History DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu / TabletopGames

*** Cthulhu himself was statted up in First Edition, and could actually be taken down by "normal" high level characters - powerful, but still thoroughly mortal.

** Note, however, the rules for killing the Tarrasque in Dungeons and Dragons. First you reduce its HP to 0. Then, to make it stay dead, you cast ''[[LiteralGenie Wish]]''. If, as is sometimes done, the spell is removed as a GameBreaker, the beastie is coming back no matter what.
*** Unless you [[SealedEvilInACan seal it away in a can]], of course.

*** It should be noted that in this case, "Punching Out" merely means "[[SealedEvilInACan Sealed up again for a few hundred years]]."

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the C'tan {{Physical God}}s just need new bodies built for them if the shells are destroyed, although it is said that neither of the two active ones are at full power yet.
** The C'tan can actually be [[CherryTapping Cherry Tapped]] to death with sniper rifles, due to their crappy save and sniper weapons always wounding half the time.
** The new Necron book has {{Retcon}}ned this backstory so the C'tan, with the possible exception of the Void Dragon (who is implied to have been punched out by the Emperor), were ripped several dozen new ones by the Necrons, with the star-gods reduced to fragments rather like Khaine. Only worse, since Khaine was destroyed by other divine beings, and the C'tan dismembered by ''robots''. We assume their expressions were rather like that of a chess player being beaten to death by their own pawns.

*** On a similar note, Ragnar Blackmane of the SpaceWolves manages to single-handedly stop Magnus the Red, daemon prince of Tzeentch and primarch of the Thousand Sons legion, from entering the material realm by throwing the Spear of Russ right into his eye and thereby closing the portal that was threatening the planet. Oh, and is it worth mentioning that he was still a Blood Claw when it all happened?
*** Worth mentioning that when their paths crossed again, [[spoiler:Magnus remembered that last time. Same Wolf, same weapon and same intent. Our one-eyed Primarch buggered off just as Ragnar was about to throw the Spear, thus saving the system in a general sort of way]].

** ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' also averts this, however; yes, you ''can'' kill the Titans, but there's a reason [[SealedEvilInACan the gods sealed them up instead of doing it in the first place]]. Remember the Ice Age? It ended the SECOND Ymir was killed. And flooded most of the Earth.
*** To elaborate: Titans in Scion are less like living beings and more like worlds unto themselves (they do have minds, but like A'tuin the Great, they think thoughts so huge and slow that lesser beings cannot hope to comprehend them), floating in the Overworld, with landscapes, cities and entire races of monsters within them. Each one of them represents (and is naturally ruled) by a certain basic element of reality, and its existence ensures the continued existence of the element. Any attempt to Punch Out a titan would result in [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu breaking the World's arm.]] Killed the titan of fire? No more fire or heat in the universe. Killed the titan of darkness? Now the entire universe is filled with endless, blinding light for all eternity.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', this can happen to ''the players themselves.'' See, you are a "planeswalker," which is basically a wizard with godlike powers. And a [[HitPoints life total]]. Most creatures with an attack power higher than zero can, if left alone, bring that total down to zero, effectively "killing" you. Now, this is perfectly acceptable when the creatures are [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193767 angels]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39734 demons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=43711 dragons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83977 elementals]], and so forth, but becomes a little stranger when we start talking about [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29781 elephants]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4302 lions]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29877 tigers]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83115 bears]] (oh my), and becomes outright ridiculous when [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=27250 insects]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97100 rats]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29979 squirrels]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74257 little girls]] enter the picture.

** To be fair, most of those "wimpy" creatures will only be able to take out a Planeswalker if he is actively ignoring them in favor of fighting another Planeswalker, or if they are receiving backup from another Planeswalker. The player has hundreds of ways of killing or erasing from reality virtually anything effortlessly if they were willing to devote the resources to it and it hasn't been granted a form of protection, not just creatures but also landmasses. Though that just makes it even funnier that one of the most powerful strategies in the game is to just swarm the opponent with goblins and more goblins until they beg for mercy.

** It's worth noting that this ''wasn't'' possible for the original Planeswalkers, who were even more powerful than the godlike wizards that exist today -- duels were essentially just a '''game''' for them, and life points were part of the rules of that game, rather than an actual representation of their health. An in-universe event ended up massively reducing the power of Planeswalkers to the point that they can actually be punched out.

