Basic Trope: A character insults someone, not realising it also applies to one of their friends.
- Straight: Alice says Bob is fat, upsetting her friend Carol.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice manages to upset her friends one by one in the process of insulting Bob.
- Alice ends up insulting herself as well…
- Alice's attempts at Self-Deprecation end up insulting Carol severly.
- Downplayed: Carol is Hollywood Pudgy, while Bob is a Fat Bastard who can barely move. The insults are not that comparable.
- Justified:
- Alice didn’t even realize Carol was there.
- Alice assumes that the severely overweight Bob would take offense and the Hollywood Pudgy Carol would not. She does not realize that Bob is apathetic to his weight, while Carol is deeply insecure about hers.
- Inverted: Alice compliments Bob, and it’s Carol who says thank you.
- Subverted: “And I mean you too, Carol!”
- Double Subverted: “…Uhhh, sorry about that one, Dave.”
- Parodied:
- Alice keeps digging herself deeper. Bob is highly amused, while Carol has curled into a Troubled Fetal Position.
- Alice can’t think of an insult that doesn’t apply to Carol in some way.
- Zig-Zagged: “Damn, Bob! You’re so fat you make Carol here look thin, and so dumb you make me look smart!”
- Averted:
- No insults apply to friends and enemies alike.
- Alice doesn't gives a damn if Carol is insulted too, and makes it clear. If Alice's insult also insults herself, she tries to wave if off as N-Word Privileges.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded:
- Invoked: Alice is Vitriolic Best Buds with Carol, and is gently ribbing her while majorly insulting Bob.
- Exploited: It’s used as part of a breaking speech by Bob, who uses it as evidence that Carol’s friends don’t like her.
- Defied:
- “I don’t care about your weight, but I do care about Carol’s feelings, so I’ll spare the jokes.”
- (After Carol and Alice meet Bob) "I want to make clear right now, I don't like people talking about my weight, regardless of context. I will repeat: I don't give a fuck about the context, don't ever say I'm fat."
- Discussed: “You need to stop using insults that apply to your friends as much as your enemies, Alice…”
- Conversed: “Alice needs to check herself before she wrecks herself, or at least before Carol wrecks her…”
- Implied: We don’t hear the insult, only the reactions of both Bob and Carol.
- Deconstructed: The insult and others like it ruin Carol’s friendship with Alice, as it indicates what the former really feels about Carol’s life choices.
- Reconstructed: Alice eventually begs forgiveness and receives it, but still often has to stop herself halfway through trash talk because of it.
- Played for Laughs: Alice’s inadvertent insulting remarks about Carol become a Running Gag.
- Played for Drama: Carol is Driven to Suicide over one accidental jibe too many from Alice.
Back to Insult Friendly Fire
