History DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu / VideoGames

*** For his trailer as DownloadableContent in ''Ultimate'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]] makes his Smash debut by cutting Galeem in half with a single attack.

** In the backstory of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler:[[FallenHero Nemesis]] killed Sothis, who was by all means a PhysicalGod. then drank her blood and had her spine turned into the Sword of the Creator. This sounds impressive until you learn that Sothis had exhausted her power fighting the Agarthans and fallen into a deep slumber to recover, making it less of a human triumphing over a god and more like a bandit sneaking into someone's room and murdering them in their sleep]].

** He gets punched out at the beginning of ''Deception'', then you punch out the almighty Onaga at the end.
*** [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX In the alternate timeline]], [[spoiler: [[CoolOldGuy Johnny]] and [[SpinOffspring Cassie Cage]] are known to have beaten up Shinnok]].

* Several cases in ''VideoGame/{{MARDEK}}''. The Security Demon seems like it is supposed to be an unwinnable battle that you are supposed to avoid but it can be beaten. So far two of the GDM not counting Rohoph, although they are probably the weakest two in a straight up fight, and both the body and soul of something called [[TheRedBaron the annihilator]] which is stated to have destroyed an ancient civilization.

* At the end of the prehistoric chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', [[spoiler:the shaman is eaten by a gigantic dinosaur that the villagers worship as a god. It spits out the shaman's skull and then Gori throws it at him. It's also possible to kill the dinosaur with two attacks from the WhiteMage]].

* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad'' is a rare case: while the EldritchAbomination responsible for most of the trouble is eventually defeated, it takes four games, [[spoiler: 4.000 years in story, no less than five team of semi-godly fighters powered by the local gods and three near or complete collapse of civilization]] before the BigBad finally bite the dust. Before that, the game series will provide plenty of deaths, [[PlayerPunch tragedies]] and {{Difficulty Spike}}s: The EldritchAbomination will eventually get defeated, but you're going to [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn that triumph]].

** "Faith Forsaken" the second anniversary event has Euden and co. literally face off against Satan himself in a multi-phase battle. Said battle also had a Nightmare version with 16 different players all trying to beat him up like an oversized piñata to see who could inflict the most damage to him in the limited time they had.

* In ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', PlotArmor has allowed [[TheHero Reimu]] and/or [[TheRival Marisa]] to defeat and [[DefeatMeansFriendship subsequently befriend]] beings that while not eldritch or abominations are certainly comparable to them, including but not limited to an EnfanteTerrible with the power to destroy anything just by thinking about it and clenching her fist, one of the four Oni Devas that [[GravitySucks hurls black holes]] and is capable of tearing apart mountains, the millenia-old ruler of the netherworld, a RealityWarper with likely limitless power, one of the Judges of the Dead, and a [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear-powered]] hell raven that uses miniature suns as a weapon.

* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' as the protagonist Zagreus does eventually face his eponymous PhysicalGod BigBad father and kills him to escape the underworld. But it’s subverted on two regards: 1) [[DeathIsCheap death is generally a minor inconvenience]] in the Underworld so Zagreus technically just momentarily defeated his father, who came back straight away to keep fulfilling his job and 2) it’s treated less like epic victory over a literal deific foe and more like a rebellious son finally breaking free of his domineering father’s influence.

** Speaking of ''Aria'', prior to the game's events a Belmont fought Dracula. That's usual business; what is not usual is that they killed him ''permanently''. [[spoiler:It was "J" aka Julius Belmont's doing, though it also resulted in [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu decades-long amnesia and the temporary loss of the Vampire Killer whip]]]].
** [[http://castlevania.classicgaming.gamespy.com/Images/myth/CTHULU.gif Cthulhu is even an enemy in one of the games!]]
*** A ''minor, recurring'' enemy at that. It actually is present in multiple ''Castlevania'' games, but is generally named Malachi (mistranslation during production of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''; the name stuck), and never a boss.

*** And, in both games, you can attack with your bare fists, enabling you to execute a perfectly literal interpretation of this trope.

* ''Anybody'' in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'' can beat Onslaught. Even {{Badass Normal}}s like Jin Saotome, or any StreetFighter. Keep in mind that in the comics, Onslaught is more or less the most powerful psionic being in existence, and killed a lot of people before being taken down, which in itself required the efforts and HeroicSacrifice of several incredibly powerful characters.

