History Main / TheHunterBecomesTheHunted

[[EgomaniacHunter The hunter]] is usually the one pursuing the prey, be it a literal example of one hunting animals, or the {{Villain}} relentlessly hunting his victim in a sporting example of HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. But in some cases, the hunted gains resolve or the upper hand, and turns the tables on his pursuer, turning [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted the hunter into the hunted]].

Once the victim pulls this off, the hunter's game falls apart, and he will be forced to recognize his victim as an actual threat to him. The turnaround embodied in this trope usually signifies that TheHero will soon defeat The {{Villain|s}} and put an end to his twisted game.

* ''Film/{{Predator}}'' and ''{{Predator 2}}'' provide a ''perfect'' example, as the consummate trophy hunter/ProudWarriorRaceGuy alien stalks and kills dozens of dangerous, deadly men, only for one of his would-be victims to TakeALevelInBadass, and begin to hunt him in exactly the same fashion.

* Series/StarTrekVoyager once had the crew give hologram technology to aliens called the Hirogen, so they could practice their hunting skills without killing people. The Hirogen made the holograms both sentient and capable of learning, so they could adapt and become better prey to hunt. As you've probably deduced, the holograms got sick of this, TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and eventually lured the Hirogen to a toxic planet to hunt them for a change.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Obsession". Kirk has the Enterprise pursue the vampire cloud creature. Eventually the creature gets fed up with this: it turns and attacks the Enterprise.

* An episode of the revived ''OuterLimits'' involves an illegal android hunt. The androids are prevented by inhibitor chips from harming humans. That is until they find plans for their bodies in a shack and proceed to remove their inhibitors. They kill several hunters but are ultimately gunned down, except for one who manages to escape.
* In the paranormal documentary ''Creepy Canada'', a team of ghost hunters search for the ghost of a sailor that died in the 19th century. During the investigation, they were surrounded by a cold mist and strange noises prompting one of the ghost hunters to say that they have, at that point, become the hunted.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure S3 ''Expedition to the Barrier Peaks''. While the ship's crewmen pursue the escaped intellect devourer, it turns on, pursues and attacks one of them, eventually killing him.

* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "RabbitFire", as Bugs and Daffy continue to pull away posters saying "Rabbit Season" and "Duck Season" alternately, each trying to convince Elmer to shoot the other, they finally reach the final poster, which reads "Elmer Season". In the next shot we see Bugs and Daffy dressed as hunters, carrying rifles and "Hunting for Elmers".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse", near the end Tom finally drinks his own power potion which Jerry had been using throughout the short. Instead of growing stronger however, it backfires, and Tom shrinks until he's as tall to Jerry as Jerry normally is to him. The short ends with Jerry chasing after Tom with a fly swatter.
* In ''RedHotRidingHood'', the Wolf while trying to hunt down Red instead encounters her Granny, who becomes his AbhorrentAdmirer at first sight and chases the Wolf through her building.
* In the ''TalesFromTheCryptkeeper'' episode "Hunted," a JerkAss hunter is poaching in Africa and runs afoul of a supposedly mythical beast. Determined to catch this beast and make a profit, the hunter pursues it deeper and deeper into the jungle. Just when he thinks he has it, the beast springs its own trap to capture him instead. [[spoiler: Turns out the beast was once a JerkAss hunter himself and had been cursed. Forced him to live in the wild, he learned to respect nature and its creatures. He regains his human form and passes the curse onto his captive to start the cycle over again.]]

* Firestar from ''WarriorCats'' thinks of this after Brightpaw and Swiftpaw were attacked by a pack of vicious dogs.

* ''[[CharliesAngels Charlie's Angels]]'' episode "Angel Hunt". A vengeful man lures the Angels to a deserted island to be hunted, but they start hunting him.

* In the paranormal documentary ''Creepy Canada'', a team of ghost hunters search for the ghost of a sailor that died in the 19th century. During the investigation, they were surrounded by a cold mist and strange noises prompting one of the ghost hunters to say that they have, at that point, become the hunted.

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* At the end of the ''LooneyTunes'' short "RabbitFire", as Bugs and Daffy continue to pull away posters saying "Rabbit Season" and "Duck Season" alternately, each trying to convince Elmer to shoot the other, they finally reach the final poster, which reads "Elmer Season". In the next shot we see Bugs and Daffy dressed as hunters, carrying rifles and "Hunting for Elmers".

* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Obsession". Kirk has the Enterprise pursue the vampire cloud creature. Eventually the creature gets fed up with this: it turns and attacks the Enterprise.

