-> "AttackItsWeakPoint... [[MemeticMutation For Massive Damage]]."
-> --''Sony Press Conference on Genji 3''

->“Gentlemen,” said Aramis, “the principal question is not to know which of our four lackeys is the most discreet, the most strong, the most clever, or the most brave; the principal thing is to know which loves money the best.”\\
--''TheThreeMusketeers''

Heroes have moral standards; villains exploit that. Villains have [[ItsAllAboutMe no concept of loyalty]]; heroes abuse that. Sometimes, villains have [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]]; both heroes and worse villains can use that. FlawExploitation is the action of either a Hero, {{Villain}}, or even InnocentBystander to take advantage of the inherent flaws (or to be more charitable, character) of their opponent in order to win.

This is similar to the HeroBall and VillainBall in that both deal with the inherent limits heroes and villains have or place on themselves, but differs in that the former deals with the two tripping themselves up, whereas Flaw Exploitation is someone else doing so. Neither the hero nor the villain need to make mistakes for Flaw Exploitation to occur, just act in character.

A SmugSnake abusing a hero's [[CharacterAlignment Lawful Good]] morality to avoid getting punched in the face would count. Said hero being LawfulStupid wouldn't. A villain's henchmen being talked into doing a MookFaceTurn in the face of their bosses' [[YouHaveFailedMe policy on failure]] would count, but a villain doing a RevealingCoverup wouldn't.

Exploiting an opponent's character and flaws is a tactic as old as time and TruthInTelevision. There's a deeper level to this in literature. In some settings this means that evil is fundamentally flawed and incapable of long term gains, since a competent hero can use its very nature to defeat it. On the other hand, a clever villain can make a hero set for destruction because his ethical code and a moral dilemma are in opposition, creating a TragicHero.

It's worth noting that neither the hero or villain would see the flaws exploited as, well, ''flaws,'' but as character traits. Character traits of such importance you cease to be a KnightInShiningArmor or a [[EvilIsStylish stylish]] CardCarryingVillain if you change them. If they do recognize them as weaknesses that can be abused, they'd all the same see them as inherent to being good/evil and [[DramaPreservingHandicap necessary.]] If they don't, say ''"Hello AntiHero and AntiVillain!"''

When used against a hero, will often lead to a SadisticChoice. The ManipulativeBastard finds this easy as breathing. TheFettered is a type of character that can frequently find their self-imposed limits exploited - and by contrast, one of the reasons TheUnfettered is so terrifying is that it's nearly impossible to do this to him.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* Most villains will do this by snatching some completely random InnocentBystander off the street to use as a hostage, because the hero just ''can't'' ShootTheHostage, no matter how many million lives are at stake. Bonus points if it's a woman, a child, or for the 4X multiplier, a little girl.
** How is a little girl different from a little boy? Sure, there exists the idea that killing women is somehow worse than killing men, but this troper has yet to hear an example of this double standard being applied to children. In other words, males are only good to go if they're grown.
* In the Bount Arc of ''{{Bleach}}'', Yoshi takes a hostage and pulls off an astounding 8X Multiplier during her battle against Rukia -- by grabbing a little girl ''who is holding an infant child in her arms''... a truly max-powered [[KickTheDog Dog Kicking]], that.
** 16X multiplier surely?
*** Only if the baby that the girl was holding was female.
* In ''{{Hellsing}}'', the first villain that appears tries this with a policewoman. Alucard asks the girl if she's a virgin (in the manga) or if she'll go with him (in the anime). He then shoots her right through the chest to kill the vampire. When the mission is over, he turns her into a vampire. Alucard is not exactly a KnightInShiningArmor (except literally, in volume 8).
* Near in ''DeathNote'' takes advantage of Light's impossible, blinding pride (and his poor choice of a KnightTemplar for a disciple).
** Unquestioning loyalty to anybody who gains the title of Kira is also a rather serious flaw, and it gets exploited from here to Hades.
* In ''KatekyoHitmanReborn'', during Tsuna's fight with Mukuro, the fight between them is prolonged ''much'' longer due to Mukuro's [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty dirty fighting tactics]] that completely exploit Tsuna's [[TheMessiah kind-hearted nature]]. (Tactics that include [[GrandTheftMe taking over Tsuna's friends' bodies]] to fight him, making it difficult for Tsuna to defeat them without harming their bodies, and [[ISurrenderSuckers pretending to surrender]] only to attack [[InTheBack Tsuna's back]] when Tsuna decides to [[TurnTheOtherCheek spare him]], etc.)
* Both fans ''and'' characters in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' accuse Ranma himself of [[CombatPragmatist abusing enemy weaknesses with utter abandon]], such as [[BalefulPolymorph triggering their curses]] or taking advantage of their [[BlindWithoutEm near-sightedness]]. Of course, "anything goes" in his "indiscriminate" school of martial arts. On the other hand, when an enemy exploits ''his'' flaws, he calls foul.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comics ]]