* In ''VisualNovel/AkaiIto'', it takes a [[SuperMode super-powered]], [[TimeAbyss 1700-years-old]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Mizuki person]] [[UpToEleven with a perfected]] DangerousForbiddenTechnique to [[TalkToTheFist literally punch]] the [[BigBad star-god Nushi]] to a permanent end. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking She's also your auntie and later your life partner]].

** The sequel had the Shivans go UpToEleven in terms of threat level: your biggest victory in the campaign comes when you destroy the ''Sathanas'', a ship far more powerful than the ''Lucy'' ever was, at great cost (the one ship capable of tackling the ''Sathanas'' is drydocked for extensive repairs). Then the Shivans [[spoiler:reveal that they have ''over 80 more such ships en route'' to Capella.]] TheAlliance [[HopelessWar does not walk away with a victory.]]

** ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' cranks this trope UpToEleven. On top of the gods you fought returning in this game, you also butt heads with even more gods [[spoiler:and eventually, aliens]]!

** It gets better in ''Freudenstachel''. [[spoiler:After Iris hijacks Tia and forces her to fight her friend Freudia, the latter gets extremely pissed and decides to take Iris's defeat UpToEleven by freezing her in an ice crystal with the intent to [[KilledOffForReal put her down]] for good.]]

** One of the franchise's most extreme example comes from the Demi-Fiend of ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne''. You start as an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, and then progressively evolve to become a demon that can beat the shit out of both an avatar of God and Lucifer. In one ending, you not only defeat them both, you go on to fight [[UpToEleven God himself]]. Depending on how one interprets this ending, the Demi-Fiend [[FromNobodyToNightmare might as well be the strongest entity in the entire franchise]], at least until later games introduce even ''stronger'' beings such as Stephen.

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsUX'' takes the concept to [[UpToEleven new heights]], where the protagonists have to destroy [[spoiler: the ''physical embodiment of the Hindu apocalypse'']].

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters: Joker'', [[spoiler: your [[TheRival Rival]] Solitaire]] gets disqualified from the Monster Scout Championship Finals by jump-kicking your [[OlympusMons Olympus Mon]]. (A BerserkButton was involved.)

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' and its various spinoffs has you ''continuously'' kicking the crap out of major deities. Beings like Izanami, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, the Fates of Greek mythology, Thor, the Four Archangels, Lucifer, and company are often encountered throughout the franchise, and at least two games make you challenge {{GOD}}. And there is much, much more. Even ''Cthulhu'' himself is a random encounter in some games, so you can literally punch out Cthulhu in the face, ''repeatedly''. All in all, there is a ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very]]'' sizable stable of spirits out baying for your blood. And guess whose job it is to demonstrate why the power of Humanity is so coveted in these games? Some games do make subversions, however.

** Sephiroth, from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is said in a Word of God case to be "the strongest character in the Final Fantasy VII universe. There is nothing above him, and it would be impossible to make a character stronger than he is." He's defeated a couple of times by sword combos. Albeit lengthy, very impressive sword combos that attack him from virtually every angle. The eldritch abomination part comes in when you consider Jenova. However, he never really dies, since he came back for ''Advent Children'', and can probably come back again. He can be defeated, but he will come back, that makes him terribly dangerous. Oh, and if you're not sold on the God part, his leitmotif and final form scream the trope OneWingedAngel.

*** At the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', the heroes slay [[spoiler: Whisper Harbinger a massive, supernatural entity that is that physical manifestation of destiny itself that up to this point has been [[{{Railroading}} enforcing the plot to follow the original game]] to ensure the survival of the Planet. What’s more it’s heavily implied even this god-like entity is '''weaker''' than Sephiroth himself.]]
*** Speaking of ''Remake'' Tifa can potentially have a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome invoking this during the climatic fight with Sephiroth who as previously detailed above is the most powerful being in the universe and nothing short of a PhysicalGod. Yet when Sephiroth has Cloud and Aerith at his mercy, mortal KickChick Tifa comes in and quite literally sends his one winged angel ass [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flying with a somersault kick]], ''which he had to genuinely guard against!'' Instead of lazily parrying like most other attacks that came his way.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' gets in on this as well, done to [[spoiler:Grima who is essentially an evil dragon god]]. There are even two ways to do it: [[spoiler:either you return him to slumber, or you kill him off for good (though the latter requires the sacrifice of your Avatar)]]. Oh, and the reason Grima and his cult are after you is you're the vessel bred for him to possess.

* At the end of the prehistoric chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' [[spoiler:The shaman is eaten by a gigantic dinosaurish thing that the villagers worship as a god. It spits out the shaman's skull and then Gori throws it at him. It's also possible to kill the dino-god with two attacks from the WhiteMage]].

