History Main / ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Live Action TV]]

* ''{{Webcomic/Goblins}}'':

* In Greek mythology, Theseus encountered a bandit called Sinis who killed travellers by bending two pine trees and tying his victims between hem. Theseus killed Sinis by binding him between his own pine trees. When he met another robber called Sciron who forced travellers to wash his feet and then kicked them over a cliff to be eaten by as monstrous turtle, Theseus fed him to his own turtle. Finally, he met a robber named Procrustes. Procrustes would invite weary travellers to spend the night but would always claim the bed was either too long or too short for his guest. If the bed was too short he would cut the travellers limbs until they fit. If the bed was too long he would stretch his victims limbs till they fit. And if the bed was just the right size he would secretly swap it for his ''other'' bed in order to cut or stretch the victim anyway. Theseus cut off his feet and head with his own saw.

* InUniverse, this is Sebastian Castellanos' opinion about the fate of the AxeCrazy serial killer, torturer and MadScientist Ruvik, who [[spoiler: winds up as a BrainInAJar trapped within his own mindscape-manipulating [=STEM=] machine, after brutally torturing and killing hundreds of others by connecting them to the same device]]. This helps him resist Ruvik's attempts to invoke [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds sympathy for his past and his plight]].

!Examples

* ''BatmanBegins'':

* In ''LuckyNumberSlevin'', the mobster known as 'The Boss' orders a hit on Yitzchok the Fairy, the son of a rival mobster known as 'The Rabbi', because he suspects the Rabbi of ordering a hit on his own son. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Slevin murders both The Boss and The Rabbi by suffocating them with plastic bags, the same way they killed his father.]]

* Lampshaded on an episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', in which after Kramer's GirlOfTheWeek distracts Jerry while putting on a set for a reporter by laughing really obnoxiously, then heckling him, Jerry goes down to her office and heckles her back, hurting her feelings. Kramer is flabbergasted at Jerry giving her a taste of her own medicine, however, a fellow comedian praises Jerry, and even compares him to Rosa Parks.

* Happens to the Unmerciful Servant in [[Literature/TheBible Matthew 18:21-35]]. The servant has one of his colleagues thrown in jail for failing to repay a small debt. His master, outraged, throws ''him'' in jail, reasoning that if the servant can't show mercy to others, he deserves no mercy himself.

* Used regularly by ''LooneyTunes'' protagonists such as BugsBunny. Perhaps most directly in "Rabbit Fire", after Elmer Fudd spends the whole short hunting Bugs and DaffyDuck, a new poster reveals it is "Elmer Season", with a [[OhCrap very worried Elmer]] evading the two, now with hunting garb and rifles.

** An AlternateUniverse version of Dellyn tortured and killed Forgath and Kin, only to be captured by their comrade, Minmax. Minmax used a crystal ball to teach himself Dellyn's torture techniques, and used them to torture Dellyn to death.

* Garrus from the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series enjoys finding ironic ways to inflict this trope on criminals if the situation presents itself; such as sabotaging an environment suit worn by a saboteur and setting it to suffocate him, and offing a serial killer with a specialist knowledge of viruses by coughing on them. Subverted towards Saleon, a doctor who ran an illegal organ-cloning business; Garrus had a plan to kill him by harvesting his organs, but settles for simply shooting him when they finally meet.

* In ''Night Falls on Sentinel'', an [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe short story]] in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the assassin Jomic describes his signature PressurePoint technique to a potential client. The 'client' in question is actually a knight with a warrant for Jomic's arrest, who subdues Jomic and then decides to use his own pressure points in order to torture him.

* [[http://www.goblinscomic.org/04302013/ This]] ''{{Goblins}}'' strip is a story of an AlternateUniverse in which Dellyn, a TortureTechnician, is tortured to death by Minmax using the same torture techniques that Dellyn had previously used against Forgath and Kin, Minmax's comrades.

