Mugging the Monster: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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== Urban Legends ==
* Speaking of pirates, as late as 1630 there were two recorded viliages in England that had the skin of a captured raider ''nailed to their church door''.
** At least one of those villages wouldn't actually count as this trope since a few years ago someone decided to run some tests on a fragment that had survived around one of the nail and found that it was actually de-haired calf skin. It was probably nailed to the door and the rumour spread around as a form of psychological warfare against potential raiders.
* [http://www.paulhager.org/why004.htm Paul Hager], a pro-gun Libertarian from Indiana related this anecdote:
{{quote|The most interesting -- or bizarre, take your pick -- story was told by an acquaintance with whom I took a defensive pistol course. Late one evening he got onto an elevator in a parking garage to go to his car. A man who had been waiting in the shadows quickly got on the elevator behind him. Just as soon as the doors closed, the man pulled a knife. Before the man had time to say anything, my acquaintance pulled his own pistol. There ensued the proverbial pregnant pause. The man then said, "Do you want to buy a knife?" A moment later, [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment|with nothing else being said]], the doors opened and the man got off.}}
* There is also a famous story under Aikikai (practitioners of Aikido) that one of Osensei's original students was nearly robbed in the Paris subway... emphasis on the "nearly." Imagine a seventy-something year old Japanese sitting alone in the subway, when three would-be muggers showed up with knifes, demanding his money. