History MuggingTheMonster / Literature

* In the third ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novel, ''The Short Victorious War'', a Havenite battlecruiser squadron is expecting to smash up a small Manticoran patrol. Instead they drop out of hyper right on top of the dreadnought HMS ''Bellerophon'', which, after her crew gets over their surprise, blows them all to flinders in one broadside. It was a complete fluke: the ''Bellerophon'' was on its way back to base and just passing through.

* In ''Literature/MaximumRide'', Max takes a stand to protect a girl being threatened by several bigger boys, one of whom is carrying a gun. Max is a genetically engineered hybrid with superhuman strength and agility and has been trained for some time how to use it. The boys basically tell her to bugger off. Cue the buttkicking.
** Although to be fair, she did end up getting shot by one of them later. Doesn't tend to work as well when someone has a gun.

* In the first chapter of ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', a man tries to pickpocket Butler. Due to Butler being hugely strong, said pickpocket gets his fingers broken.

* In DianeDuane's ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' novel ''The Octopus Agenda'', three punks try to assault Venom. With switchblades. Yeah, that doesn't go so well for them.

* Happens twice in Brent Weeks' ''Literature/TheNightangelTrilogy'': first when Azoth's gang try to ambush Durzo Blint, the most accomplished wetboy (magical assassin) ever, and again in the third book when the next generation of child gangers try to ambush Kylar who has taken Durzo's place.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHpuAAnHdEc The Terrible Old Man by H.P. Lovecraft.]] Some burglars decided to go for an easy target: that weird old retired sea captain who lives on the edge of town, has a garden full of creepy statues, and talks to a collection of jars with little pendulums inside. [[FateWorseThanDeath It doesn't go well]].
* In the first chapter of ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', A man tries to pickpocket Butler. Due to Butler being hugely strong, said pickpocket gets his fingers broken.
* A flashback in ''[[{{Duumvirate}} Billy & Howard]]'' features this. Three goons decide to pick on [[{{Transhuman}} Billy's]] friend. Billy goes [[BerserkButton nuts]] (and more than a little racist) and brutalizes all three.

** In ''[[Literature/{{Belgariad}} Polgara the Sorceress]]'', the title character is riding alone through a forest when two bandits attempt to rob/rape her. She calmly states that she is glad that she finally found some food and disguises herself and her horse as monsters with an illusion, sending the pair running.

* In one of the ''{{Troubleshooters}}'' books, someone attempts to mug Jules Cassidy, who's short, gay, and looks like he could be in a boy band. Jules, however, is an FBI agent.
* ''RepairmanJack''

* In MercedesLackey's ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Brightly Burning]]'', Lavan is cornered by a pack of school bullies who pin him down and beat him with a lash. His panic results in a violent breakthrough manifestation of his Firestarting gift that he's the only survivor of.

* ''[[MatthewReilly The Six Sacred Stones]]''. The team crash land in DarkestAfrica, and run into a rape gang. Zoe decides to draw their attention while Wizard sneaks out the back with the kids. Did I mention she used to be called Bloody Mary in the Irish Army? Those poor souls didn't stand a chance.

* The ClarkAshtonSmith short story [[http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/139/monsters-in-the-night "Monsters in the Night"]] has a monster (a werewolf) mug ''another'' monster: [[spoiler: a Terminator-esque robot.]]

* Occurs early in ''[[ThePowerOfFive Raven's Gate]]'', tries to mug Mrs Deverill, Matt's new foster parent. [[spoiler: She's an EldritchAbomination. She [[MindRape mind rapes]] him into committing suicide with his knife. One inch at a time.]]

* In the Creator/StephenKing short story ''[[Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes Popsy]]'', Sheridan, who has been [[MoralEventHorizon abducting and selling children]] to pay off his gambling debts, kidnaps a young boy from a shopping mall. Unfortunately for him, the boy is a vampire and manages to break his restraints and turn the tables on his kidnapper just in time for his grandfather, the eponymous Popsy, to come pick him up. The two vampires exsanguinate Sheridan.

