History Main / BullyingADragon

* Mark Rober, whose amongst other things makes YouTube videos about the glitter bomb packages he leaves to get stolen by porch pirates, mailed several copies of his latest glitter bomb to volunteering viewers to leave in front of their doors. He noticed that one viewer didn't place their package, and the viewer in question admitted he had no intention to use it or send it back, and had used a fake adress anyway. Mark wondered why someone familiar with his channel, who'd know he quit his job at NASA to design glitter bombs and make videos about it after someone stole a package worth a few dozen bucks from his porch, would think it a good idea to try and scam him for a joke. After easily finding his real adress, Mark proceeded to order a few hundred dollars worth a material from Scientology to be delivered to him, so Scientology would consider him a good mark to pester with further prostelyizing. He also send several cards, such as a pass for a furry convention or a thanks for his support from "Texans for Hillary", adressed to the viewer but with "accidentally" changed house numbers, to embarrass the guy to his neighbours.

This is the [[TemptingFate fate-tempting]] and [[TooDumbToLive suicidal]] tendency of characters to bully, persecute or otherwise provoke people or things they ''really'' shouldn't be messing with. That weird [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] who sits in a corner reading? [[KidsAreCruel Fine, douchebag.]] That [[DesignatedVillain "antagonist" who's really just trying to live his life and doesn't want much to do with you]]? [[DesignatedHero Go on then, you bastard.]] That [[WhiteMagicianGirl beautiful lady]] who can heal people? If [[HumansAreBastards you're that much of an asshole]], go for it (but keep in mind that [[LaserGuidedKarma you may find yourself in a position later where you need her to heal you]]). The [[BlindSeer blind kid]] that somehow knows what you're about to do and is powerless to stop you? [[BullyingTheDisabled Go for it]], [[{{Jerkass}} you piece of shit]]. Whatever floats your boat.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Cinder Fall is a deadly combatant and manipulator with [[ElementalPowers an ability]] that makes her one of the most powerful people on Remnant. This doesn't stop one character from trying to blackmail her by threatening to get her into trouble with her [[TheDreaded even more dangerous boss]], whom this character has also annoyed. [[spoiler:Neo steals the Relic of Knowledge from Salem and then taunts Cinder with it because Cinder has failed to give Neo her promised chance of revenge against Ruby. Cinder apologises just enough to convince Neo to hand over the Relic, devises a plan to obtain the second Relic and then throws Neo into TheVoidBetweenTheWorlds as soon as Neo has served her purpose.]]

* Cinder Fall from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' is a deadly combatant and [[XanatosSpeedChess top tier manipulator]] with [[ElementalPowers Maiden magic]] that makes her one of the most powerful people on Remnant. This doesn't stop [[spoiler:Neo]] from trying to blackmail her by [[spoiler:stealing the Relic of Knowledge and taunting her about it, something that gets her thrown into an abyss. Which is arguably a double case since she stole it from [[TheDreaded Salem]], an [[TheChessmaster exceedingly clever]] immortal sorceress who controls [[AncientEvil the Grimm]].]]
** In the same vein, [[InsufferableGenius Arthur]] [[MadScientist Watts]] spends nearly all of their screentime together belittling and demeaning her as just DumbMuscle, often going out of his way to mock her injuries and her backstory. He ''is'' protected by Salem, who won't allow Cinder to harm him, but in Volume 8 [[spoiler:it's proven that he'll continue to do it even after Salem is gone and when Cinder is dangling him off a building, because he's just that committed to the idea that he's better than her. Unfortunately, his rant acts as both [[SanityStrengthening a much needed wake-up call]] and the last straw, and she proceeds to easily manipulate him into doing her work for her before finally burning him alive.]]

* Cinder Fall from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' is a deadly combatant and [[XanatosSpeedChess top tier manipulator]] with [[ElementalPowers Maiden magic]] that makes her one of the most powerful people on Remnant. This doesn't stop [[spoiler:Neo]] from trying to blackmail her by [[spoiler:stealing the Relic of Knowledge, something that gets her thrown into an abyss. Which is arguably a double case since she stole it from [[TheDreaded Salem]], an [[TheChessmaster exceedingly clever]] immortal sorceress who controls [[AncientEvil the Grimm]].]]

