Basic Trope: Exactly What It Says on the Tin: two (or more) nations and/or tribes go to war over something trivial.
- Straight: Tropestan goes to war with Wikistan over the issue of whether it should be Alice and Bob or Bob and Alice.
- Exaggerated: An inter-dimensional war breaks out over how to pronounce the word "Tomato".
- Downplayed:
- As everybody agrees it is a silly reason for a full-scale war, they decide to hold a Combat by Champion between the bravest knights in each kingdom; after all, they like fighting anyway, so let them have their fun while honest folk get back to work.
- The United States of America declares war on Tropestan after the theft of and refusal to return the nuclear football, which is an odd, but reasonable, cause for war.
- The Alice/Bob issue causes tensions between Tropestan and Wikistan, which gradually escalate into an all-out war.
- Tropestan's President makes a prejudiced comment about Wikistan. Wikistan replies with a similar insult and they exchange insults until one of them starts a war.
- Justified:
- The issue really is Serious Business.
- One (or even all) of the the involved nations/groups was looking for an excuse, any excuse, to declare war on the others.
- One (or both) of the parties has been infringing on the other's jurisdiction for a long time; the issue that is considered cause of war is minor in itself, but it causes the offended party to consider it the last straw.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality.
- Inverted:
- Tropestan and Wikistan sign a peace treaty in order that the soldiers can go home and watch the new season of TV shows.
- Tropestan and Wikistan go to war over something serious.
- Tropestan and Wikistan have a game of Tic-Tac-Toe over something serious.
- Subverted:
- Tropestan and Wikistan come to an agreement over the Alice and Bob issue.
- While fighting over zoning rules on decoration may seem silly it has a significant impact on utilization of LeyLines.
- For a real war, the Alice and Bob issue would be a rather silly reason, but this is a (hopefully non-escalating) prank war we're talking about.
- While the Alice and Bob issue is part of the chain of events that led to the current war, it was a minor issue five dominoes before the actual trigger.
- Double Subverted:
- But Tropestan declares war because the ambassador from Wikistan put his elbows on the table at the celebratory dinner.
- Except it is proven later that interference is either superstition at natural fluctuations they fight over where to put the memorial statues.
- Not that that domino was any better a reason for war.
- Parodied: Half the multiverse goes to war over who should take the trash out. They later fight with said trash.
- Zig Zagged:
- After having an issue over putting Waldorf before Statler, rather than the usual Statler and Waldorf (playing straight), they sign a peace treaty (Subversion), but the "Ass" in Ambassador who is also a Magnificent Bastard purposefully insults King Bob the Nth (invoking) to make them go to war again (Double Subversion). After a disagreement over how to pronounce potato, things REALLY get nasty.
- It wasn't the quality of that particular domino, it was the quantity that it tipped over.
- Averted:
- Tropestan and Wikistan don't go to war.
- The reason of the war is rather reasonable.
- Enforced: "...starting with: 'Ridiculous ideas to go to war over.'"
- Lampshaded: "All this...because two Wiki Nations have such Insistent Terminology?"
- Invoked: The "Ass" in Ambassador makes a critical mistake when addressing King Bob the Nth and his wife Queen Alice.
- Exploited: The Magnificent Bastard ruler of a third country is pleased when Tropestan and Wikistan go to war.
- Defied: King Bob the Nth and Queen Alice decide it's not worth going to war over; it might still be a rant-inducing slight, though.
- Discussed: "Yeesh. Even the Grammar Nazis can't get along."
- Conversed: "I'm glad we only go to war over things that matter rather than anything absurd and frivolous."
- Implied: When the king starts to declare war, all of his supporters start to laugh.
- Deconstructed: Leads to a lot of loss of lives and resources (not to mention long-held grudges) over something completely arbitrary and pointless!
- Reconstructed: Tropestan and Wikistan have peace talks and resolve their differences without further conflict.
- Played For Laughs: If it is played for Gallows Humor or Black Comedy.
- Played For Drama: Jim tries to persuade both sides that there's no reason for them to be fighting over this and that they can reach a peaceful agreement that will benefit them both, but the combatants ignore him—or they kill him before getting back to their war.
- Played For Horror: It's war with all of the atrocities that are typical of it, and a whole lot less sense behind them. Imagine, if you dare, The Holocaust being done with the explicit aim to kill those who like to eat their toast with the butter side down. The Rwandan massacre targeting those with a different area code on their home phones. Operation Rolling Thunder because they hate Michael Bay. The Rape of Nanking because one general has sexual dysfunction. The Battle of Verdun because Queen Alice got called an "upstart". The Battle of Stalingrad because King Bob took too long to accept a handshake. And the ones who try to provide some kind of compromising option tend to get publicly slaughtered by both sides as a warning for "dissidents". Still think it's "silly"?
Those fools! Anyone could go back to Silly Reason for War! Why couldn't they see it!? All this carnage, all this suffering and destruction... all they had to do was click the link! All they had to do was... was...
