History Main / DidYouJustScamCthulhu

** And he did it basically by sitting there and waiting.
*** For several hundred years. The mention of it came at the time when Belgarath and his Master (One of those gods behind the creation scheme) were unable to find UL and his people. Belgarath wonders if he perhaps abandoned them again since the new Gorim was particularly irritating.

** In that case, shouldn't it be called a Lantern O'Jack?
*** No. The lantern is a representation of Jack - Jack of the Lantern.
*** Or rather - pardon this troper if this is a repetition of the above, she's short on sleep - he is no longer "of the Earth," being dead, he is not "of Heaven," being wicked, and he is not "of Hell," the result of his deal. The only thing that will claim him, his only identifying mark, is the lantern, and so became "Jack of the Lantern." Bit creepier than lit gourds when you tell it like that....
*** Like many Anglo-Irish folktales, stories about Jack were carried into America's Appalachian region, where they underwent MemeticMutation. True to form, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu Scamming]] {{Death}}, the {{Devil}}, or TheLegionsOfHell is a recurring motif, such as the time [[AmericanAccents Jack caught Death in a poke]]. A GoodOlBoy defeating cosmic powers through guile may well have resonated with the socioeconomically depressed area.

** [[FridgeLogic How was he an atheist, then, exactly?]]
*** Ummm. The label "atheist" is often applied to those who don't worship, who oppose God's dominion for philosophical reasons, who do not care for religion in general, as well as the usual people who don't believe in God. Inaccurate it may be, but that's the English language for you. As far as Hardy goes, his atheism may have been the same form held by the Discworld witches; yes, God, you exist, now sod off.
**** More like a UselessGambit. God is in favor of science advance (the church maybe not) so yeah...
***** If God knows all then wouldn't he already have known of the plan before the postcard was even written and as such been capable of simply destroying Hardy in advance thus making it impossible to blackmail him in such a manner? The guy seems to have an awfully inflated ego to think he even qualified as important enough for God to be proclaimed an enemy.

***** If God knows all then wouldn't he already have known of the plan before the postcard was even written and as such been capable of simply destroying Hardy in advance thus making it impossible to blackmail him in such a manner?

**** Hahaha, you believe in god

* [[Angel]] manages to manipulate the Circle of the Black Thorn for most of Season Five.

* [[{{TheCharlieDanielsBand}} The Devil Went Down to Georgia...]]

*** Like many Anglo-Irish folktales, stories about Jack were carried into America's Appalachian region, where they underwent MemeticMutation. True to form, [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu Scamming]] {{Death}}, the {{Devil}}, or TheLegionsOfHell is a recurring motif, such as the time [[AmericanAccents Jack caught Death in a poke]]. A GoodOlBoy defeating cosmic powers through guile may well have resonated with the socioeconmically depressed area.

**** More like a UselessGambit. God is in favor of science advance (the church maybe not) SoYeah...

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** Bonus points because the one who scams Cthulhu [[spoiler:is not a {{Chessmaster}} or a MagnificentBastard. She's just your average, nice 14-year-old girl.... who has been given too much information ''intended to push her into despair'', only to use what she's learned to TakeAThirdOption and ScrewDestiny.]]

** Bonus point because the one who scam Cthulhu [[spoiler:is not a {{Chessmaster}} or MagnificentBastard, just your average, nice 14 years old girl.... Which has too much information ''provided to push her into despair'' and (unintentionally) screwed by fate.]]

** Bonus point because the one who scam Cthulhu [[spoiler:is not a {{Chessmaster}} or MagnificentBastard, just your average 14 years old girl.... Which has too much information ''provided to push her into despair'' and (unintentionally) screwed by fate.]]

* In ''PuellamagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: Madoka uses her wish from Kyuubei to erase all witches, throughout time, before they can come into existence.]]

* [[{{Disney/Aladdin}} 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, and gets away with it. The second time, however, when Aladdin is drowning and couldn't reasonably wish for rescue, the genie just takes it for granted and does so.
** Although in the latter case, the genie still counts the rescue as a wish. He takes Aladdin "nodding" as a yes (Aladdin's head was dropping from lack of oxygen). And at the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Aladdin tricks Jaffar into turning himself into a genie, only to remind him that genies are bound to servitude in lamps.]]

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' executes this beautifully. The [[CosmicHorror Angels]] are coming to merge with [[EldritchAbomination Adam]] and wipe out humanity. However, [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] cloned Adam to [[OrganicTechnology make]] the [[HumongousMecha Evas]] and kill off the Angels so that they can [[AssimilationPlot merge with Adam themselves, elevating humanity into a God]]. [[ThirtyGambitPileup At the same time]], [[MagnificentBastard Gendo]] is scheming to kill off the Angels then screw over SEELE by having [[TenchiSolution Rei]] merge with both Adam and [[CapturedSuperEntity Lilith]] so that he can [[WellIntentionedExtremist get his wife back]]. And the Angels are none-the-wiser...

* ''TheOdyssey'': Who has blinded you? 'Nobody'! 'Nobody' has blinded me!
* Sisyphus pulled this off for a little while. He was [[FateWorseThanDeath punished for it,]] though.

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' executes this beautifully. The [[CosmicHorror Angels]] are coming to merge with [[EldritchAbomination Adam]] and wipe out humanity. However, [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] cloned Adam to [[OrganicTechnology make]] the [[HumongousMecha Evas]] and kill off the Angels so that they can [[AssimilationPlot merge with Adam themselves, elevating humanity into a God]]. [[ThirtyXanatosPileup At the same time]], [[MagnificentBastard Gendo]] is scheming to kill off the Angels then screw over SEELE by having [[TenchiSolution Rei]] merge with both Adam and [[CapturedSuperEntity Lilith]] so that he can [[WellIntentionedExtremist get his wife back]]. And the Angels are none-the-wiser...

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* The men of the city of Gibil do this to the gods all throughout the story of ''BetweenTheRivers'' by HarryTurtledove. The CrowningMomentOfAwesome came when Sharur performed a FakeDefector gambit to fool the enemy god Enimhursag, so that Enimhursag believed that Sharur was betraying his home city, Gibil, against their hated enemies, the city of Imhursag. And Sharur successfully deceived the god even though he had to ''invite Enimhursag read Sharur's mind to see if he was lying.''

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* Both Londo and Sheridan manage to do this to the Shadows in season four of BabylonFive.

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* ''[[ChangelingTheLost Changeling: the Lost]]'' features an [[PrestigeClass Entitlement]] known as the Legates of the Black Apple. When TheFairFolk come barging into the freehold, it's the job of the Legates to try and figure out what they want and how to get them to go away. Mind you, this doesn't necessary involve ''giving'' them exactly what they want, and negotiations can involve intimidation just as well as diplomacy. Mind you, being a member of the Entitlement is quite risky -- you don't want to know what the Gentry did to the guy who preferred to use intimidation tactics once they found out his [[WeaksauceWeakness frailty]].

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* DominicDeegan had to face The Beast in the Borders of Destruction and [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2011-02-18 he managed to get a Destroyer to take care of The Beast.]]

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* Mai of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is the first person -- possibly ''ever'' -- to fool the Xanatos-esque [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent]] [[ManipulativeBastard Manipulative Bitch]] Azula (enough to [[spoiler:send her into a VillainousBreakdown]]) because EvilCannotComprehendGood.