This is the [[TemptingFate fate-tempting]] and [[TooDumbToLive suicidal]] tendency of characters to bully, persecute or otherwise provoke people or things they ''really'' shouldn't be messing with. That weird [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] who sits in a corner reading? [[KidsAreCruel Fine, douchebag.]] That [[DesignatedVillain "antagonist" who's really just trying to live his life and doesn't want much to do with you]]? [[DesignatedHero Go on then, you bastard.]] That [[WhiteMagicianGirl beautiful lady]] who can heal people? If [[HumansAreBastards you're that much of an asshole]], go for it (but keep in mind that [[LaserGuidedKarma you may find yourself in a position later where you need her to heal you]]). The [[BlindSeer blind kid]] that somehow knows what you're about to do and is powerless to stop you? [[BullyingTheDisabled Go for it]], [[{{Jerkass}} you piece of shit]]. Whatever floats your boat, [[ThisisforemphasisBITCH bitch]].

This is the [[TemptingFate fate-tempting]] and [[TooDumbToLive suicidal]] tendency of characters to bully, persecute or otherwise provoke people or things they ''really'' shouldn't be messing with. That weird [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] who sits in a corner reading? [[KidsAreCruel Fine, douchebag.]] That [[DesignatedVillain "antagonist" who's really just trying to live his life and doesn't want much to do with you]]? [[DesignatedHero Go on then, you bastard.]] That [[WhiteMagicianGirl beautiful lady]] who can heal people? If [[HumansAreBastards you're that much of an asshole]], go for it (but keep in mind that [[LaserGuidedKarma you may find yourself in a position later where you need her to heal you]]). The [[BlindSeer blind kid]] that somehow knows what you're about to do and is powerless to stop you? [[BullyingTheDisabled Go for it]], [[{{Jerkass}} you piece of shit]]. Whatever floats your boat.

* ''Machinima/FinalFantasyVIIMachinabridged'':

* While LetsPlay/HatFilms are fairly competent ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' players, their two efforts to harass LetsPlay/LewisBrindley and LetsPlay/{{Sjin}} at [[Machinima/YogscastMinecraftSeries the latter's farm]] have ended in failure, after [[LetsGetDangerous Lewis and Sjin decided to fight back]]. The first time ended with one of the Sirs falling to their death in a ravine, the second ended with a group of [[DemonicSpiders captive beasts]] hacking them to pieces.

A SubTrope of AllOfTheOtherReindeer, where the character is surrounded by tormentors even though they are ''known'' to have some incredible power conducive to being a PersonOfMassDestruction, and most of the time ''because'' of this. This frequently crops up in KidsAreCruel (in which case it would be "Kids Are Cruel [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb and Also]] [[TooDumbToLive Too Stupid to Deserve to Exist]]"). It's usually a way of getting us to sympathize with the main character, but, really, bullies should be smart enough not to mock the "freak" CursedWithAwesome and SuperStrength. Even when logically — or at least using the basest level of human decency and the smallest inkling of self-preservation — these bullies should find a weaker target or cut the poor kid some slack. So, in a sense, [[StrawCharacter Straw Bullies]]. Then again, YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb and the {{Pride}}ful.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': During their match up, Homelander provokes Omni-Man via breaking into his home and killing his wife, assuming that he could just intimidate Omni-Man into obeying his demands to leave. Omni-Man, however, is barely phased by Homelander's threats and quickly shows the Number One Supe just how outclassed he in one of [[CurbStompBattle the shortest fights of the show's history]], which results in a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath very nasty death]] for Homelander, who only realizes how royally he screwed up seconds before Omni-Man ends him. The hosts point this out in the post-fight analysis, comparing the fight to a bully picking a fight with a trained soldier.

'''Bad idea'''.

** When Cait Sith says that everyone would have to insult Vincent instead of Cloud if he left, Cid says, "F*** that, that dude eats people!"

-->-- ''Film/TheAvengers2012''

A SubTrope of AllOfTheOtherReindeer, where the character is surrounded by tormentors even though they are ''known'' to have some incredible power conducive to being a PersonOfMassDestruction, and most of the time ''because'' of this. This frequently crops up in KidsAreCruel (in which case it would be "Kids Are Cruel [[YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb And Also]] [[TooDumbToLive Too Stupid To Deserve To Exist]]"). It's usually a way of getting us to sympathize with the main character, but, really, bullies should be smart enough not to mock the "freak" CursedWithAwesome and SuperStrength. Even when logically — or at least using the basest level of human decency and the smallest inkling of self-preservation — these bullies should find a weaker target or cut the poor kid some slack. So, in a sense, [[StrawCharacter Straw Bullies]]. Then again, YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb and the {{Pride}}ful.