* The first two ''{{Predator}}'' films provide a ''perfect'' example, as the consummate trophy hunter/ProudWarriorRaceGuy alien stalks and kills dozens of dangerous, deadly men, only for one of his would-be victims to TakeALevelInBadass, and begin to hunt him in exactly the same fashion.
* ''{{Westworld}}''. The tourist being hunted by the gunslinger android eventually turns the tables on him and destroys him.
* At the end of ''Film/{{Halloween}}: H20'', in what is Laurie's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, she turns the tables on Michael Myers and hunts him down with an axe.

* In the ''TomAndJerry'' short "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse", near the end Tom finally drinks his own power potion which Jerry had been using throughout the short. Instead of growing stronger however, it backfires, and Tom shrinks until he's as tall to Jerry as Jerry normally is to him. The short ends with Jerry chasing after Tom with a fly swatter.

* In the paranormal documentary ''Creepy'', a team of ghost hunters search for the ghost of a sailor that died in the 19th century. During the investigation, they were surrounded by a cold mist and strange noises prompting one of the ghost hunters to say that they have, at that point, become the hunted.

* In the paranormal documentary ''Creepy'', a team of ghost hunters search for the ghost of a sailor who died in the 19th century. During the investigation, they were surrounded by a cold mist and strange noises prompting one of the ghost hunters to say that they have, at that point, become the hunted.

Once the victim pulls this off, the hunter's game falls apart, and he will be forced to recognize his victim as an actual threat to him. The turnaround embodied in this trope usually signifies that TheHero will soon defeat TheVillain and put an end to his twisted game.

* In {{Euripides}}'s ''{{Bacchae}}'', the young king Pentheus is lured into this fate by Dionysus. He hunts down the crazed maenads, seeking to spy on them, but ends up as the hunted when they notice him -- Dionysus makes the maenads hallucinate and see him as a lion to be hunted and slain. Interestingly, his fate is foreshadowed by mentions in the play of his cousin, Actaeon, whose own fate is mentioned in the trope description.

See also EgomaniacHunter, EvilPoacher.

* At the end of ''{{Halloween}}: H20'', in what is Laurie's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, she turns the tables on Michael Myers and hunts him down with an axe.

{{Vampire Hunter}}s and {{Demon Slayer}}s live by this trope in a supernatural context, since vampires and demons are nearly universally portrayed as predators of human beings, and human beings tend not to like being prey.

* In {{Euripides}}'s ''{{Bacchae}}'', the young king Pentheus is lured into this fate by Dionysus. He hunts down the crazed maenads, seeking to spy on them, but ends up as the hunted when they notice him -- Dionysus makes the maenads hallucinate and see him as a lion to be hunted and slain. Interestingly, his fate is foreshadowed by mentions in the play of his cousin, Actaeon.

This trope has roots as far back as GreekMythology, where a quite literal hunter, Actaeon, is [[{{Animorphism}} transformed into a deer]] by Artemis and eventually torn apart by his own dogs.

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* An episode of the revived ''OuterLimits'' involves an illegal android hunt. The androids are prevented by inhibitor chips from harming humans. That is until they find plans for their bodies in a shack and proceed to remove their inhibitors. They kill several hunters but are ultimately gunned down, except for one who manages to escape.

* ''The Most Dangerous Game''. A big-game hunter falls off a yacht and finds refuge on an island that is home to a Russian aristocrat. This aristocrat is also a highly-skilled big game hunter. So highly skilled that he's hunted just about every animal and quickly became bored with simply hunting them all over again. So he forces the people who get shipwrecked on his island into a "game" in which he hunts them.

-->Spock: May I suggest that we no longer belabour the question of whether or not we should have gone after the creature. The matter has now been rendered academic. The creature is now after us.

* Played with all the time in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', seeing as Buffy is always a potential victim, but is, well...[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTon a vampire slayer.]]

[[EgomaniacHunter The hunter]] is usually the one pursuing the prey, be it a literal example of one hunting animals, or TheVillain relentlessly hunting his victim in a sporting example of HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. But in some cases, the hunted gains resolve or the upper hand, and turns the tables on his pursuer, turning [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted the hunter into the hunted]].

[[EgomaniacHunter The hunter]] is usually the one pursuing the prey, be it a literal example of one hunting animals, or TheVillain relentlessly hunting his victim in a sporting example of TheMostDangerousGame. But in some cases, the hunted gains resolve or the upper hand, and turns the tables on his pursuer, turning [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted the hunter into the hunted]].