History Main / DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1549089834003550400
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* In ''Theatre/{{Alcestis}}'', Herakles (Hercules) visits Admetus, a man famous for his hospitality. Learning that Admetus just lost his wife, he decides to pay his host back by beating up Death, thereby bringing her back to life. Herakles' whole existence revolved around being physically strong enough to ignore physics and punch out whatever he ''damn well pleased''.
** Herakles also beat Ares in a straight-up fight (not that this is impressive; for being the god of war, he's pretty much a sissy), and later on fought Apollo over a temple and managed to stand on even ground with him, and Herakles didn't have anyone backing him up for that fight. He also intimidated Charon into helping him, and almost shot Helios out of the sky until the sun charioteer gave him a boat. This in addition to all the monsters he took out. [[JustifiedTrope It's not surprising, though]]. He was pretty much bred to beat the hell out of things that other mortals couldn't.

* ''Literature/TheGeorgics'': Aristaeus, a mere shepherd, manages to defeat the former LordOfTheOcean simply by wrestling him, even despite the sea god's attempt to escape using all his powers as a VoluntaryShapeshifter.

Then along come a fellowship of plucky heroic badasses, [[AchievementsInIgnorance who were never told that the Abomination is impossible to beat]] (and even if they were told, [[NeverTellMeTheOdds they wouldn't care]]). Through some combination of skill, brains, courage, HeroicSpirit, and occasionally raw world-shattering AwesomenessIsAForce, maybe some kind of incredibly clever strategy, maybe trap, maybe AppliedPhlebotinum and/or sheer dumb luck, or hey, WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer, they go to work and... they ''defeat'' the abomination.

** Herakles also beat Ares in a straight-up fight (not that this is impressive, for being the god of war, he's pretty much a sissy), and later on fought Apollo over a temple and managed to stand on even ground with him, and Herakles didn't have anyone backing him up for that fight. He also intimidated Charon into helping him, and almost shot Helios out of the sky until the sun charioteer gave him a boat. This in addition to all the monsters he took out. [[JustifiedTrope It's not surprising, though]]. He was pretty much bred to beat the hell out of things that other mortals couldn't.

* ''Literature/BloodSword'' has your character or party (a unique feature of the series is using 1 - 4 characters) can fight several and defeat them either in combat or instantly through other means. Among them is an AntiMagic LivingShadow that's a faded demigod. There's also the Umbral Shadow, a being of primordial darkness conjured by sigils and it's so powerful that it will automatically mutilate your character(s) with impunity unless you splash out the sigils with milk or one of your characters carries a unique magic sword associated with death. The most terrible are a trio of monstrous{{Tulpa}} summoned from the Qlipothic realms and[[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve powered by lingering belief]] in ancient pseudo-Babylonian mythology. These 3 together are almost impossible to beat by raw numbers (the Enchanter's Servile Enthrallment spell does work on 2 of them) and that's why there's an option to run.

** Averted in ''Literature/TalismanOfDeath'' which is set on Orb from ''Literature/WayOfTheTiger'', you can have the misfortune of encountering Damohl, a son of the god Nil, Mouth of the Void. This serpentine chimeric abomination is immune to anything you have and will automatically kill you.

* ''Literature/BloodSword'' has your character or party (a unique feature of the series is using 1 - 4 characters) can fight several and defeat them either in combat or instantly through other means. Among them is an AntiMagic LivingShadow that's a faded demigod. There's also a being of primordial darkness conjured by sigils and it's so powerful that it will automatically mutilate your character(s) unless you splash out the sigils with milk or one of your characters carries a unique magic sword associated with death. The most terrible are a trio of monstrous{{Tulpa}} summoned from the Qlipothic realms and based on ancient pseudo-Babylonian mythology. These 3 together are almost impossible to beat by raw numbers (the Enchanter's Servile Enthrallment spell does work on 2 of them) and that's why there's an option to run.