*** Also in Dream Team has Giant Luigi square off against [[spoiler: The Zeekeeper]], a being that is able to open dimensional rifts, and is the guardian of the p'illo kingdom.

** In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', you can have [[BadassNormal guys such as]] [[VideoGame/FinalFight Haggar]], [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Chris Redfield]] and in [[UpdatedRerelease Ultimate]] even ''[[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]]'' go up against {{Physical God}}s like the aforementioned [[Comicbook/DoctorStrange Shuma-Gorath, Dormammu]], and [[ComicBook/XMen Phoenix]] ''and win''. Even better; the FinalBoss is [[spoiler:'''ComicBook/{{Galactus}}''']].

** With Galactus it's more of a case of [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu Breaking Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]] because [[spoiler: at the end of the game he's seen swearing revenge while enveloping the entire Earth with his hand.]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Invoked]] in ''VideoGame/OnePiecePirateWarriors'' when you beat a powerful opponents such as Whitebeard, Admirals and other Logia and Haki users all while playing as Nami, who while strong in her own right is physically very weak compared to the rest of her crew, especially the Monster Trio (Luffy, Zoro and Sanji).

* VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction: The main arty is forced to defeat the Creator, [[spoiler: Kyrie's mother]], in order to TakeAThirdOption and create a new world, rather than annihilating the one they live in.

*** In the [=Wii/PS2=] version, you have to make him punch out Dark Gaia manually. Emphasis on the words "VideoGame/PunchOut".

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' does this with Ibuki, the high school teenage ninja girl. While she does have her own Ki attacks and weapons she is generally considered to be a weaker character in the lore and most of the other characters generally criticize her fighting skill, however in her own story mode and in the ''UFS'' card set she is shown attacking and defeating GILL, someone who controls fire and ice, can summon meteors, and outpowers M. Bison and the shotos in canon. He can also self revive.

** The best fighter against Onslaught is the [[JokeCharacter robot girl]]--not woman, girl--whose day job is maid. That's right, ''VideoGame/MegaMan's'' sister Roll. It's fun to take her in against Onslaught and wipe the floor with him.

* According to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' lore, The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda did this on at least two occasions--[[PhysicalGod demon kings]] Mundus and Argosax the Chaos. In the first and second games, Dante follows in his dad's footsteps. While Dante needed some help from his dad (or more specifically, his father's [[SealedBadassInACan sword]]) and Trish to defeat (and [[SealedEvilInACan seal away]]) Mundus, the latter fight was a CurbstompBattle ''from start to finish''. He also takes down the BigBad of ''3'' (who was drawing on Sparda's power) alongside [[EvilTwin his twin brother Vergil]], and defeated a demon of similar caliber in the [[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries anime]].