* Happens a few times to Fleming in ''TheVampireFiles'' series, both in the city and when he's jumped by tramps on his parents' unoccupied farm. A VegetarianVampire, he doesn't actually hurt such attackers, just scares the living shit out of 'em.

** Marco also does it in 'The Predator'...he begins morphing gorilla and pounds a couple bullies in an alleyway, even though it's quite dangerous morphing like that in public.

* Given a pointed aversion in Literature/TheLordOfTheRings. The hobbits are returning home to the Shire, and stop back at the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. Fellow travelers complain that the roads have become extremely dangerous and bandit-ridden, which confuses the hobbits, who have not been molested in the slightest. Well, no, ''you'' wouldn't be, explain the others -- the hobbits are all armed and armored. No robber in his right mind is going to pick on the group that's attired for war.
* This happens with newly-crowned King Eugenides in Megan Whalen Turner's ''TheQueensThief.'' Sejanus, the leader among Gen's attendants, conspires to make Gen's life miserable in any number of small ways, from pranks to endless hassle, for months. It makes Gen the butt of a lot of jokes, because what kind of king can't even control his own attendants? [[spoiler:By the time Sejanus is done tying his own noose with the rope Gen oh-so-kindly let him have, he's got a life sentence, his brother is exiled, and their noble house, one of the Crown's biggest threats, is all but destroyed.]]

** And in ''Discworld/MenAtArms'', members of the Assassins' Guild gather in their courtyard to threaten the Watchmen, or possibly kill them "for trespassing" if Vimes won't back off and leave. Then they realize that one of the Watchmen is Detritus... and their elegantly-crafted stilettos and sophisticated poisons will do diddly-squat to a troll.

** It happens twice in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies''; first, Casanunda, the "World's Second Greatest Lover", attacks a coach full of wizards. After a display of octarine fire conrol, [[DefeatMeansFriendship the dwarf joins them]], whereupon they are attacked by a band of highwaymen -- the leader of which is turned into a pumpkin for his trouble, retaining his hat in accordance with [[RuleOfFunny the Universal Laws of Humor]].

** Andy Shank and company trying to beat up Nutt in ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals''.

** Happens between the Summoning Dark and Vimes in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}''. [[spoiler:A subversion, as Vimes ''unconsciously drives the ancient hate monster from his mind''... In later books, it's his FRIEND!]]

These, however, were the other kind, the kind for whom evolution was ''invented.

** In ''Discworld/RaisingSteam'' some highwaymen target what they think is just a plain black coach. Sadly for them it contains Lord Vetinari himself (his coat of arms being a black shield upon a black background). His Lordship appreciated the opportunity to stretch his legs during his otherwise tediously boring journey.

** In ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'', some muggers target a pair of frail old ladies, one of is [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Weatherwax]].

:: We learn that sword belonged to another man with very big feet... whose corpse is lying behind a nearby rock. And so we meet Vena the Raven-Haired, the Literature/{{Discworld}} counterpart to Series/XenaWarriorPrincess.

** A humorously-inverted example has a bunch of wannabe-dark-wizards try and mug Harry Dresden. He pulls a gun on them, to their horror. (it was pointed at the ground; He didn't actually want to ''hurt'' anybody)
--> "'I'm a-fixin' to defend myself', I drawled, Texas-style."

* In the Antony Horowitz novel ''[[ThePowerOfFive Raven's Gate]]'', someone tries to mug Mrs Deverill, who is basically an EldritchAbomination. She [[MindRape mind rapes]] him into committing suicide with his knife. One inch at a time.

** In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' Moist von Lipwig is discussing a special mail coach to Genua. The danger of bandits is brought up, and one of the brothers operating the coaches points out that there aren't any bandits on that road any more, which is good. The other isn't so sure, since they never found out what wiped them out. This is the road through {{Uberwald}}, no less.