** Averted in ''Literature/TalismanOfDeath'' which is set on Orb from ''Literature/WayOfTheTiger'', you can have the misfortune of encountering a son of the god Nil, Mouth of the Void. This serpentine chimeric abomination is immune to anything you have and will automatically kill you.

* Literature/TheBible:
** In the Literature/BookOfGenesis, Jacob wrestled with an angel. After a long stalemate, his opponent realized that [[TheDeterminator he would not give up]] and touched Jacob's hip, dislocating it. For this, Jacob gains the new name "Israel" ("Struggled/Persevered-With-God") as a reward for his stubbornness. Also, because of the way in which the angel defeated Jacob, observant Jews do not eat the sciatic nerve. Since the sciatic nerve is remarkably difficult to remove, most Jews simply did not eat the hindquarters of the animal, selling it to their Gentile neighbors instead.
* In ''Literature/TheIliad'', Diomedes goes on a god-stabbing rampage with the help of Athena. First he slashes Aphrodite when she tries to spirit away Aeneas. Feeling his oats, he attacks Apollo two times, but Apollo blinds Diomedes temporarily to save Aeneas (Aphrodite's demigod son). So essentially Apollo just throws a flash grenade at him, takes the guy, and runs. When Apollo and Aphrodite return to Olympus complaining about Diomedes, Ares descends on the battlefield on a mission. Athena leads Diomedes towards the god of war and guides his spear cast to take him directly in the gut. Ares screams and flees the field. Diomedes thus becomes the only mortal to wound two gods in a single day.

And then along come a fellowship of plucky heroic badasses, [[AchievementsInIgnorance who were never told that the Abomination is impossible to beat]] (and even if they were told, [[NeverTellMeTheOdds they wouldn't care]]). Through some combination of skill, brains, courage, HeroicSpirit, and occasionally raw world-shattering AwesomenessIsAForce, maybe some kind of incredibly clever strategy, maybe trap, maybe AppliedPhlebotinum and/or sheer dumb luck, or hey, WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer, they go to work and... they ''defeat'' the abomination.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu/FanFic

[[caption-width-right:300:"Shapeshifting master of darkness?" Pfft. Pull yourself together.]]

** Herakles also beat Ares in a straight-up fight (not that this is impressive, for being the god of war he's pretty much a sissy), and later on fought Apollo over a temple and managed to stand on even ground with him, and Herakles didn't have anyone backing him up for that fight. He also intimidated Charon into helping him and almost shot Helios out of the sky until the sun charioteer gave him a boat. This in addition to all the monsters he took out. [[JustifiedTrope It's not surprising, though]]; he was pretty much bred to beat the hell out of things that other mortals couldn't.
* ''The Northern Frog''. The {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le titular beast is speared through the mouth, chained down, then has its head bashed in with a rock. With the help of the invisibility-giving Ring of Solomon.

Users of this trope are usually also users of some combination of the following tropes: CuttingTheKnot, RageAgainstTheHeavens, PowerCreepPowerSeep, StrongAsTheyNeedToBe, NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, GodsHandsAreTied, DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu, DidYouJustScamCthulhu, StaringDownCthulhu, WowingCthulhu, ReasoningWithGod, AlwaysABiggerFish, DefeatingTheUndefeatable, SummonBiggerFish (the latter two are when it's essentially a real god, like Thor or Zeus, doing the punching out), TheWorfEffect, LovecraftLite. Overlaps with KillTheGod when the punch is fatal and a god per se is the victim.

** In the Literature/BookOfRevelation, The Guy Upstairs (God) puts Satan into the lake of fire for his immense amount of evil after Satan is of no longer any use for the plan of judgment and salvation at the end of the world.

