History Main / DidYouJustScamCthulhu

** The series' [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-game book]] ''Azura and the Box'' features an example. An old [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]] (a notably {{Naytheist}}ic race) philosopher manages to prove Azura, a [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]], wrong in front of live audience. [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu This doesn't end well for him or any of the surrounding witnesses]]. The book notes that the ending differs based on which race is telling the tale: in the [[OurElvesAreBetter Dunmer]] version, for example, [[SubvertedTrope Azura easily saw through his attempted legerdemain]] and [[DoNotTauntCthulhu squashed him like a bug]]. (The Dunmer notably see Azura as one of their patron deities.)

* Spoony tells a story in his ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'' series of a player's attempt to scam [[TabletopGame/{{Planescape}} the Lady of Pain]] by purposefully antagonising her enough to get mazed[[note]]In short, she sends the Ne'er-do-well into a custom built, nigh-impossible to escape labyrinth[[/note]], trusting that his character's racial ability to automatically know the correct path out of any dungeon would help him. He was right! The exit? [[spoiler: 100 million miles down that straight, featureless corridor]].

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* [[ProfessionalGambler Stan Pines]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13259895/1/A-Strange-Engagement A Strange Engagement]]'' managed to come out on top in a game of [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame High Stakes Poker]] involving [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]], [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Him]], [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack Aku]], WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom, [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Morrigan]], and [[WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy Grim]]. It probably helps that he was new to the game and all of the other players were too busy trying to screw each other over to notice him.

* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' metaplot, the Medic manages to screw over Old Nick in a DealWithTheDevil through the simple expedient of supplementing the soul he sold with eight others, meaning that [[spoiler:when he dies, he holds a ''vote'' on whether to go to hell, then swindles the Devil out of a resurrection ''and'' his pen in the process]].

[-[[caption-width-right:360:Mortal, [[YouHaveNoIdeaWhoYoureDealingWith do you not know who I am?]] Let me tell you. I am [[EldritchAbomination Tzeentch.]] [[IHaveManyNames The Changer of Ways. The Master of Fate. The Lord of Change. The Controller of Destinies]]. [[TimeAbyss I have existed before the stars]], and I will exist long after they have died! No mere mortal could possibly--[[OhCrap what is that pawn doing there]]?]]-]

* One version of the founding of the famous island monastary Mont St Michel relies on this, though an odd version in which the Devil is being tricked for fun [[{{Troll}} and to prove a point.]] St Michael bets the Devil that he can make a better monastery, with the Devil producing Mont St Michel and St Michael himself producing a gorgeous monastery of ice. The Devil has to concede defeat. And St Michael, being a friendly sort, offers to swap. CueTheSun...

-->'''Starscream:''' Ha! Do it yourself! ''[takes off into space]''

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Ghost in the Machine", Starscream, reduced to a ghostly form, [[DeadWithTheDevil makes a deal with the decapitated Unicron]] to regain his body in exchange of turning Cybertron into Unicron's new body. Eventually, Starscream demands Unicron to give him a body so that he would fulfill his end of bargain and connect his head to Cybertron, but once he does…

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure,'' exactly how much of this, how much simple [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punching]], and how much absolute dumb luck contributed to Joseph's defeat of [[UltimateLifeForm Kars]] is up to Joseph himself, and he's not particularly truthful. Being a consummate GuileHero, it is probably largely options one and three.

* The title character in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' manages to trick his newfound genie servant into freeing him from a sealed cavern without making a wish by prodding the genie's ego. Genie realizes too late he's been played, so he warns that Aladdin won't get any more "freebies". Later on, when Aladdin is drowning and couldn't reasonably wish for rescue, the genie just takes it for granted that he would wish for it and does so, still counting it as a wish (he takes Aladdin "nodding" as a yes, though this was just Aladdin's head was dropping from lack of oxygen). And at the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Aladdin tricks Jafar into turning himself into a genie, only to remind him that genies are bound to servitude in lamps. Not to mention he had the handicap of being unable to directly kill Aladdin or his allies when he escaped for revenge in the sequel, though he's not above plain torturing them or tricking others into doing the job for him.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'', Mickey has tricked powerful Disney baddies into helping him. Once, when [[SitcomArchnemesis Pete]] tries to get all the customers out by [[VisualPun dunning the thermostat for money until it's "broke"]] and the club overheats, Mickey manages to talk [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hades]] into staying, because so long as there's even ''one guest'' in the club, Pete can't shut the show down. And when [[IneptMage Daisy accidentally makes the House of Mouse disappear]], Mickey gets [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]] to bring it back by promising him "the city of Agrabah." Once he does, Mickey gives him ''an Agrabah snow globe''.

[[folder: Fan Works]]

* In the UsefulNotes/{{Hindu|ism}} story of the lovers Savitri and Satyavan, Savitri tricks Yama, the lord of death, into reviving her dead husband. Impressed by her bravery in following him to the end of the world, he agreed to grant her a wish for anything except Satyavan's life. She wished for seven children of her own, then pointed out that she couldn't logically have had children without her husband. She won.

* One UsefulNotes/{{Hindu|ism}} story involves a princess tricking Yama, the lord of death, into reviving her dead husband. Impressed by her bravery in following him to the end of the world, he agreed to grant her a wish for anything except her husband's life. She wished for seven children of her own, then pointed out that she couldn't logically have had children without her husband. She won.