*** Not quite. According to the lore, Gideon beat a swarm of Eldrazi Spawn (lesser Eldrazi, although some of them are still really big) by himself while they all focused on him; do he is indeed a badass. However, inmediately after the battle, Emrakul appears. Gideon sees the massive destruction Emrakul causes simply by existing, tells the people he just defended to get away as fast as they can and then proceeds to planeswalk away as fast as his legs can carry him. In Battle for Zendikar we will be facing the Eldrazi once again, and it's implied that Gideon will bash Ulamog (one of the three main Eldrazi threats) in close combat.

* ''{{Monsterpocalypse}}'' features the [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Lords of Cthul]], who have "We were inspired by Creator/HPLovecraft" written on them in the maddening tongue of R'lyeh. Complete with tentacles. In the backstory, they're avatars of cosmic forces and are here simply because they like making people dead. These avatars can be taken out by tank fire, kamikaze cyborg alien birds, and 60-foot-tall HighlyVisibleNinja bodyslamming them.
* In ''{{Witchcraft}}'', humans can grow powerful enough to eventually take on Gods, Archdevils, Archangels, powerful monsters, and other horrible things from beyond. However, special mention goes to the non-magical dreamer guy that crushed a god. Turns out taking on a lucid dreamer in the dreamscape is a good way to get yourself killed, no matter what you are.
* In ''MagicTheGathering'', this can happen to ''the players themselves.'' See, you are a "planeswalker," which is basically a wizard with godlike powers. And a [[HitPoints life total]]. Most creatures with an attack power higher than zero can, if left alone, bring that total down to zero, effectively "killing" you. Now, this is perfectly acceptable when the creatures are [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193767 angels]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39734 demons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=43711 dragons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83977 elementals]], and so forth, but becomes a little stranger when we start talking about [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29781 elephants]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4302 lions]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29877 tigers]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83115 bears]] (oh my), and becomes outright ridiculous when [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=27250 insects]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97100 rats]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29979 squirrels]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74257 little girls]] enter the picture.

** {{Literature/Eisenhorn}} managed this one throughout his career, but the most notable is when he destroyed the [[OneManArmy daemonhost]] [[PunnyName Prophaniti]] so thoroughly that even its warp presence was extinguished. With nothing more than a force staff and his own balls-out badassness.

** In the lore, Skarbrand tried to do this to Khorne after being prodded by Tzeentch into thinking he's more deserving of the title "Blood God". Khorne's reply to this is exactly why Skarbrand is the sole Bloodthirster unable to fly.

* In TabletopGame/Pathfinder like the above mention of First Edition, As of Bestiary 4 Cthulhu once again has stats... and is once again killable by players.

* In Pathfinder like the above mention of First Edition, As of Bestiary 4 Cthulhu once again has stats... and is once again killable by players.

* In Pathfinder: like the above mention of First Edition, As of Bestiary 4 Cthulhu once again has stats... and is once again killable by players.

* In ''TabletopGame/Pathfinder'': like the above mention of First Edition, As of Bestiary 4 Cthulhu once again has stats... and is once again killable by players.

* In TabletopGame/Pathfinder: like the above mention of First Edition, As of Bestiary 4 Cthulhu once again has stats... and is once again killable by players.

** Likewise the card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380395 Deicide]] depicts [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373649 Elspeth Tirel]] beating an [[GodIsEvil evil god]] ([[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378528 Xenagos]], to be more exact), which makes ''her'' quite a badass.* Averted in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' unless [[ThanatosGambit Cthulhu wants to be punched out]]. Dragons can't be punched out unless they're absolutely dumb, because they have [[LuckStat Edge]] and can burn it in the same ways as [=PCs=] and then some, and one of those uses is to cheat death, ''notwithstanding'' the ChunkySalsaRule. Even if you [[RefugeInAudacity explode a nuke inside the dragon's gut]], it's OnlyMostlyDead and it'll come back and destroy your life from a place of complete safety, then have you for lunch once you're safely under control. Meanwhile, Harlequin, in the adventure he appears in, simply has no stats because the designers ''know'' that if you give it stats, the players will kill it, and [[{{Railroading}} that would screw up the setting]].

