6 Biggest Fanwars In K-Pop History That We’re Thankful Are All In The Past
Fanwars are a seemingly unavoidable part of being in K-Pop. Even if you don’t take part in them you’re definitely aware of them and all the drama they create. Whether you’re a newbie or a long-time veteran in the world of K-Pop there are some fanwars that have gone done in history for being so big and “bloody” that we’re all very thankful they are firmly lodged in the past.
1. The legendary clash between SONEs and Blackjacks in 2014
2014 started off on some rocky footing for SONEs and Blackjacks. The big controversy started when Girls’ Generation‘s “Mr. Mr.”, 2NE1‘s “Come Back Home”, and 4MINUTE‘s “Whatcha Doin’ Today?” were pitted against each other at Inkigayo.
While 4MINUTE fans decided not to get involved, SONEs and Blackjacks were each convinced that their group was going to win. And it seemed like it was the only thing that anyone could talk about! Even idols from other groups were asked to pick sides like EXO‘s Chanyeol during Roomate.
It turned out that the whole fan war was pretty pointless when 4MINUTE swooped in and won! But that wasn’t the end to the fanwar. The two groups continued to face off against each other with some pretty interesting results.
By the time MAMA 2014 rolled around, things were really starting to heat up. Since both 2NE1 and Girls’ Generation were up for the Artist of the Year award and the Best Female Group award, fans from both sides wanted to defend their girls. It wasn’t until the winners were announced that things cooled down between the two fandoms.
SISTAR ended up winning Best Female Group and EXO took home the Artist of the Year award.
2. The long argument between SONEs and ELF
No one really knows exactly when or how this war between Girls’ Generation fans and Super Junior fans started but it was a long and drawn out battle. Some people think it started when Super Junior released “Mr. Simple” others think it started way before that.
But regardless of when it started, fans from both sides fired shots at each other. Some ELFs claimed that SONEs said cruel things about them while some SONEs blamed ELFs for the black ocean at the 2008 Dream concert.
Eventually, netizens noticed that the war between the two fandoms had suddenly stopped. We might not know exactly why it stopped but we’re pretty sure that everyone is glad that things ended in peace between these two giant fandoms.
3. The tensions between EXO-Ls and VIPs in 2015
What started off as a pretty friendly rivalry between EXO-Ls and VIPs took a turn when EXO‘s “Love Me Right” and BIGBANG‘s “Loser” were put up against each other on M! Countdown and on Inkigayo.
Around this time accusations started to fly that Mnet was favoring one group over the other and, if they weren’t, that fans must be cheating. Mnet tried to step in and say that there was an error in the votes but they were working on fixing them.
The page was closed, but someone gained access through some kind of negative method. Because of this there was still access and the vote count went up causing the voting page to be opened once again. We need to confirm where this method was activated from, but only the tallied data up to 9 P.M. was reflected in the final scores.
— Mnet
The fight continued until one EXO fan posted a video of herself burning a picture of BIGBANG’s Taeyang with EXO’s “Mama” playing in the background. Other EXO-Ls were shocked at the post and expressed their outrage over her actions.
4. The 2012 MAMA fight between EXO-Ls and BABYs
In 2012, EXO and B.A.P were up for the Rookie of the Year award at MAMA. The heated debate over who deserved to win led to the creation of this video that takes a more comic look at the fight.
Interestingly, the fanwar ended in a shocking twist when Busker Busker ended up winning the award and the term “Busker Buskered” was coined!
5. The scuffle between ELFs and VIPs in 2015
In the past, Super Junior and BIGBANG were compared to each other a lot even though they’re two very different groups. While things remained civil between fans from both sides for the longest time, things started to get a little crazy when 2015 MAMA rolled around.
Both groups were up for the Album of the Year award and the Best Male Group award when netizens once again sparked the debate of who was the better group. As you can probably guess, things got heated and it wasn’t until after the award show that things died down. Although it’s pretty rare, you can still hear whisperings of this debate online even though ELFs and VIPs have made peace with each other.
6. The legendary fight between SECHSKIES fans and H.O.T fans
If you’ve seen Reply 1997, you might remember that one scene where SECHSKIES fans and H.O.T fans face off (also the scene used in the B.A.P and EXO video above).
Turns out that that’s exactly how things went down between those fandoms. The rivalry between them was fierce and because using the internet for fan wars was not common practice back then, they would sometimes come face to face. Some fans who remember that time have even said that the police were called to break up some physical fights! Talk about a true war!