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and its derivative works, Servants are [[HumanoidAbomination Humanoid Abominations]] and are not only nigh impossible for modern humans to fight and defeat, but [[NoSell human weaponry will flat out not work on them]] unless magically crafted or enchanted. Despite this, in ''Unlimited Blade Works,'' the visual novel's second route, [[TheHero Shirou]] takes on [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]], the strongest Servant to ever exist (with the ''possible'' exception of [[Literature/TheMahabharata Karna]] from ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha''), in a one-on-one duel, and come out the victor. His ability to do so is sheer coincidence, and Shirou acknowledges that if he were up against any other Heroic Spirit, he would most likely lose, as they are masters of their weapons whereas he is merely an "owner" of weapons, but as Gilgamesh was himself more of an "owner," it leveled the playing field. Even so, he still managed to win a fight against a demigod and humanity's oldest recorded hero. There is a bit of WorfHadTheFlu involved though, as not only did Shirou technically not defeat Gilgamesh (he ran out of energy shortly before landing the killing blow and was at Gil's mercy) but Gil was also holding back his greatest weapons the entire time, feeling a mongrel like Shirou isn't worthy of facing them. Even so Shirou still crippled Gilgamesh, but it still took the Holy Grail itself ''and'' Archer interfering to put down Gil for good.
** Shirou manages to do it at least once (and up to three times) more in ''Heaven's Feel'', the third and final route. [[spoiler:First, when [[TheBerserker Berserker]] (whose true identity is none other than [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Heracles]]) -- corrupted by [[{{UsefulNotes/Zoroastrianism}} Angra Mainyu, All the Evils of the World]] -- is sent after the heroes, Shirou (with the help of [[FutureBadass Archer's]] [[BadassTransplant arm]], which was grafted to his body after he lost his own) manages to project Berserker's own Noble Phantasm back at him and kill him nine times in one blow. The second occurs in a Bad End, but is no less badass -- using only the knowledge from Archer's arm and a technique using the short swords Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou is able to win a one-on-one duel with [[Myth/KingArthur Saber]] [[PaintItBlack Alter]]. And lastly, in the Normal End, Shirou is able to project Excalibur to kill ''Angra Mainyu himself'' with one final attack.]]
** In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', when you learn that [[VideoGame/FateExtra Francis Drake]] [[spoiler: has a Holy Grail]], she explains that she mugged some guy for it, and only kept the tacky thing because [[MundaneUtility it never runs out of rum]]. Her crew promptly interject that by "some guy" she means ''the Greek god Poseidon himself'', whom Drake insists wasn't all that impressive.
** Also from ''FGO'', the elderly [[BadassNormal Li Shuwen]] fights Servants with his bare hands... ''and wins''.
** In ''FGO'', Ritsuka Fujimaru, who aside from his rather mediocre magical powers is an ordinary human, takes the Demon God Goetia on in hand to hand combat armed with only Mash's shield and a Command Spell to give him strength and kills Goetia.
** Before Goetia came Tiamat, the Mesopotamian progenitor goddess. As the Mother of All Life, Tiamat could not die as long as life remained in the world, and was on track to wipe the surface of the planet clean of life and start again. The heroes figured out a way to circumvent her immortality by dropping her into the Underworld, where whether one counts as living or dead is determined by the goddess of the dead, Ereshkigal; a timely intervention by the first Hassan-i-Sabbah ensured that the concept of death was applied to her; and the heroes, blessed by Ereshkigal and buffed by Merlin, managed to take her down.
** God Arjuna, the BigBad of the fourth Lostbelt, was an alternate version of Arjuna who had absorbed ''the entire Hindu pantheon'' (except for Kama/Mara). He was a RealityWarper who would destroy and recreate the world every ten days. He's the most powerful antagonist the heroes have faced since the aforementioned Tiamat. And yet, even he proved fallible when faced with his old nemesis, Karna, who, while empowered by Shiva and Vishnu, struck him down once and for all.

** The God of Magic (Dark Sun Gwyndolin)

*** Also in Dream Team has Giant Luigi square off against [[spoiler: The Zeekeeper]], a being that is able to open dimensional rifts, and is the guardian of the p'illo kingdom
** Lampshaded by an optional boss in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. He's not exactly Cthulhu-level, but it's a nice observation.
---> "CRUD! You dumb video-game heroes ALWAYS pull this stuff! It's RIDICULOUS!"
** Mario can '''kill the goddamn sun''' in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''. It's fair to say this overshadows ''anything'' else that's happened in this series in terms of sheer ludicrousness - and probably many entries in this article, to boot. It helps that the sun is 1) not 93 million miles away, but anywhere between a few yards above the ground to almost on it, 2) not millions of times as large as the planet, but barely bigger than Mario himself, and 3) dead in one Koopa shell. There are {{Mook}}s tougher than that. Killing it doesn't have any effects on the world, and it's not even a Boss, just an enemy that appears in two levels only. You could say the real question is: Is Cthulhu Really That Wimpy?

** The sequel had the Shivans go UpToEleven in terms of threat level: your biggest victory in the campaign comes when you destroy the ''Sathanas'', a ship far more powerful than the ''[[FanNickname Lucy]]'' ever was, at great cost (the one ship capable of tackling the ''Sathanas'' is drydocked for extensive repairs). Then the Shivans [[spoiler:reveal that they have ''over 80 more such ships en route'' to Capella.]] TheAlliance [[HopelessWar does not walk away with a victory.]]

*** At the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', the heroes slay [[spoiler: Whisper Harbinger a massive, supernatural entity that is that physical manifestation of destiny itself that up to this point has been [[{{Railroading}} enforcing the plot to follow the original game]] to ensure the survival of the Planet. what’s more it’s heavily implied even this god-like entity is '''weaker''' than Sephiroth himself.]]

*** At the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', the heroes slay [[spoiler: Whisper Harbinger a massive, supernatural entity that is that physical manifestation of destiny itself that up to this point has been [[{{Railroading}} enforcing the plot to follow the original game]] to ensure the survival of the Planet.]] what’s more it’s heavily implied even this god-like entity is '''weaker''' than Sephiroth himself.