** Likewise the card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380395 Deicide]] depicts [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373649 Elspeth Tirel]] beating an [[GodIsEvil evil god]] ([[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378528 Xenagos]], to be more exact), which makes ''her'' quite a badass.

* Averted in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' unless [[ThanatosGambit Cthulhu wants to be punched out]]. Dragons can't be punched out unless they're absolutely dumb, because they have [[LuckStat Edge]] and can burn it in the same ways as [=PCs=] and then some, and one of those uses is to cheat death, ''notwithstanding'' the ChunkySalsaRule. Even if you [[RefugeInAudacity explode a nuke inside the dragon's gut]], it's OnlyMostlyDead and it'll come back and destroy your life from a place of complete safety, then have you for lunch once you're safely under control. Meanwhile, Harlequin, in the adventure he appears in, simply has no stats because the designers ''know'' that if you give it stats, the players will kill it, and [[{{Railroading}} that would screw up the setting]].

** Of course, even with this there are exceptions, the most famous being the tale of [[CrazyAwesome Old Man Henderson]], [[CrazyAwesome the only person to ever have won at Call of Cthulhu]], by using the trick of 1. Becoming Hastur's Greatest Foe, thus allowing you to personally summon him by chanting his name. 2. Knowing that an Elder God summoned without their consent will be really pissed off, but temporarily weak enough to be killed, though you only get one attack to try it. 3. Wiring a building with enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush. Of course, it's technically less DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu than [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Did You Just Permanently Blow Up Hastur In An Ice Rink?!]]

** In the backstory, the mortally wounded Emperor finally realized that Horus was beyond saving after witnessing Horus casually murdering a man (by psychically flaying him alive) who was absolutely no threat to him. The Emperor then unleashed a psychic bolt at Horus that was so powerful that it sent the four Chaos gods who were possessing Horus fleeing back to the Warp. While the Chaos gods survived, they notably haven't taken as active a role since.

** In the backstory, the mortally wounded Emperor finally realized that Horus was beyond saving after witnessing Horus casually murdering a man (by psychically flaying him alive) who was absolutely no threat to him. The Emperor then unleashed a psychic bolt at Horus that was so powerful that it sent the four Chaos gods who were possessing Horus fleeing back to the Warp. While the Chaos gods survived, they notably haven't taken as active a role since.

** In the backstory, the mortally wounded Emperor finally realized that Horus was beyond saving after witnessing Horus casually murdering a man (by psychically flaying him alive) who was absolutely no threat to him. The Emperor then unleashed a psychic bolt at Horus that was so powerful that it sent the four Chaos gods who were possessing Horus fleeing back to the Warp. While the Chaos gods survived, they notably haven't taken as active a role since.

* Following in Moorcock's example, every single monster in the various Monster Manuals of ''DungeonsAndDragons'', up to and including demons and horrors from the Far Realm, can be defeated by bashing it to zero {{Hit Point}}s (in every edition).

* The tabletop roleplaying game ''CthulhuTech,'' which is a mashup of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', both averts and works this way. The Old Ones themselves pretty much automatically win if they actually bother directly fighting any number of protagonists, and the awakening of Cthulhu would officially screw over not just the human race, but an alien race trying to invade as well. Even the avatar of Hastur, horribly crippled to work within our limited sets of dimensions and weakened by improper summoning, is set as outgunning every other army on the planet combined. [[DeusExitMachina Thankfully, he stays at home]]. On the other hand, you can easily beat up a few HumongousMecha or even an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Engel]] with luck and some simple soldiers, or survive exposure to the infinite dimensions without being fried instantly. Seeing an Old One directly ''can't'' even drive you irreparably and instantly insane on its own, and lucky individuals can stroll up to the body of Cthulhu, take a picture, and leave without taking a single point of insanity.

* In {{Mortasheen}}, there are creatures called [[OlympusMons the Ultimates]], monsters that include a creature engineered as a weapon of genocide so effective that nobody even remembers the name of the society it wiped out, a creature that can kill you with torrents upon torrents of its own blood and a creature that can MindRape enormous masses of people as easily as one would edit a computer. And you can fight them, and you can win, though the creators have stated that they are all intended to be ThatOneBoss.

** {{Eisenhorn}} managed this one throughout his career, but the most notable is when he destroyed the [[OneManArmy daemonhost]] [[PunnyName Prophaniti]] so thoroughly that even its warp presence was extinguished. With nothing more than a force staff and his own balls-out badassness.