* In ''The FantasticFour,'' Reed periodically is able to bait Doom into getting careless by playing to his overwhelming ego.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine of ''StarWars'' is the master. He creates a rebellion based on real anger people have with the central government, exploits Amidala's anger at the Republic to get the Chancellor out of the way, and exploits the Senate's fear of rebellion to give him dictatorial power. He exploits Anakin's ego and fear of losing loved ones to tempt him to the Dark Side, exploits the Jedi's aloofness to sow distrust. He exploits the Rebellion's desire to get in a killing blow on him personally by luring them to the second Death Star for an ambush, and nearly manages to exploit Luke's concern for his friends to tempt him as well. His one mistake was forgetting that he'd originally exploited Anakin's fear and anger at losing loved ones, so killing Anakin's son...
** Who, of course, exploited Vader's feelings to turn him against Palpatine. Not ''consciously'' (he went to try and rescue Vader, not kill Palpatine, according to the [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse EU]], so [[YourMileageMayVary standard]] [[DisContinuity disclaimers]]).
* In ''Film/{{Superman}} II'', General Zod realizes Superman's weakness is that he cares for the humans he's protecting. Zod and his minions start attacking and endangering the people of Metropolis. Superman finally realizes that fighting his enemies in the middle of the city is endangering innocent lives and takes off.
** Superman tells Luthor about the molecule chamber and then secretly reverses its mechanism to irradiate the exterior rather than the interior, because he knows Luthor will betray him, telling Zod how it normally works.
* Averted in ''{{Speed}}''. Shoot the hostage.
* Kirk [[IShallTauntYou taunted]] Khan in ''StarTrekII'' in order to get him to enter the Mutara Nebula, which gave Kirk the advantage and ultimately victory. The result is that Khan was undone by his own massive ego.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Kivas Fajo uses this against Data in the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode ''The Most Toys'', while Data has a disruptor weapon pointed at him, convinced that Data will not fire it because he's programmed with a "fundamental respect for all life, and an inhibition against harming living beings". Subverted [[spoiler:in that Data ''does'' actually prepare to shoot, reasoning that killing Fajo would save more lives in the long run, and would have done so if he hadn't been beamed out of there in the nick of time. He then tells a near-lie to his commanding officer about it; he suggests that the disruptor may have discharged due to the transport. He never says that this is what happened, only that it is a possible explanation ;)]]
-->'''Fajo:'''If only you could feel ''rage'' over Varria's death... If only you could feel the need for revenge, then maybe you could fire. But you're...just an android. You can't feel anything, can you? It's just another interesting, intellectual puzzle for you--another of life's curiosities.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* A good example of this is ''HarryPotter''. Half of Harry's triumphs come from the fact that Voldemort has no concept of loyalty to his men; thus, many of them will abandon him the moment there's something better to be loyal to. Dumbledore turned Draco Malfoy in book six, and his father and mother switched sides (his mother being the more important of them) pretty much at a drop of a hat, because a choice between an uncaring vindictive bastard who would likely kill them for their past failures or the life of her son wasn't a hard choice.
** Flipping it right around for another good example: half of Voldemort's triumphs come from the fact that Harry has an especially fierce sense of loyalty, and thus will go to any lengths to help his friends. It's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in Book 5, when Hermione points out to Harry that he's got a "saving people thing", and raises the possibility that Voldemort could be deliberately taking advantage of that. [[spoiler:He is.]]
** Voldemort's problem isn't that he doesn't appreciate true loyalty. He does. He rewards his two most loyal servants, Bellatrix and Severus Snape with his greatest trust. His problem is that he's terrible at ''creating'' loyalty. Bellatrix was loyal due to her obsession over Voldemort. Severus was loyal due to a seeming brotherhood with him, through similar shared childhood experiences. [[spoiler:Up until Voldemort tries to kill Lily Potter. Then all loyalty goes out the window.]] At no time does he do anything that a reasonable person would find inspiring of real loyalty. [[ItsAllAboutMe He seems to want people to feel loyalty towards someone who's a raving sociopath and is incapable of returning that loyalty]].
*** Since some raving sociopaths actually ''think'' like that, this may not be a surprise. Plenty of historical rulers were the kind of CompleteMonster that no sane person would willingly follow... and then railed against the treachery and disloyalty of their followers.
* Sauron in JRRTolkien's ''TheLordOfTheRings'' is defeated because he was incapable of imagining that someone who could wield the One Ring wouldn't want to, and instead send it away to be destroyed. Thanks to ThePalantirPloy, Gandalf convinced him Aragorn had the Ring and was headed towards him to buy enough time for Frodo to destroy it.
** Of course, it is revealed that Sauron was right on the matter of the One Ring. He just didn't predict that a nasty scuffle would get it destroyed anyway.
* Subverted in TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/FeetOfClay''. A trio of thieves discovers that the bar they're trying to rob is populated entirely by off-duty members of the Watch. They take hostage a pretty blonde woman, figuring that the others will let them go free as they [The Watch] won't want to risk injuring her. [[spoiler:Fortunately, depending on your point of view, she's a werewolf--and a cop--and she can take care of herself.]]
* Kellhus in ''SecondApocalypse'' exploits the flaws of ''everyone'' around him. In most cases, this flaw is religion, but he also exploits love several times. [[{{Ubermensch}} His morals aren't exactly in line with the rest of the world]].
* This is par for the course in ''{{A Song of Ice and Fire}}''. Littlefinger is especially good at Flaw Exploitation, playing on the weaknesses and foibles of pretty much everybody; Eddard Stark (honor), Lysa Arryn (obsessive love), Robert Baratheon (impatience with the mundane issues of running a kingdom), Joffrey Baratheon (wanton cruelty), Tywin Lannister (pride)... and so many, many more. In fact the only person who might be better is Tyrion, who did most of the above as well as handling his sister Cersei (hunger for power,) his brother Jaime (fear of being betrayed by his lover,) Varys the Spider (multiple, delicately-balanced loyalties,) the Dornish royal family (collective thirst for revenge,) Pycelle (greed,) and even Littlefinger himself (reliance on people underestimating him.)
