History DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu / Literature

* The TropeNamer is a scene from "Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu" where [[Creator/HPLovecraft the main man]] punches out Cthulhu about as literally as the circumstances allow -- he is (temporarily) thwarted when he is [[RammingAlwaysWorks run down by a steamship]] (he begins regenerating but becomes stuck in R'lyeh). Though [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu the heroic sailor doesn't come out of the encounter in the best of mental health]]...
** In August Derleth's ''Literature/TheTrailOfCthulhu'', the above sequence is one-upped when Cthulhu is thwarted (again temporarily) by [[NukeEm having a nuclear bomb dropped on him]].
*** In TabletopRPG ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' however, this is dealt with by saying that Cthulhu will simply regenerate and then you'll have to face a ''radioactive'' EldritchAbomination. So it's not recommended.
** In Derleth's "The Whippoorwills in the Hills", the same thing was achieved with [[spoiler:dynamite]]... Okay?
** There's also "Literature/TheDunwichHorror". While the horror may not actually be a god (he's a spawn of one of them), the characters manage to banish him. As all three characters neither die nor become cripplingly insane (they're not so bad off as to be locked up), this is one of the few happy endings in the Cthulhu Mythos as penned by Lovecraft.
** Other more-or-less supernatural threats -- admittedly often of human origin themselves -- likewise ultimately come to bad ends at the hands of suitably motivated and determined humans in such stories as "Literature/TheCaseOfCharlesDexterWard", "Dreams in the Witch-House" or "The Shunned House", [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu if not always without cost]]. The helplessness of specifically members of the species ''Homo sapiens'' when faced with "Lovecraftian horrors" has been [[{{Flanderization}} generally exaggerated]] by [[RunningTheAsylum later writers]].

* The climax of ''[[Literature/TheActsOfCaine Blade of Tyshalle]]'' sees a superhumanly intelligent PhysicalGod [[spoiler:possessed by an even more powerful EldritchAbomination]] come up against a GenreSavvy CombatPragmatist with a magic sword.

* Done repeatedly in Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/Deptford Mice'', ''Deptford Histories'', and ''Whitby Witches'' series.

* John Taylor from the ''{{Nightside}}'' books does this approximately ''every five minutes.'' No sooner does he hype how much of a terrifying unbeatable badass so-and-so is, then half a page later he beats them.

* At the end of the first book of ''MemorySorrowAndThorn'', the protagonist (a 15-year-old scullion with barely any formal training with weapons, noted by several characters as having not stopped growing) kills or at least seriously wounds one of the last remaining dragons in the world, which had already killed two of his much stronger/faster/more skilled/generally better at killing things comrades.

* The ''YoungWizards'' series is about teenagers fighting an undefeatable being who is basically Satan. Naturally, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Punching out Cthulhu]] and [[MomentOfAwesome crowning moments of awesome]] happen on a regular basis.

** Rincewind has done this at least three times.

*** In ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', he challenges the most powerful magic user on the planet, who himself had just magicked away all the gods. His weapon of choice? A brick in a sock. By the time he got to the Dungeon Dimensions all he had was sand. Luckily, socks come in pairs. This is justified in-story because a real object, like a brick, has an edge against a magical thing. So when the Cthulus of the Dungeon Dimensions attack him, being creatures of pure magic, sand in a sock is a deadly thing to them.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the ''ConanTheBarbarian'' novels. It is explicitly stated that {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and demons lose much of their power when they enter reality. They still tend to be the strongest opponents Conan faces.

* Subverted hilariously in a non-canon short story by Creator/GeorgeRRMartin, where [[MemeticBadass Jaime]] [[BadAss Lannister]] is due to fight Cthulhu himself. He still wins, but only because [[spoiler: he killed the cultists trying to summon Cthulhu.]] You can read it [[http://grrm.livejournal.com/140797.html here]].

** In the ''Literature/{{Kamigawa|Cycle}}'' saga, we have Hidetsugu, an ogre warlord who [[BadAss has every qualification to be categorized as a badass]], including serving a [[EldritchAbomination ancient demon-god with the conspicuous moniker of 'All-Consuming Oni of Chaos']]. Eventually, Hidetsugu [[spoiler:turns on his employer-unspeakable horror for wussying out of an epic fight, and thus proceeds to fist said Oni into submission. In an subversion of [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu breaking his arm while doing so]], he actually merges with the god and takes his place.]]

* Subverted hilariously in a non-canon short story by GeorgeRRMartin, where [[MemeticBadass Jaime]] [[BadAss Lannister]] is due to fight Cthulhu himself. He still wins, but only because [[spoiler: he killed the cultists trying to summon Cthulhu.]] You can read it [[http://grrm.livejournal.com/140797.html here]].

* The ''{{Everworld}}'' series of novels has several instances of humans attacking gods, with varying amounts of success.

* Happens in ''Literature/CthulhuArmageddon'' by Creator/CTPhipps a few times. John Booth is a BadassNormal who manages to stab to death a nightgaunt with a Deep One knife, destroy a shoggoth with a pair of Elder God blessed revolvers, and kills Alan Ward (implied to be the reincarnated Joseph Curwen) after he becomes a HumanoidAbomination. [[spoiler: This is because John is actually a HalfHumanHybrid and doomed to become one of the Cthulhu Mythos' creatures himself.]]

* In the last ''Literature/BlackCompany'' book by Creator/GlenCook, Croaker kills the goddess Kina by setting off a giant magical explosion in the chamber where she is sleeping.

* In the last ''BlackCompany'' book by Creator/GlenCook, Croaker kills the goddess Kina by setting off a giant magical explosion in the chamber where she is sleeping.

* In the ''{{Dragaera}}'' series, Morrolan kills a PhysicalGod with a [[ArtifactOfDoom Great Weapon]], and a [[EldritchAbomination Jenoine]] goes the same way at the hands of [[spoiler:Vlad and Godslayer]]. Tazendra manages to defeat a Jenoine in single combat ''without'' a Great Weapon, and [[spoiler:Devera, in dragon form]] ''ate'' one.

* ''Creator/StephenKing'''s novel IT features this, in which [[spoiler: seven childhood friends unite to destroy the eponymous entity, an ancient cosmic shape-shifter from a dimension called the Deadlights]].

* Stephen King's ''Literature/It'' features this, in which [[spoiler: seven childhood friends unite to destroy the eponymous entity, an ancient cosmic shape-shifter from a dimension called the Deadlights]].

* Averted hilariously in a non-canon short story by GeorgeRRMartin, where [[MemeticBadass Jaime]] [[BadAss Lannister]] is due to fight Cthulhu himself. He still wins, but only because [[spoiler: he killed the cultists trying to summon Cthulhu.]] You can read it [[http://grrm.livejournal.com/140797.html here]].

* In ''TheElenium'', Sparhawk manages to kill one god. Then he follows it up in TheTamuli by slaying another. Granted, both times he had the help of powers beyond those of a god, [[spoiler:as he is in fact the ChosenOne of TheMaker]].

* TheSilmarillion Luthien hands [[GodOfEvil Morgoth]] in his ass with no punch but a soothing melody that lays him flat on his face along with the rest of the entirety of Angband....Just look at this passage from the book. Describing the event is far too inefficient to give one a true grasp of this CMOA.

* The TropeNamer is a scene from "Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu" where [[Creator/HPLovecraft the main man]] literally punches out Cthulhu -- he is (temporarily) thwarted when he is [[RammingAlwaysWorks run down by a steamship]] (he begins regenerating but becomes stuck in R'lyeh). Though [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu the heroic sailor doesn't come out of the encounter in the best of mental health]]...