* In ''MagicTheGathering'', this can happen to ''the players themselves.'' See, you are a "planeswalker," which is basically a wizard with godlike powers. And a [[HitPoints life total]]. Most creatures with an attack power higher than zero can, if left alone, bring that total down to zero, effectively "killing" you. Now, this is perfectly acceptable when the creatures are [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193767 angels]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39734 demons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=43711 dragons]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83977 elementals]], and so forth, but becomes a little stranger when we start talking about [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29781 elephants]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4302 lions]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29877 tigers]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83115 bears]] (oh my,) and becomes outright ridiculous when [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=27250 insects]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=97100 rats]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=29979 squirrels]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74257 little girls]] enter the picture.

** OF course, even with this there are exceptions, the most famous being the tale of [[CrazyAwesome Old Man Henderson]], [[CrazyAwesome the only person to ever have won at Call of Cthulhu]], by using the trick of 1. Becoming Hastur's Greatest Foe, thus allowing you to personally summon him by chanting his name. 2. Knowing that an Elder God summoned without their consent will be really pissed off, but temporarily weak enough to be killed, though you only get one attack to try it. 3. Wiring a building with enough explosions to make Michael Bay blush. Of course, it's technically less DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu than [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Did You Just Permanently Blow Up Hastur In An Ice Rink?!]]

** Both the first edition and third edition of D&D's ''DeitiesAndDemigods'' assigned hit points and combat statistics to god-like beings. The ''d20 Call of Cthulhu'', a sister product to D&D, allows players to specifically fight and to kill Elder Gods. Their stats are tough enough that only epic D&D characters -- themselves nigh-unto gods -- could stand a chance against them, though. (Monk classes fit this trope literally: Being unarmed classes, and epic-level Monk could REALLY punch out Cthulhu.)

** There is a collection of D&D jokes somewhere on the Internet that invokes this trope. [[http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Role-Playing/Humor/Your%20Character%27s%20Too%20Powerful/ "You know your character is too powerful when..."]]. In particular, there was the series on jokes about the demon lord Orcus, who was in the early Monster Manual stated to be so strong that he'd deal damage with a slap with his open palm. The jokes went something like this: "You know your character is too powerful when... ...You slap Orcus on the back, and Orcus dies. / Orcus slaps you on the back, and Orcus dies. / You think "Maybe I should kill Orcus" and Orcus dies..." And so on.
* [[AvertedTrope Handily averted]] by just about every other ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' [=RPG=]. In the original rulebook by Chaosium (and from 2nd Ed. onwards), Cthulhu's stats are so high that he's essentially NighInvulnerable (although a big enough attack, say six tanks firing at once, has a reasonable chance of dropping Cthulhu for up to 20 minutes), and he "devours 1D6 characters per round"; in the ''{{GURPS}}'' version ''Cthulhupunk'' (which mixes modern-day ''Call of Cthulhu'', CyberPunk and HighTech Sci-Fi genre), a note indicates that vaporizing the big guy with an A-bomb would only get rid of him for two days, after which he would return... ''[[ILoveNuclearPower radioactive]]''.

** In 'TabletopGame/BlackCrusade'', the roleplaying spin-off for Chaos-worshipping characters, a sample Slaaneshi daemon princess is an EmpoweredBadassNormal who did just this. Known as the Thrice-Possessed, she summoned ''three'' Keepers of Secrets into her own body sequentially, and each time she did so, she reversed the possession, enslaving them and drawing off their power until [[DeaderThanDead she completely drained them]]. For a bit of perspective, a Keeper of Secrets is an EldritchAbomination that is so mind-rendingly beautiful that most people will, upon seeing one, fall to their knees and beg for rapturous death at their hands, and normal daemonic possession is a FateWorseThanDeath for the person possessed.

** Also the case for the Lovecraft-inspired Eldrazi. Even the mighty [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=193452 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn]] can be taken down by [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220634 a rat]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=206354 on a hang-glider]] (although [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu it'll still probably be really bad for your board presence]]).

** In the lore, Skarbrand tried to do this to Khorne after being prodded by Tzeentch into thinking he's more deserving of the title "Blood God". Khorne's reply to this is exactly why Skarbrand is the sole Bloodthirster unable to fly.