey" to a predator of equal power to the Hive Fleets, and shifted tactics to beat back the Chaos incursion with massed artillery biomorphs and overwhelming psychic power. The Chaos Daemons in turn came to understand the true threat of the Tyranids, and began plotting their revenge. Up until this point the two had almost entirely ignored each other; the Tyranids have no souls to steal and the Daemons have no biomass to consume.
** The Craftworld Eldar combine with SealedGoodInACan. Maybe some simple planet miners or the Adeptus Mechanicus [[DugTooDeep messed with]] [[AbusivePrecursors something buried that should have been left to slumber]], maybe [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Chaos is on the march]], or [[VillainProtagonist maybe the Imperium themselves]] invaded a peaceful [[HiddenElfVillage Exodite World]]. Whatever the case may be, when the SpaceElves go to war, they bring their incredibly advanced technology and formidable psychic powers to crush their opposition, and then leave once the threat is dealt with.

* Given a rather blatant nod in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim,'' in the seemingly quiet and inconsequential village of Riverwood. [[spoiler:One of the few surviving Blades who are being hunted by the Thalmor is actually the proprietess of the aptly named Sleeping Giant Inn. Once the {{player character}} embraces their destiny as the Dragonborn, this character is essential to completing the main plot and defeating Alduin.]]

* Begnion in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance''. There is a war between two similarly sized nations, immediately south and bordering both of them is one three times as big as the two put together. [[spoiler:However, this is exactly what Ashnard wanted. He wanted the entire continent to be engulfed in war, so that he could release the dark god from Lehran's Medallion. Invading Crimea without provocation was the start to get every Laguz nations and Begnion to intervene, and he had hoped to get the neutral Goldoa to act as he has their prince and heir warped into a Feral One. Had the war not ended sooner, Goldoa might have acted and awakened Yune.]]
** The Dragons count for the sequel ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' as well. [[spoiler:Again, this is not a good thing as it "technically" count as the entire world engulfed in war. The only reason things are much better than it sounds is because they were able to release Yune through the Galdr of Release, preventing Ashera's judgement from petrifying everyone.]]
* In the backstory to ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'', the evil Drengin Empire initially had a dismissive view toward humanity, since these galactic newcomers didn't even have a proper starfleet beyond some exploratory and mercantile vessels. So the Drengin secretly sponsored a minor galactic power as it attacked the humans... at which point the humans rapidly mobilized, built a military armada large enough to give the Drengin nightmares, and proceeded to lay waste to the aggressors, until the Drengin were all but forced to covertly finish the race's genocide before they could reveal who had convinced them to attack the humans. In the war's aftermath, the humans promptly decommissioned their military and went back to trading and exploring, something which ''terrified'' the Drengin to no end, since they do not understand the lack of desire to use power: humanity mobilizing for a massive war and then reverting to peace just as quickly makes them seem ''insane'' to the Drengin.

** Humanity are the galactic newcomers with comparatively little military to speak of, and very strange (to other races) military doctrine[[note]]All other races have substantial planetary defense forces, while humans instead use Rapid Reaction Forces and minimal standing planetary defense[[/note]]. The Turians (the resident galactic police race) generally don't harbor a grudge over the [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill First Contact War]] out of respect for the Battle of Shanxi, and the collective egg on their faces[[note]]Not knowing about human military doctrine, the turians quickly and easily beat down the defender of Shanxi, and then got their butts handed to them when the aforementioned Rapid Reaction Force showed up to punch back hard. Galactic war was averted, but the turians remain impressed at being handed their only military defeat by an upstart spacefaring nation[[/note]]. However, most ''other'' races look at humans with general caution bordering on fear, realizing that the standing human military (about 3% of their population) can fight on pretty even terms (in the short term) against most other galactic races with larger standing forces, and that if and when humans ''mobilize'' for an actual war, they will be a force to be reckoned with[[note]]Something that is borne out in the third game, when the full might of Alliance military assets are ''far larger'' than any other individual race[[/note]].

