History Main / BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu

** And then after you [[spoiler:manage to detonate a nuclear bomb in the middle of a Chimera fleet, ''[[AndThenJohnWasAZombie you become a Chimera too]]'']], [[ShootTheShaggyDog making the hero's actions mostly pointless]]. Although there is apparently [[SequelHook another sequel upcoming]].

*** The Chimera have already won. You were our only hope.

* In ''TheSilmarillion'', when Fingolfin sees all his army defeated, he rides to the very gates of Angband to defy Morgoth himself, inflicting several wounds to him. It doesn't end well.

* In ''{{Call of Cthulhu}}'', it's possible (if your investigators are insanely brilliant and cunning) to hit Cthulhu with a nuclear weapon. The game has rules for what happens when you do this. What are the rules? Cthulhu reappears a few days later... but now he's radioactive.

** Another NonStandardGameOver can be invoked if you defeat [[spoiler: Laharl]] before you're supposed to, because he [[spoiler: throws a superpowered temper tantrum and destroys all of existance]].

'''[[spoiler:[[FanNickname Lexiac]]]]:''' Hardly. Look around you -- the Justice League is completely defeated, and so are you. For all your efforts, you have but inconvenienced me, '''speck'''. But I'm still ''just'' human enough... to enjoy taking my revenge. *DramaticGunCock*

# Find out that he was the sanest of the bunch; without him, the [[EvilPowerVacuum smaller fry are now beating up one another and the brawl takes out the world since there is no one to lead them]].

'''[[spoiler:[[FanNickname Lexiac]]]]:''' Hardly. Look around you -- the Justice League is completely defeated, and so are you. For all your efforts, you have but inconvenienced me, '''speck'''. But I'm still ''just'' human enough... to enjoy taking my revenge. * DramaticGunCock*
--->-- ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited -- Divided We Fall''

Okay, so you've just gotten into a brawl with your local EldritchAbomination, just after you deliver the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Knockout Punch]] against him. Apparently as a final "screw you", something bad happens to you, or the world you live in, in such a way there is almost no way to solve that problem that will be done without sacrifice.

This trope is called upon as a way of showing the true futility of trying to stop the physical or literal manifestation of an all powerful being. It really doesn't matter if you have powerful mythical weapons or giant galaxy destroying guns; the physical form of him is irrelevant to his powers to utterly smack you aside with a nod. It just can't really be done. {{Eldritch Abomination}}s such as the namer of the trope himself do not feel much pain from being punched out, since all you did was merely [[FightingAShadow destroy his physical manifestation]], and punching him out will only delay your demise as you:

# Actually ''did'' defeat him, but only at the cost of [[PyrrhicVictory almost everything you were trying to save]].
# Actually ''did'' defeat him, but have drawn the attention of even ''worse'' things that [[AvengingTheVillain want revenge on you]].

# Turns out he was the sanest of the bunch, without him, the [[EvilPowerVacuum smaller fry are now beating up one another and the brawl takes out the world since there is no one to lead them]].

This trope can also extend to normal all-powerful organizations, or an alien race where it is only a temporary victory and the next battle can be for sure a total defeat. For endings related to trope, either 1) [[BittersweetEnding A close call]], or 2) [[DownerEnding all for naught]]!

* in the first Pokemon Movie, Ash pulls a Shut Up Hannibal, and proceeds to try to punch Mewtwo out. It fails, miserably.[[spoiler: he dies on the third try to stop MewTwo.]]

* ''{{Dragonball Z}}'' does this roughly every time it turns around. One moment which comes to mind is when Goku uses his Kamehameha at Kaioken x4! and sends Vegeta flying into the stratosphere. Then Yajirobe gives Goku a light congratulatory slap on the back, and Goku screams in pain due to the HeroicRROD brought about by the Kaioken. Vegeta falls to earth, hurt but not nearly as badly as Goku is, and just transforms...
** Note that Goku uses the Kaioken x4 because he's in a BeamOWar with Vegeta. He was on the ground, Vegeta was in the air. Meaning that if he hadn't overpowered Vegeta's beam, [[EarthShatteringKaboom the entire planet would've been destroyed]].