* Jack of the Jack O'Lantern tale in Irish folklore also scammed the Devil. He got the Devil to agree not to take his soul after scamming him twice. When he died, though, he was too wicked for Heaven and the Devil upheld his bargain not to claim his soul. The Devil gave him a glowing coal and wished him the best roaming the Earth. Jack later put the coal in a turnip he carved out and created his lantern. Like many Anglo-Irish folktales, stories about Jack were carried into America's Appalachian region, where they underwent MemeticMutation. True to form, scamming {{Death}}, {{Satan}}, or TheLegionsOfHell is a recurring motif, such as the time [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents Jack caught Death in a poke]]. A GoodOlBoy defeating cosmic powers through guile may well have resonated with the socioeconomically depressed area.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', Donald is pitted against Gladstone in a challenge for who will be freed from an evil luck vampire. Donald wins, but the luck vampire still claims ownership of Gladstone, so Scrooge tricks the demon into thinking that Donald, [[BornUnlucky of all people]], is the luckier one since he won so that he'll take Donald instead. Scrooge only has to count the seconds until the spirit kicks Donald out, [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth poisoned due to Donald's horrible luck]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]] is a dream demon who is as [[TheChessmaster smart]] as he is powerful, and is able to play one heck of a long game (as in over a ''trillion'' years.) By the series finale, through a series of well-done maneuvers and bargains, Bill [[spoiler: managed to turn the town into an apocalyptic [[WorldOfChaos hellscape of pure chaos]] by merging the nightmare realm with the real world. Unfortunately for him, his power doesn't extend outside the town and he needs Ford's permission to enter his mind to get the information he needs to escape it. What ultimately does him in is a ''supreme'' case of HoistByTheirOwnPetard, as when he does strike a bargain, he falls for a TwinSwitch by Stan Pines, aka the greatest con man in Gravity Falls, that allows his brother Ford to destroy him while he mistakenly possesses Stan's mind instead.]]

** The Gang try to pull this on Wan Shi Tong by promising not to use the knowledge they could learn in his library for violence. He doesn't entirely believe them but gives them the benefit of the doubt, and is ''not'' happy when he finds out they lied to his face and intend to use the knowledge to take down the Fire Nation.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}:'' Xanatos (of course) did this to [[GreatGazoo Puck]], [[spoiler: when he chose Owen Burnett instead of a wish, forcing Puck to play human for the rest of Xanatos' life]]. [[note]]Not that Puck/Owen has any problem with this.[[/note]]\\\ A PetTheDog moment as well. Xanatos could have had any wish he wanted, but passed up a ticket to wealth or power to keep his faithful servant. [[spoiler:This, incidentally, was done on purpose by Puck, who was curious about Xanatos's human nature and whether or not he ''would'' value companionship over power. [[ItAmusedMe Then again, Xanatos is 'never boring']]]]

** In ''Discworld/TheLastHero'', Cohen the Barbarian has to sell a GodGuise by rolling a 7 on a six-sided dice. Being a Hero, he tosses the die in the air and slices it in half with his sword, so that the pieces land on a 1 and 6. Notably, he drew inspiration from an in-universe version of the [[CuttingTheKnot Gordian knot]] story, and while his companions declared it to be cheating, Cohen must have reckoned there's no reason to play fair with gods, who aren't known for their tendency to do so.
** In ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', Granny Weatherwax [[ChessWithDeath challenges Death to a poker game over the soul of a dying child]]. Granny initially tries to cheat, but Death insists they swap hands - and then concedes, because Granny ends up with four Queens, leaving Death with only [[AC:[[DontFearTheReaper "four ones."]]]] Of course, Granny would've broken his arm if she'd lost, but still.

*** There was also a certain amount of LoopholeAbuse involved. Hercules decided this situation wouldn't stand, but had already had a taste of divine punishment. So he rips the chains out of the cliff, leaving some stone on the end. This lets Zeus keep saying that his enemy is chained to the cliff. [[Discworld/TheLastHero No word on what Prometheus did to the eagle.]]

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has [[MagnificentBastard Doctor Stephen Strange]] who as the Sorcerer Supreme, does this sort of thing both professionally and for fun. For instance, the main plot of the series is essentially the foreground of a time-travel based GambitRoulette set in motion by him involving, amongst others, Loki, a MagnificentBastard in his own right, Odin, who's even better than Loki (after all, he taught him), [[EldritchAbomination Chthon]], the various higher-ups of SHIELD, [=MI13=], HYDRA, and the Red Room (who are {{Manipulative Bastard}}s of necessity), ComicBook/DoctorDoom, and at least four of the Endless. Including Destruction, who is here perhaps better known as The Phoenix Force. He's played them all, and many more besides, without lying even once. Not for nothing is he an accredited member of the OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness. John Constantine also appears a couple of times, though he doesn't manipulate anyone while onscreen. Mention is, however, made of the "tricking three arch-demons to cure his lung cancer" incident.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}:'' Xanatos (of course) did this to [[GreatGazoo Puck]], [[spoiler: when he chose Owen Burnett instead of a wish, forcing Puck to play human for the rest of Xanatos' life]]. [[note]]Not that Puck/Owen has any problem with this.[[/note]]\\\
A PetTheDog moment as well. Xanatos could have had any wish he wanted, but passed up a ticket to wealth or power to keep his faithful servant. [[spoiler:This, incidentally, was done on purpose by Puck, who was curious about Xanatos's human nature and whether or not he ''would'' value companionship over power. [[ItAmusedMe Then again, Xanatos is 'never boring']]]]