!!Example subpages:

!!Other examples:

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

** Act II Scene IX. After some comments about Cyrano’s murdering ways by the cadets, Christian makes a HurricaneOfPuns about Cyrano’s nose.

* WebVideo/CalebCity's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFX3-wd1a-k How EVERY throw away villain acts when the MC needs to be power scaled]] has the protagonist walking into a BadGuyBar and getting threatened by two thugs. The protagonist implores the two thugs to not attack him for their own safety, as he just single-handedly fought off a gang of a hundred thugs. The two thugs attack him anyway, leading to the protagonist blowing one up just by looking at them, and the other one getting killed from the natural oils on the protagonist's face.

Also, see FantasticRacism. A popular FreudianExcuse and backstory for a StartOfDarkness. This [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourVocabulary trope doesn't usually]] have anything to do with TheDragon who's the BigBad's second-in-command ([[FreudianExcuse although,]] [[StartOfDarkness it might]]). VideoGame examples where the AI keeps trying to bully you despite the power difference because it's not programmed to back down has a special trope, SuicidalOverconfidence. The CorneredRattlesnake is weaker than a 'Dragon' and may not appear powerful or willing to fight back. but can be dangerous if pushed too far.

* PaperTiger: An inversion in which the target ''looks'' powerful, but is only putting up a façade.

* ''WebVideo/EpicNPCMan'': The pair of mugger NPCs don't seem capable of overriding their programming to mug people. Even though Charles is well aware of the dangers, he's consistently goaded by Bernard into attempting to mug dangerous marks like [[https://youtu.be/n0Kz8gQxzGE The Watcher]] (a high level dragon and hydra-slaying PlayerCharacter that has taken on whole armies), his own [[https://youtu.be/8aiuuhD9IxQ grandmother]] (who is a [[NeverMessWithGranny a better mugger than her grandson),]] and a [[https://youtu.be/mAZDHrCObMs literal dragon.]]

This is the [[TemptingFate fate-tempting]] and [[TooDumbToLive suicidal]] tendency of characters to bully, persecute or otherwise provoke people or things they ''really'' shouldn't be messing with. That weird [[LonersAreFreaks loner]] who sits in a corner reading? [[KidsAreCruel Fine, douchebag]]. That [[DesignatedVillain antagonist who's really just trying to live his life and doesn't want much to do with you]]? [[DesignatedHero Go on then, you bastard.]] That [[WhiteMagicianGirl beautiful lady]] who can heal people? If [[HumansAreBastards you're that much of an asshole]], go for it (but keep in mind that [[LaserGuidedKarma you may find yourself in a position later where you need her to heal you]]). The [[BlindSeer blind kid]] that somehow knows what you're about to do and is powerless to stop you? [[BullyingTheDisabled Go for it]], [[{{Jerkass}} you piece of shit]]. Whatever floats your boat.

Also, see FantasticRacism. A popular FreudianExcuse and backstory for a StartOfDarkness. This [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourVocabulary trope doesn't usually]] have anything to do with TheDragon who's the BigBad's second-in-command ([[FreudianExcuse although,]] [[StartOfDarkness it might]]). VideoGame examples where the AI keeps trying to bully you despite the power difference because it's not programmed to back down has a special trope, SuicidalOverconfidence. The CorneredRattleSnake is weaker than the 'Dragon' and may not appear powerful or willing to fight back but can be dangerous if pushed too far.

->'''Tony:''' Let's do a head count here: [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor your brother, the demi-god]]; [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica the super-soldier, a living legend who kinda lives up to the legend]]; [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk a man with]] ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk breathtaking]]'' [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk anger management issues]]; [[ComicBook/BlackWidow couple of]] [[ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} master assassins]] — and ''you'', big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them.\\

-->-- ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''

* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': Although the Phantom has the previous day dropped a heavy backcloth on the Opera House's Prima Donna, the [[WhatAnIdiot managers]] still think it's be a really great idea to completely ignore his demands that Christine is cast, and instead choose a singer who is much inferior to her. The Phantom promises that "if these demands are not met, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur." Let's just say these aren't empty words... They do wise up by the second act, however, when the Phantom crashes the MasqueradeBall and says, in effect, "Hey, here's the score for this opera I just wrote; I think you guys will know what to do with it. Oh yeah, that FallingChandelierOfDoom a few months back? That was me ''being nice''." The managers, albeit ''very'' reluctantly, realize open defiance is not the safest of options.