# You did defeat him, but an even ''worse'' enemy was watching, and [[AvengingTheVillain now he wants revenge!]] OhCrap!

** The ''original'' ''{{Call of Cthulhu}}'' had the titular Thing punched out with a yacht. It doesn't last, however, since Cthulhu/Ktulu/Ctulu/Ctulu/etc merely gets trapped in R'lyeh, but is still very much alive, having reformed soon after getting punched out. Plus, it's hinted that Cthulhu's cultists kill the guy afterward, and he's in utterly no mental shape for another battle with the Thing.

# Stop him for now; when he wakes up, he is going to be pissed
# Find out your punch didn't even graze him
# Have a broken arm, so when he wakes up, you will be screwed

# You did defeat him, but Dracula was watching, and now he wants revenge!
#Killed his weak form, [[OneWingedAngel then he transforms...]]
#[[XanatosGambit Set off his back up plan]]- can be anything from a child with a water squirter to a boomb to the awakening of a giant demon.
# Turns out he was the sanest of the bunch, without him, the smaller fry are now beating up one another and the brawl takes out the world since there is no one to lead them

** The ''original'' ''{{Call of Cthulhu}}'' had the titular thing punched out with a yacht. It doesn't last, however, since Cthulhu/Ktulu/Ctulu/Ctulu/etc merely gets trapped in R'lyeh, but is still very much alive, content to wait until ol Howard (or another author) revives him. Plus, it's hinted that Cthulhu's cultist kill him afterward.

* A literal case in the first book of [[JohnCWright War of the Dreaming]]: Peter Waylock attempts to use Thor's hammer against an enemy sorcerer, and ends up breaking both his arms--not good, considering he also can't walk.

#Set off his back up plan- can be anything from a child with a water squirter to a boomb to the awakening of a giant demon.

* The 1998 film ''{{Fallen}}'' is about the spirit of a serial killer that can leap from one body to another instantaneously. It ends with [[spoiler:the lead character leading it into the middle of the woods, then poisoning himself before shooting the spirit's current host. Cut to a nearby ''cat'', and the narration picks up again:]] "Oh! You forgot something, didn't you? Back at the start, I said I was going to tell you about the time I ''almost'' died. [chuckles] Be seeing you."
** It wasn't the spirit of anyone, it was an actual Demon from Hell, it's just the first time we meet it it's possessing said serial killer, and is implied to be the reason he became one in the first place.

#Killed his weak form, then he transforms...

** In the films he says, "I am the Senate." (I heard that and thought, "Je suis l'etate.") The man is full of himself. George Lucas or someone did reportedly describe him as a black hole in force, though, I think....

'''[[spoiler:[[FanNickname Lexiac]]]]:''' Hardly. Look around you -- the Justice League is completely defeated, and so are you. For all your efforts, you have but inconvenienced me, '''speck'''. But I'm still ''just'' human enough...to enjoy taking my revenge. *DramaticGunCock*

* Arguably the ''SailorMoon'' Manga ends this way. [[spoiler:Eternal Sailor Moon does a HeroicSacrifice to prevent the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Chaos from rising. After [[IGotBetter she gets better]], we're told that Chaos was not completely destroyed. Sailor Cosmos confirms that Chaos will be reborn as a Sailor Senshi itself, and that it will instigate a huge cosmic war that will tear the galaxy apart and that the damage and sacrifice necessary to destroy it will ''be just as bad as losing the war''. While Cosmos [[OurTimeTravelIsDifferent traveled to the past]] to prevent its rebirth, she realized that Chaos' rise was inevitable and that there WAS no [[TakeAThirdOption Third Option]].]] Oddly the characters don't seem to perturbed by the bleak future that awaits them, preferring to enjoy their happy present lives [[spoiler:taking comfort that life will always go on even if the galaxy is destroyed by war.]] SoYeah...