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'' will have your High Rank quests populated with a sleeping Rajang. It just naps in one part of the map, then wakes up after a while and leaves the area. If you smack it with whatever oversized weapon you're carrying today, it will wake up early. Remember: it may be kind of cute when it's sleeping, but it's ''[[KillerGorilla Rajang]]''. [[OhCrap Prepare to be violated.]] Of course, crafty and/or ballsy hunters can turn this to their advantage somewhat...

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei:'' As a general rule, in Megaten, [[GodAndSatanAreBothJerks The Great Will and Lucifer Are Both Jerks]], and they're jerks with very specific and very differing ideas on how things should be run. Most if not all of the games revolve around them trying to get a leg up over the other and inevitably humanity gets involved, usually when the two factions decide to use our world as their latest battleground and us as food, cannon fodder, patsies, vessels, sacrifices, or worse. Unfortunately for them, the canon Neutral endings have them learn the hard way that there was, in fact, a giant sleeping amongst humanity, A giant who doesn't take kindly to the cosmic entities screwing with their world and the people they care about, a giant who turns the angels and demons to their own side and [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaughters gods and demons]] with them before they're even at the midway point of the games, a giant who stares into the eyes of the gods of old and makes them blink. Who is this giant? [[PlayerCharacter You,]] who usually starts off a OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent just going about their life when Armageddon hits.

* ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' -- Despite being a horrifying EldritchAbomination depicted nearly destroying the earth each millenia since time began, Dark Gaia is not so much evil as simply a force of nature (shown by the fact that whenever it tried to destroy the world upon awakening, it would be rebuilt by its other half, Light Gaia, and start the process all over again). It wasn't until Eggman tried to control the monster's power by firing his beam from space and woke Dark Gaia prematurely that he really put himself and the entire fate of the world in deep shit. Only Sonic and a formerly amnesiac Light Gaia make everything right again.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan and Exile]] mutally grabbed the IdiotBall and marched into the most obvious trap ''ever'' getting predictably stomped by [the Sith Emperor. Thanks to the two former protagonists and their firm grip on the idiot ball, ''no'' attempt was made to warn the Republic that the Sith Empire even ''existed.'' The Sith Empire merrily sat back and stockpiled ''everything'' it could muster for three centuries to strike back at the Republic, ostensibly for their GenocideBackfire a ''thousand'' years earlier. The Republic was caught with their pants down as the Empire waged a very successful shock and awe campaign, ending with the Treaty of Coruscant (which both sides knew was nearly worthless, and played right into the Emperor's bigger plan to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy everything in the galaxy except himself]]). Predictably, as soon as the truce was declared, the Sith [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder started infighting]] while the Republic stockpiled and threw everything they could muster at the Empire. The Empire, starting with fewer troops, fewer Force Users, an untenable reliance on slave labor, and the infrastructure of a Third World backwater finds itself in ''serious'' trouble by the Makeb story arc, with Darth Marr admitting they're pretty much screwed [[spoiler: if their Hail Mary plan with Isotope 5 droids doesn't pan out]].
** As of ''Knights of the Fallen Empire'' [[spoiler: it's revealed that this was intentional on the Emperor's part; the war was intended to weaken both sides enough to be easy pickings for his ''other'' empire. The thousand year history of the Sith Empire and the massive war with its layers of plots within plots (set up to be foiled by the Jedi so they think they're winning) was little more than a massive feint.]]
* The [[VestigialEmpire Fallen Empires]] of ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' are too arrogant to pay much attention to the wider galaxy, so long as the younger races don't anger them directly, which depending on the Fallen Empire in question can be "stay away from our borders," "don't commit atrocities," "don't research dangerous technology," or "don't colonize our holy worlds." Provoke or attack them, however, and you'll be faced with a highly-advanced fleet that will defeat anything short of a lategame armada. And if a galactic power grows large enough, an endgame Crisis Faction arrives, or somebody goes so far as to [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroy]] a Holy World, the Fallen Empires might Awaken, mobilize and shake off their decline, and start (re)conquering the galaxy. Can get especially nasty if two opposing Fallen Empires Awaken around the same time and declare war on each other, an event called "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The War in Heaven]]" that will throw the entire galaxy into conflict, each civilization being press-ganged into joining one side or the other.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': WordOfGod gave this as their reasoning for having the Horde destroy Theramore, as a way to bring the Alliance into the war against the Horde proper. Of course, the Alliance fans felt the sleeping giant should have already been awakened by the attacks on Southshore, Ashenvale and Gilneas...
** In doing so, Horde Warchief Garrosh Hellscream has not only declared war on the Alliance, but also [[spoiler:the avowedly neutral Kirin Tor and the blue dragonflight]].