** In the {{Redwall}} series, badgers are known to be fiercely (perhaps feverishly) dedicated to [[LawfulGood Justice and Good]] in general. ''Salamandastron'' has the BigBad [[LampshadeHanging acknowledge this]] outright:
--> '''Ferahgo''': I've dealt with big badgers before. Oh, they're fierce fighters, sure enough, but they lack cunning and suffer from silly little things, like honor and conscience.
** Later in the story, the villains capture a pair of the Badger Lord's finest fighters and have fun messing with him over what they want for their hostages before making an impossible demand for the entire mountain fortress. They even give the badger a couple days to give his answer, knowing full well they plan to kill their hostages before the time elapses.
** [[spoiler: Fortunately for the two hostages, the series is prone to [[TakeAThirdOption softening the consequences]] of such [[DebateAndSwitch difficult choices]], and they end up surviving anyway. Partially this is because [[BadassArmy hares]] are invariably awesome in a pinch.]]
* In JamesSwallow's {{Warhammer 40000}} BloodAngels novel ''Deus Encarmine'', Inquisitor Stele exploits this when trying to corrupt the Chapter, as they believe they owe him. Fortunately for them, he believes they hold HonorBeforeReason a little more strongly than they do; he thinks it [[DueToTheDead forbidden to use the gear of the dead]], when it is only forbidden except in the direst circumstances. When a Blood Angel gets off a message with a dead man's gear, he doesn't think to investigate who had access.
* [[{{StarWars/Allegiance}} Baron Choard]] wasn't exactly a hero, but his assistant Disra did spend a long time finding all of his buttons, and influenced his boss into planning to secede violently from the Empire. Disra, as it turned out, was orchestrating all this so he could report the treasonous activity and get promoted. Given that twenty or so years later he's a [[HandOfThrawn Moff]] of no small power, we can assume that he did.
* In DanAbnett's GauntsGhosts novel ''Blood Pact'', [[spoiler:Rime]] jeers at Gaunt: he's read his files, and knows he won't execute him without ''proof''. [[spoiler:Fortunately, he hasn't read [[ShootTheDog Rawne's file]].]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Probably the biggest [[WhamEpisode Wham Moment]] this troper has ever witnessed in a video game makes masterful use of this trope, when in ''JadeEmpire'' [[spoiler: your beloved Master Li]] strikes the main character/you through a series of holes in your defense [[spoiler: '''that he built into your techniques himself!''' [[ManipulativeBastard Glorious Strategist]], indeed]].
* Injured pride is a great weapon indeed: if you're able to convince the [[BigBad Master]] from ''[[{{Fallout}} Fallout 1]]'' that his plan for WorldDomination has or will fail, he will [[DrivenToSuicide commit suicide]].
* [[{{Persona3}} "You've found the enemy's weakness!"]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan,'' Doctor Octopus pegs Spider-Man as "weak" because he's obliged to save [[InnocentBystander Innocent Bystanders]]. Ock then grabs a nearby [[DistressedDamsel damsel]] and uses her in a HostageForMcGuffin ploy to get Spider-Man to fork over some desirable AppliedPhlebotinum.
* An early episode of the 80s ''{{Transformers}}'' cartoon has Megatron executing a plan to teleport Cybertron (the Transformers' homeworld) into Earth orbit, the presence of which would disrupt Earth's gravity and ultimately destroy the planet. The Autobots try to stop him, but when Optimus finally does prevent Megatron from pressing the button to complete the teleport, Megatron gloats, and insists that ''Optimus'' will be the one to push the button -- because if he doesn't, the teleport will fail, destroying Cybertron in the process. Optimus, true to form, reluctantly pushes the button, rather than let his homeworld perish. (Which is kind of opposite of other characterization he's had since, where he would sacrifice the rest of his species if it means the Decepticons would not be able to threaten any other sentients ever again.)
** In an earlier episode, Megatron goads Optimus into a one-on-one duel in which the loser's faction will exile themselves forever, knowing the Autobot leader's sense of honor would never allow him to refuse a chance to end their war peacefully. Naturally, he cheats during the competition, but at least he was just GenreSavvy enough to send troops into the Autobot base to disable their computer and prevent the deception from being noticed (and he would've gotten away with it, too, were it not for those meddling Dinobots...).
* [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]] is known to have exploited {{KimPossible}}'s teenager flaws, like making Kim disappear if she's too embarrassed or sending in a perfect boyfriend for Kim to fall in love with [[BrokenAesop because she thought that Ron was way below her league]].
** [[DarkActionGirl Shego]] takes over the world by exploiting the major flaw that Kim Possible is nowhere near as effective without her sidekick Ron Stoppable, Shego splits them up by offering Ron's mother a new job in Norway.
* ''DannyPhantom'' has ManipulativeBastard Vlad who constantly pulls this on Danny, usually by making him his personal XanatosSucker. Danny however, does the same thing against him, too! One example is in "''Maternal Instincts''" where Danny tricked Vlad by using his desire for the boy as his son. Calling him "new dad", Danny slaps a PowerNullifier on him, then proceeds to beat the crap outta him.
** Technus also used Danny's emotions to keep him busy or enraged in one episode while he worked on his ultimate plan.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Subverted mightily in ''AntiheroForHire'', where Shadehawk fully is [[http://antiheroforhire.com/d/20081017.html greatly disappointed]] to learn a room full of unaffiliated villains did not in fact fight over their treasure at all, though it's immediately DoubleSubverted as they fight over killing him.
* During the ''SluggyFreelance'' arc "Aylee" [[spoiler:Leono is defeated because the same FantasticRacism that drove him to wipe out humanity means he never suspects a member of his own species would betray him]].
* Happens a number of times in ''OrderOfTheStick''...
** Vaarsuvius [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0397.html resolves]] a SpotTheImposter situation by offending the EvilTwin's {{Pride}} and zapping the one that takes offense.
** More recently, V's own {{Pride}} has been exploited by [[spoiler:fiends aware that he would rather [[DealWithTheDevil rent out his soul]] for the power to do things himself than rely on others to accomplish the same thing without obligation.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