User of this trope are usually user of following tropes : CuttingTheKnot, RageAgainstTheHeavens, PowerCreepPowerSeep, StrongAsTheyNeedToBe, NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, GodsHandsAreTied, DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu, DidYouJustScamCthulhu, StaringDownCthulhu, WowingCthulhu, ReasoningWithGod, AlwaysABiggerFish, DefeatingTheUndefeatable, SummonBiggerFish (the latter two are when it's essentially a real god, like Thor or Zeus, doing the punching out), TheWorfEffect, LovecraftLite. Overlaps with KillTheGod when the punch is fatal and a god per se is the victim.

Compare CuttingTheKnot, RageAgainstTheHeavens, PowerCreepPowerSeep, StrongAsTheyNeedToBe, NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, GodsHandsAreTied, DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu, DidYouJustScamCthulhu, StaringDownCthulhu, WowingCthulhu, ReasoningWithGod, AlwaysABiggerFish, DefeatingTheUndefeatable, SummonBiggerFish (the latter two are when it's essentially a real god, like Thor or Zeus, doing the punching out), TheWorfEffect, LovecraftLite. Overlaps with KillTheGod when the punch is fatal and a god per se is the victim.

In short, you just [[KillTheGod killed a god]]. Not a {{Mook|s}}, not an {{Elite Mook|s}}, not TheDragon... '''''A {{GOD}}!''''' Anything high enough on the SuperWeight scale that makes them comparable to a deity (where 'Hyper Weight: 4' is the low end of the scale and Authority Weight 7 if they defeat their Authors ). See [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperWeight Authority Weight for their Highest Level they ever could Archieve]].

In short, you just [[KillTheGod killed a god]]. Not a {{Mook|s}}, not an {{Elite Mook|s}}, not TheDragon... '''''A {{GOD}}!''''' Anything high enough on the SuperWeight scale that makes them comparable to a deity (where 'Hyper Weight: 4' is the low end of the scale).

** In the Literature/BookOfJudges, the men of the plains defeat the men of Judah in battle despite the latter being supported by God Himself. Those iron chariots are pretty dangerous, eh?

** In the Literature/BookOfRevelation, The Guy Upstairs (God) puts Satan into the lake of fire for his [[CompleteMonster immense amount of evil]] after Satan is of no longer any use for the plan of judgment and salvation at the end of the world.

** Hell, this the reaction of announcers any time someone manages to beat The Undertaker period. The best example probably has to be when The Great Khali did it, because the announcers' reactions for the next five minutes was them basically shouting at the top of their lungs, "WTF? HOW THE SHIT DID HE MANAGE TO PULL THIS OFF?"

* In Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}}'s PPV debut, at ''Wrestling/RoyalRumble 2006'', defeated Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield in a mere '''1:56'''. [=JBL=] ''acknowledged'' this after, talking about how he had been so dominant as [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Champion]], and Boogeyman just beat him with ease. JBL even ''called'' himself "A Wrestling GOD," thus making the trope even more relevant.

* Well, Wrestling/ThreePoint0 ("Big Magic" Shane Matthews and Scott "Jagged" Parker) came close. At ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} Eye to Eye'', September 18, 2010, they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5q18ZDJbI challenged]] Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Ares and Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli) for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-t.html Campeonatos de Parejas]]. The BDK won the first fall in five seconds due to [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] attacking before the bell. During the second fall, Jagged ducked a kick from Claudio, causing him to hit Ares, and rolled Claudio up for the pin. That was the first time the BDK had ever lost a fall in a [=CdP=] match. Along with Wrestling/{{Frightmare}} defeating Lince Dorado in the final of the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/pa/e/chikara/chikara-yl.html Young Lions Cup]] Tournament on August 29th, this was a sign that the BDK were not invincible.

* At the unsanctioned ''Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH A Night Of Hoopla'', Wrestling/TruthMartini's guest, "{{Satan}}", was punched low and dropped on his head by Hoopla Hotties Scarlett Bordeaux and Seleziya Sparx for being too rude.

* At the unsanctioned ''Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH A Night Of Hoopla'', Truth Martini's guest, "{{Satan}}", was punched low and dropped on his head by Hoopla Hotties Scarlett Bordeaux and Seleziya Sparx for being too rude.