* Season 2 of ''{{Hannibal}}'' provides a horrifying example. [[spoiler:After tormenting, murdering, and publicly displaying countless victims, Hannibal gets a taste of his own medicine in ''Mukozuke''. Matthew Brown tortures and nearly kills Hannibal, and had Brown succeeded, Hannibal's corpse would have been on public display. Hannibal is narrowly rescued by Jack and Alana, neither of whom realize that he is a serial killer like his tormentor.]]

* Season 2 of ''{{Hannibal}}'' provides a horrifying example. [[spoiler:After tormenting, murdering, and publicly displaying countless victims, Hannibal gets a taste of his own medicine in ''Mukozuke''. Matthew Brown tortures and nearly kills Hannibal, and had Brown succeeded, Hannibal's corpse would have been on public display.]]

* In the ''Videogame/SaintsRow'' universe, [[MaskedLuchador Luchador Masks]] are considered such SeriousBusiness that a true Luchador would consider being publicly unmasked to be a FateWorseThanDeath. Killbane, one of the antagonists in ''Videogame/SaintsRowTheThird'' was once part of a tag-team with Angel de la Muerte, but got sick of his partner being more popular than him and unmasked him, causing Angel to retire from the ring and become a recluse. When The Boss and Angel take on Killbane during the Murderbrawl event, you're given the option of taking his mask after he's been defeated.

* Lampshaded on an episode of ''{{Seinfeld}}'', in which after Kramer's GirlOfTheWeek distracts Jerry while putting on a set for a reporter by laughing really obnoxiously, then heckling him, Jerry goes down to her office and heckles her back, hurting her feelings. Kramer is flabberghasted at Jerry giving her a taste of her own medicine, however, a fellow comedian praises Jerry, and even compares him to Rosa Parks.

* In ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'' the necromancer Gauldoth is wrongfully accused of being a child-murderer by the citizens of Vitross, and a town guard named Mardor tries to have him [[BurnTheWitch Burned at the Stake]]. Gauldoth flees from Vitross, but returns several months later with an army which he uses to besiege and capture the town. He makes sure Mardor is captured alive during the siege, and has him burned to death.

* Happens to the Unmerciful Servant in [[TheBible Matthew 18:21-35]]. The servant has one of his colleagues thrown in jail for failing to repay a small debt. His master, outraged, throws ''him'' in jail, reasoning that if the servant can't show mercy to others, he deserves no mercy himself.

* In the ''Franchise/SaintsRow'' universe, [[MaskedLuchador Luchador Masks]] are considered such SeriousBusiness that a true Luchador would consider being publicly unmasked to be a FateWorseThanDeath. Killbane, one of the antagonists in ''Videogame/SaintsRowTheThird'' was once part of a tag-team with Angel de la Muerte, but got sick of his partner being more popular than him and unmasked him, causing Angel to retire from the ring and become a recluse. When The Boss and Angel take on Killbane during the Murderbrawl event, you're given the option of taking his mask after he's been defeated.

* In ''LuckyNumberSlevin'', the mobster known only as 'The Boss' orders a hit on Yitzchok the Fairy, the son of a rival mobster known as 'The Rabbi', because he suspects the Rabbi of ordering a hit on his own son.

* In Greek mythology, Theseus encountered a bandit called Sinis who killed travellers by bending two pine trees and tying his victims between hem. Theseus killed Sinis by binding him between his own pine trees. When he met another robber called Sciron who forced travellers to wash his feet and then kicked them over a cliff to be eaten by as monstrous turtle, Theseus fed him to his own turtle. Finally, he met a robber named Procrustes. Procrusted would invite weary travellers to spend the night but would always claim the bed was either too long or too short for his guest. If the bed was too short he would cut the travellers limbs until they fit. If the bed was too long he would stretch his victims limbs till they fit. Theseus cut of his feet and head with his own saw.

* In ''BatmanBegins'', Batman quips 'Taste of your own medicine, Doctor?' as he gives Scarecrow a dose of the same fear-inducing toxin that Scarecrow had previously used to attack both Batman and Rachel.