* ''That Is NOT a Good Idea!'' A hungry fox sees a nice plump goose in the streets. He asks if she wants to come to dinner (with the intention, of course, of eating her). What he doesn't realize is she sees him the exact same way. The goslings make it a point to reiterate how bad an idea this proposition is. Guess which one of them is, in both senses of the term, in the soup.

** ''Elminster in Myth Drannor]]'':

** In ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' , a crook tries to rob what turns out to be a fire-breathing dragon. It doesn't go well. This trope is also part of why Carrot Ironfoundersson had an uneventful 500-mile journey from the Copperhead Mountains to Ankh-Morpork.
-->''People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind a rock then say things like, "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else."''

** A few valkyries get mugged by the people they came to pick up. Although that group was [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cohen The Barbarian]] and his horde of elderly (read: with a lifetime's experience of surviving in the most dangerous profession in existence) barbarians.
** [[ThoseTwoBadGuys The New Firm]] in ''Discworld/TheTruth'' end up on (almost) both sides of this trope -- they're subject to a (legally sanctioned) mugging attempt by a member of the Thieves' Guild, which does not go well for the thief, and later walk into Biers during business hours and openly try to intimidate a Werewolf into working for them - this would normally be suicidal but thanks to Mr Tulip's almost inhuman ability to intimidate people without trying they manage to walk out alive (but without the werewolf).

** Happens between the Summoning Dark and Vimes in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}''. [[spoiler:A subversion, as Vimes ''unconsciously drives the ancient hate monster from his mind''...In later books, it's his FRIEND!]]

** Susan's father got subjected to this trope first in ''Discworld/{{Mort}}''. Lampshaded by the author: ''Three men had appeared behind him ... They had the heavy, stolid look of those thugs whose appearance in any narrative means that it's time for the hero to be menaced a bit, although not too much, because it's also obvious that they're going to be horribly surprised.'' They threaten to kill him. Mort is [[DontFearTheReaper Death's apprentice]]. It goes about as well as you imagine.

-->Intelligent'' robbers would have started to count up the incongruities here.\\

:: We learn that sword belonged to another man with very big feet... whose corpse is lying behind a nearby rock. And so we meet Vena the Raven-Haired, the Literature/{{Discworld}} counterpart to ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''.

* In MercedesLackey's ''[[HeraldsOfValdemar Brightly Burning]]'', Lavan is cornered by a pack of school bullies who pin him down and beat him with a lash. His panic results in a violent breakthrough manifestation of his Firestarting gift that he's the only survivor of.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHpuAAnHdEc The Terrible Old Man by H.P. Lovecraft.]] Some burglars decided to go for an easy target. Oh! And who is this easy target? It’s The Terrible Old Man.... [[FateWorseThanDeath Yeah]].

*** To be fair, a few valkyries do get mugged by the people they came to pick up. Although that group was [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cohen The Barbarian]] and his horde of elderly (read: with a lifetime's experience of surviving in the most dangerous profession in existence) barbarians.
** [[ThoseTwoBadGuys The New Firm]] in ''Discworld/TheTruth'' end up on (almost) both sides of this trope -- they're subject to a (legally sanctioned) mugging attempt by a member of the Thieves' Guild, which does not go well for the thief, and later walk the into Biers during business hours and openly try to intimidate a Werewolf into working for them - this would normally be suicidal but thanks to Mr Tulip's almost inhuman ability to intimidate people without trying they manage to walk out alive (but without the werewolf).

*** It's more that the ''monster'' is someone else than what is traditionally expected.

* In a related variant, the house of Glen Cook's Literature/GarrettPI is occasionally broken into, as it's situated in a bad neighborhood. Only out-of-town criminals do so lightly, however, due to the resident Dead Man's vast telekinetic powers and nasty sense of humor.

*** To be fair, some people do manage to mug the valkyries that come to pick them up. Although that group was [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cohen The Barbarian]] and his horde of elderly (read: with a lifetime's experience of surviving in the most dangerous profession in existence) barbarians.