*** And on top of that, odds are fairly good that both the Alliance and the Horde will piss off [[spoiler: the pandaren, most notably the Shado-Pan, whose leader is outspokenly against the faction hostilities brought to Pandaria's soil, dismissing it as a race war and calling the factions out for trying to pull the pandaren into it]]. Considering that [[spoiler: Pandaria has a built-in defense mechanism called [[EldritchAbomination the Sha]] that react to and spawn from a variety of negative emotions, all of which both Red and Blue bring with them, and whose modus operandi is rampaging through the countryside until stopped]], odds are increasingly in favor of Red and Blue getting a handy asskicking before this is all over.
*** That is they'll be ''giving'' one considering that A:The sha have more or less been beaten down already and B:Both sides are already studying them for further conflicts (And in the case of the horde, weaponizing).

* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': While not so much neutral as extremely lazy, Saitama is shown as largely uninterested in finer points of heroism, finding it to be more of a casual hobby than a career. If he doesn't want to go out in search of heroics to perform, he won't do it. Anyone who ''does'' finally get his attention, however, [[CurbStompBattle tends to get obliterated]]. Just ask Boros, or the Sea King... [[LudicrousGibs or what's left of them, anyway]].

* Pyrrhus (he of the PyrrhicVictory) did this to Rome. Before facing him, Rome was a regional power in the largely barbaric Italy, mostly concerned to keep the Gauls and other hostiles away, trade with their neighbours and the then-ally Carthage and defend their Italian allies. Then Tarentum got in a squabble with one of Rome's allies and, [[OhCrap realizing they were completely outmatched]], cashed in a favour that Pyrrhus owed them, and by the end of the war, in which they had defeated a major Hellenistic power whose army was led by ''the'' greatest general of their time, the Romans realized they could conquer the Mediterranean, and were now inclined to try.
* The Khwarezmian Empire (in modern-day Iran) did this to UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan. In 1218, Genghis was embroiled in a bloody war in China and disinterested in the Middle East beyond potentially establishing trade routes. When Inalchuq, governor of the Khwarezmian city of Otrar, seized a Mongol trading caravan's wealth for himself and executed the merchants on spurious charges of espionage, and his nephew, Sultan Muhammad II, compounded the problem by [[ShootTheMessenger executing the diplomats]] Genghis sent to demand reperations, Genghis retaliated by putting his war in China on hold and launching a full-scale invasion that not only wiped the Khwarezmian Empire from the face of the earth, but left the Middle East wide open for the Mongols to conquer.

-->You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! [[MilesGloriosus You people speak so lightly of war]]; you don't know what you're talking about. [[WarIsHell War is a terrible thing!]] You mistake, too, the people of the North. They are a peaceable people but an earnest people, and they will fight, too. They are not going to let this country be destroyed without a mighty effort to save it… Besides, where are your men and appliances of war to contend against them? The North can make a steam engine, locomotive, or railway car; hardly a yard of cloth or pair of shoes can you make. You are rushing into war with one of the most powerful, ingeniously mechanical, and determined people on Earth -- right at your doors. You are bound to fail. Only in your spirit and determination are you prepared for war. In all else you are totally unprepared, with a bad cause to start with. At first you will make headway, but as your limited resources begin to fail, shut out from the markets of Europe as you will be, your cause will begin to wane. If your people will but stop and think, they must see in the end that you will surely fail.

