Trope:Neutral No Longer


 * Treebeard: Many of these trees were my friends... creatures I had known from nut and acorn...
 * Pippin: I'm sorry, Treebeard.
 * Treebeard: Sauramn... a wizard should know better!
 * Treebeard lets out a loud roar that echoes through the Fangorn forests
 * Treebeard: There is no curse in Elvish, Entish or the tongues of Men, for this treachery.
 * From behind, several noises of trees moving
 * Pippin: Look, the trees! They're moving!
 * Merry: Where are they going?
 * Treebeard: They have business with the Orcs. My business is with Isengard tonight, with rock and stone...
 * Several Ents emerge from Fangorn forest
 * Treebeard: Come, my friends... the ents are going to war...
 * The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, shortly before the Ents march on Isengard and curbstomp Saruman's Orc forces.

There are many innocents in the epic battle between good and evil. Some people will join on the side of good because the evil invaders destroyed their home. A lot of people will join on the side of evil because Evil Is Sexy, Rule of Cool, or just 'cause.

Then there are the people who deliberatly try to stay out of the conflict. These could be the people in the Hidden Elf Village or the actual pacifists. Often they don't have a dog in the fight either way or they're just opportunists supporting both sides. No matter how you slice it, these people turn out to be a bunch of self righteous jerkasses or the villains Kick the Dog. At that point, it's on and there's going to be hell to pay.

This Trope comes in two varieties.
 * The first kind is rather straight up. The neutral party is initially undecided until the villains decide to desecrate the Crystal Dragon Jesus. Then the neutral party will oppose the villains from then on.
 * The second kind is less frequently used. As it turns out sometimes heroes and villains are really bad at making first impressions. After initially meeting the heroes the neutral party will decide that evil is so much cooler and join them, or vice versa. This isn't a Heel-Face Turn or a Face-Heel Turn because these people were neutral at the start of the story and would have remained so if the villains and/or heroes weren't a bunch of a-holes. They will often only go out of their way to oppose someone out of vengeance.

If the neutral faction happens to be able to crush both sides if they really wanted to, then someone has Awakened The Sleeping Giant, and chances are, it's about to Curb Stomp someone.

Here's hoping it's not you.

Examples

 * Probably the biggest example is the Yuktobanian incident for Erusia. Up until that point Erusia had refused to join the Osean Federation due to its neutrality. It was a fairly isolationist nation interacting little with the outside world. After the Yuktobanian incident... well... it started by joining the Osean Federation, getting Yuktobania kicked out of the Osean Federation and then chasing House Ritger, the rulers of Yuktobania, across the world.