History MuggingTheMonster / Literature

* ''Literature/TheOneWhoEatsMonsters'': A trio of drug dealers try to roofie and rape one of Ryn's new friends. Ryn is an elder monster from before time, so she quickly teaches them the error of their ways.
-->'''Ryn:''' This was a web-spinner, a human who had played shell games with pills, and snared his prey so gradually she had let him. This one was a monster. Which made him food.

** Three thugs in Shkoder harass Vree, who's an Imperial assassin (unbeknownst to them). She easily beats them all up, and they're lucky she spared their lives.
** Bannon, Vree's brother who's an assassin as well, gets into much the same situation with a brutish man and his two sons who pick a fight. He takes down all three in a trice, with them left having broken bones. Bannon was reminded not to kill the men, or else they likely wouldn't have survived.

* ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'': Three thugs in Shkoder harass Vree, who's an Imperial assassin (unbeknownst to them). She easily beats them all up, and they're lucky she spared their lives.

* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' has a variation; when Louise Kavanagh and her sister first arrive on Earth, [[WelcomeToTheBigCity various criminals try to rob or steal from the naïve offworlders]] only to be discretely eliminated by the agents sent to make sure she gets to her destination without any trouble.

* ''Literature/TheElminsterSeries''

* Given a pointed aversion in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The hobbits are returning home to the Shire, and stop back at the Prancing Pony Inn in Bree. Fellow travellers complain that the roads have become extremely dangerous and bandit-ridden, which confuses the hobbits, who have not been molested in the slightest. Well, no, ''you'' wouldn't be, explain the others -- the hobbits are all armed and armored. No robber in his right mind is going to pick on the group that's attired for war.

* ''Literature/SweetAndBitterMagic'': Tamsin encounters two armed men while with Wren who intend to rop and rape the pair at the very least. She easily deals with both since, though appearing to be just a teenage girl, she's actually a very powerful witch.

* In Creator/DianeDuane's novel ''Literature/SpiderManTheOctopusAgenda'', three punks try to assault ComicBook/{{Venom}}. With switchblades. Yeah, that doesn't go so well for them.

* In Creator/DianeDuane's ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' novel ''The Octopus Agenda'', three punks try to assault ComicBook/{{Venom}}. With switchblades. Yeah, that doesn't go so well for them.

* The first chapter of a novel bridging a film and its sequel has a Somali pirate attempting to plunder a ship with a black pickup truck and a light green emergency-crew Hummer on deck. Oh, did we mention the films this novel was bridging were the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movies? It specifically notes that one man who survived not only quit piracy, but, for the rest of his life, crossed the street whenever he encountered a pickup truck.

** And then played it straight (but as a non-mugging example) in the sequel, ''Literature/TheTamuli''. A character makes a not-quite-audible, but clearly offensive remark about Ehlana, Sparhawk's queen [[spoiler:and also his wife]]. Another character calls for a moment of silence in memory of the loud-mouthed oaf who made the comment; the oaf doesn't get the hint until he's told just exactly who Sparhawk is.

* Played with in ''[[Creator/FredSaberhagen The Holmes-Dracula File]]'' The novel starts when an old man [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be Count Dracula]] is mugged and abducted, with the narrator commenting that the trope would have been played straight if the mugger hadn't used a ''wooden'' club for the TapOnTheHead. The mugger and his employers get away with it at first, despite not knowing who they caught, because the old man has [[EasyAmnesia forgotten who he is]], but after he escapes and recovers his memories, it does not end well for them.

* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' has a variation; when Louise Kavanagh and her sister first arrive on Earth, [[WelcomeToTheCity various criminals try to rob or steal from the naïve offworlders]] only to be discretely eliminated by the agents sent to make sure she gets to her destination without any trouble.

* In the backstory to ''Literature/HereticalEdge'' a group of werewolves and a wendingo decided to attack a girl scout troop. Lead by Sariel Moon, formerly known as Artemis. Sariel slaughtered all the attackers, as might be expected from the retired divine protector of young girls.
** A group of various werecritters decided to have some fun butchering [[{{Muggles}} Bystanders]]. Unfortunately for them the first target they picked happened to be Michael. As in, the inspiration for the Archangel Michael. The minute he decided he had better things to do than mess around with them they died in seconds.
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'': Similarly to the ''{{Literature/Carrie}}'' example above, Akhlys, goddess of misery, underestimated exactly how much misery an exhausted, pissed-off, liquid-surrounded son of Poseidon at the end of his rope could inflict on her. She taunted him one to many times, and he [[HoistByHisOwnPetard turned her poison against her]], [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown choked her with tears and saliva]], and [[EvilGloating even gave a few jabs of his own]].

* In ''Literature/IWantMyHatBack'' the Bear's hat is stolen by a rabbit. [[spoiler:So the bear eats him]].

* The first ''Literature/JackReacher'' novel ''Killing Ground'' essentially uses a slow-burning version of this, as the criminal conspiracy behind events decides to frame a murder they're responsible for on some random drifter who wandered into town that morning who no one will care about or miss and who'll easily be silenced in prison before the matter even comes to court. Unfortunately for them, they discover a bit too late that said random drifter is in fact Reacher, a former military police investigator and all-round built-like-a-brick-shithouse badass, who is not only perfectly capable of clearing his own name but of going after the people who set him up...

** In ''Without Remorse,'' that same former SEAL is much younger and going about his RoaringRampageOfRevenge for his murdered LoveInterest. He is staggering down the street disguised as a wino when a cop grabs him by the shoulder, thinking [[TooDumbToLive he might be the serial crook-killer]] they're looking for. Said cop finds himself pinned face down on the concrete before he can figure out what happened.

* ''Literature/MassEffectRevelation:'' Early on, a panicky new member of the Blue Suns tries pointing a gun at Skar, who is a krogan battlemaster. Your average krogan is much than a human, nigh-immune to bullets, and can heal ridiculously fast, and a battlemaster is a krogan even tougher and nastier than an average krogan. Skar tries telling the kid to stop what he's doing before he dies. The kid does not, turning it into an example of BullyingTheDragon. For added insanity, when the kid gets himself killed, all his buddies decide to try and avenge him, leading to a small slaughter.