Biography
A verbal equivalent of Attack Backfire, this is for when Alice comments on a trait of Bob's in a way that's intended to sound negative — but instead of being insulted, Bob acts flattered.
Usually, this is because Bob invokes the "insulting" quality intentionally. Less commonly, Bob's The Ditz or has a poor grasp of the word or concept being insulted and takes it to be a positive comment. Other times, it's simply a case of Bob having the attitude of pretending that it's not an insult, or even turning it back on her: "Coming from you, I'll Take That as a Compliment."
A variant is for the character to be insulted, not because they dislike what was said, but because they're obviously so much worse than that.
Occasionally, the insult backfires because Alice's remarks were insulting on the surface, but Bob carries them to their logical, ultimately complimentary conclusion. These cases typically only work when the original insult was mild and/or non-malicious to begin with.
Related to Stealth Insult, but different in that an Insult Backfire is accidental and a Stealth Insult is sent over the target's head on purpose. Sometimes, it seems the only sure way to insult someone is to give them a compliment.
Not to be confused with Insult Misfire, where the target obliviously doesn't realize the insult was directed at them. Compare Threat Backfire. Compare and contrast I Take Offense to That Last One, where there are multiple insults, but the character may only object to one of them. If you phrased your insult poorly ("You fight like my grandma!"), you may get Insult Backfire through Literalist Snarking ("You fought your grandma?"). See also Blunt "Yes", which is often based on a similar theme. Contrast Compliment Backfire (and Calling Me a Logarithm, when someone thinks a word that's not an insult or even not directed at a person is an insult). See also Insult Friendly Fire.
Common variations:
Villains: Calling them evil, vile, or psycho is likely to make them drop their Affably Evil act and be demure from the flattery, especially if they're of the card-carrying variety.
Troll: Those who get off of people's retorts towards their trolling; those who had sucessfully "baited people" into insulting them. May overlap with the villainous cases above.
Sluttiness: Many a Vamp finds her lasciviousness high praise.
Alternative Lifestyles: Take your pick, but the person in question is happy with it.
The Trickster: Acting shocked at their underhandedness.
Madmen: Anyone who tells them "You're Insane!!" will be met with a response such as "Thanks for noticing!"
Heroic: The character being insulted is proud of his idealism, honor, heroic tendencies, or some other trait the villain tries to insult.
Artists: The disgust of the viewer for their work was the Intended Audience Reaction.
Geeks and Nerds are often proud of their geekiness/nerdiness/useless knowledge.
Feminine Women: The woman is a supporter of equal rights for women and sees no reason why that should stop her from displaying feminine traits.
Someone who's been criticized a lot over something and is at the point where they brush off insults as "Wow, Never Heard That One Before." Bonus points for critiquing the insulting technique itself.
Jerkasses: The character is an unrepentant dickwad who deliberately responds this way just to infuriate their insulters, or a Card-Carrying Jerkass who takes open pride in their assholery.
Sarcasm-Blind: When a character takes someone else's sarcastic compliment towards them as a genuine compliment.
Rule of Funny: The character is a complete idiot who loves hearing other people talking about them, whether positively or negatively.
The insult was done in such a way that the target is able to turn it around with a bigger insult. For example, if someone tries to Trash Talk an opponent while using an unfair advantage in a competition (whether combat or something else) and the target is able to turn it around by insinuating or straight out saying that the individual is unable to beat them without cheating. Then again, someone like a Card-Carrying Villain could retort the retort, saying the target's soft for not being a Combat Pragmatist.
Inversions of Hitler Ate Sugar, Damned By a Fool's Praise and/or Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: The insulter is an evil person or otherwise someone the target has a really low opinion of. If having their approval is bad and would bring shame, then having their disapproval must be good!
Actually Pretty Funny: The target thinks the insult is a clever joke and is amused by it. This may be down to them being a good sport, or maybe (as with roasts from an Insult Comic) it really is just that funny.
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: They may be talking trash about you, but hey, that means they’re talking about you.
See also I Take Offense to That Last One, I Resemble That Remark!, Wrong Insult Offence, Card-Carrying Villain, Tall, Dark, and Snarky, Thirty Pieces of Silver and It's What I Do. If the insultee adopts the insult as an actual badge of identity, it becomes an Appropriated Appellation. Compare Geeky Turn-On, I Would Say If I Could Say, Arson, Murder, and Admiration, Blunt "Yes", and Actually Pretty Funny. Sometimes crosses paths with Misaimed Fandom. The complete opposite of Your Approval Fills Me with Shame and Offending the Fool.
Compare Insult Accuracy Acceptance, where someone freely acknowledges that an insult is true.