At the SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy in the WhateleyUniverse, there are Combat Finals at the end of the Fall 2006 term. In one chapter of Joe Gunnarson's ''Call the Thunder'', Diamondback finds herself teamed with the Supervillain Hekate, who everyone in the entire school knows will backstab Diamondback first chance she gets (and who is much more powerful magically than Diamondback). Diamond lays a very cunning BatmanGambit that only works ''if Hekate shafts her as soon as she gets the chance''. Hekate grabs the VillainBall for everything she's worth, leading to a very satisfying demonstration of this trope.
** WhateleyUniverse double example: In "Boston Brawl 2", power-armored Ironhawk grabs a little girl and holds her at knifepoint to stop the heroes, to exploit the classic hero flaw. It fails horribly because of the second example: the little girl he grabs is Generator. She uses her power (she can animate things if she can touch them and they aren't too big) to take over the control switches for his power armor, and she beats on some of the other villains using Ironhawk like a remote controlled toy.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theater ]]

* In ''{{The Pirates of Penzance}}'', the titular pirates won't hurt orphans. Everyone seems to know this and use it to escape from them, even ModernMajorGeneral Stanley.
-->'''Frederic'''. ''Then, again, you make a point of never molesting an orphan!''\\
'''Samuel'''. ''Of course: we are orphans ourselves, and know what it is.''\\
'''Frederic'''. ''Yes, but it has got about, and what is the consequence? Every one we capture says he’s an orphan. The last three ships we took proved to be manned entirely by orphans, and so we had to let them go. One would think that Great Britain's mercantile navy was recruited solely from her orphan asylums – which we know is not the case.''
** That's just the best known one. The entire play is about this trope. For example: [[spoiler: Fredric's loyalty (by the pirates), the pirate's patriotism (by the police), Fredric's naivete (by Ruth), Stanley's patriotism (by the pirates)]]
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