** Imperial Germany's Foreign Office during World War I managed to, by acting on its own and swallowing (to paraphrase the rest of the entire German government, military, and Reichstag) ''a massive spoonful of stupid'', do pretty much the same thing as Hitler and Japan in the next war. In 1917 the Ambassador to Mexico offered the country an alliance with the promise of helping [[MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack them reclaim Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona]]. He hoped that if the Mexicans invaded, then America would be too busy to join the Entente or send them supplies[[labelnote:note]]For their part, once they actually received the memo, the Mexican government duly passed it on to their military staff for study just for funsies, who then promptly tossed it in the nearest trash bin. Not only had Mexico already lost [[UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar a major war]] with America in living memory, but now Mexico was nearly half the size it had been and America's advantages in men and material had only grown. And while Germany had the largest and most developed military and war economy in the world, it was already enveloped in a two-front war with no ability to send supplies across the Atlantic, and said supplies that were available would not be enough to conduct a cavalry raid, let alone a major invasion. While a fresh and undistracted Germany in a war against the U.S. would be about even money, the men available to devote to this kind of side adventure while already embroiled in a world war would not even be an annoyance. Mexico correctly saw that such an offer for Mexico to invade with German assistance was a proposition entirely to Germany's benefit, with Germany itself in no position to make good on its side of the bargain.[[/labelnote]] The British intercepted the transmission and passed it along to the Americans, who promptly declared war on Germany, and began churning out ''massive'' amounts of weapons and supplies for their new European allies. Within just a year, ''hundreds of thousands'' of fresh US troops were available to the French Army to bolster its numbers and by the end of 1918, US troops accounted for nearly a third of the Entente force. Starving, abandoned by her allies, and outnumbered on the Western Front by 2:1, Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff [[UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic gave up dictatorial power in favour of the Social-Democratic Party and advised them to surrender.]][[note]]It should be noted, however, that Woodrow Wilson had wanted to join the war so the US could partially dictate the eventual peace almost from the start, resulting in policies such as turning a blind eye to Britain arming supposedly civilian ships, and running war supplies to Britain on civilian passenger ships while demanding that the Germans not use submarines. The Germans were at a complete loss as to how they should handle such blatant hypocrisy, and at least one cabinet member found the situation appalling enough to resign in protest. By the time America actually declared war on Germany, the US economy had become so invested into the French and British war effort that anything less than a decisive victory would have been economically ruinous to all three Western powers.[[/note]]

** Russia has been a known ally to the Syrian government for a long time, but after the bombing of a Russian flight, they have decided to have a more active role. Now Russian special forces are fighting side by side with Syrian government troops, while Russian tanks and heavy artillery take part in every major engagements.

** For Nintendo's part, they contracted Sony to help develop the develop a CD-ROM add-on to the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem titled the "Play Station", after their work making the system's [=SPC700=] sound chip. However Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi realized that the wording of their contract meant Sony would have full ownership and profits over the add-on's games. But rather than re-negotiating the contract, Nintendo secretly went to Phillips (who helped co-develop the CD-ROM with Sony) to make a second version. Sony didn't find out until Nintendo revealed the partnership at the 1991 Consumer Electronics show, enraging the company into striking out on their own (Sony realizing they had the ability to make a standalone console of their own). This resulted in the creation of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation, one of the most successful lines of video game consoles of all time that beat out the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube.
** Sega (or more specifically, Sega of Japan) did this when Sony approached them after the 1991 [=CES=] to help them make the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, since Sega were Nintendo's fierce rivals. Sega of America was more than willing to work with them, but when they pitched it to Sega of Japan it was shot down, mostly on the basis that [=SoJ=] fought with [=SoA=] on nearly every decision they made. Like Nintendo, Sega of Japan forgot that Sony was a major electronics manufacturer who made the [=MSX=], the Walkman and other devices, and had game development experience through Creator/SonyImagesoft. While Sega bowing out of the console-manufacturing market wasn't entirely Sony's doing (more Sega of Japan/America in-fighting was the major factor), the UsefulNotes/PlayStation costing $100 less than the UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} killed interest in it completely, and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 following up on the success of the original was enough to seal the death of the UsefulNotes/{{Dreamcast}}, forcing Sega out entirely.