Basic Trope: A person takes control of something MUCH more powerful than themself.
- Straight: Bob, the everyman, manages to merge with Gargaroth the Obliterator, an Eldritch Abomination.
- Exaggerated: Bob merges with Azathoth, the extradimensional embodiment of existence, and becomes the supreme entity.
- Downplayed: Bob takes control of a dragon.
- Justified: Bob used an Ancient Artifact designed for that purpose.
- Inverted: Bob gets a serious case of Demonic Possession.
- Subverted:
- Bob succeeds in absorbing Gargaroth, only for Gargaroth to take over and declare that this was his plan all along!
- The heroes assumed Bob intended to do this, but he actually destroys Gargaroth for being a potential threat.
- Double Subverted:
- ...but Bob takes back control through a Battle in the Center of the Mind.
- Taking his power afterwards is just a bonus.
- Parodied: People forced the eldritch abominations into submission long ago and now use them as common household pets, saying things like "Go on the newspaper, not the carpet, Cthulhu." and "Bad Yog-Sothoth, don't chase the neighbor's cat."
- Zig Zagged: Bob absorbs Gargaroth, only for Gargaroth to take back control, only for Bob to take it back, only for Gargaroth to escape. Then, Alice takes control of Gargaroth, only for the true Gargaroth to reveal that this was merely an avatar, and destroy both of them.
- Averted: The Eldritch abominations are too incomprehensible to be controlled.
- Enforced: "The studio wants us to make a moral about how normal people can do amazing things."
- Lampshaded: "Soon, Gargaroth will be awakened. What's that? He's already awakened, and has been absorbed by Bob? That can't be!"
- Invoked: Bob summons many lovecraftian horrors with the hope of taking one over.
- Exploited: Bob uses this opportunity to become a superhero for hire, making loads of money.
- Defied: Gargaroth destroys the relic that can control him.
- Discussed: "Aw man! Bob has the relic with the power to control Gargaroth. I hope we have our eldritch abomination-slaying weapons ready, because Bob is about to be a whole lot tougher..."
- Conversed: "That moment in The Epic Saga of Bob when Bob consumed the Eldritch Abomination was when the series really jumped the shark."
- Implied: Alice asks if anybody knows where Gargaroth went. Bob replies with no, before his head turns into tentacles and beck to normal.
- Deconstructed: Bob attempts to assimilate Gargaroth, and gets eaten, due to being a mere mortal.
- Reconstructed: He is able to use his artifact to pilot Gargaroth like a mech from within.
- Played For Laughs: The eldritch horrors from beyond see Bob as an incomprehensible eldritch entity beyond their understanding.
- Played For Drama: Assimilating Gargaroth gradually drives Bob to madness, until he is no better than the monster he assimilated and needs to be put down.
- Played For Horror:
- Gargaroth uses his body as a vessel to summon its brethren from the eldritch abyss, turning what was seemingly Lovecraft Lite into a Cosmic Horror Story.
- Gargaroth was a flesh-eating eldritch beast from beyond time and space, but it was that - a beast, no different in attitude from, say, an alligator. Keep it fed, don't walk into its home, don't make any sudden movements, boom, it's not a threat. Bob is the one who embudes Gargaroth with the desire to hunt for sport, to toy with its food, to go on killing sprees, to see if human females are capable of cross-breeding…
Congrats! Just by clicking the link I provide, you can conquer the eldritch might of Hijacking Cthulhu!
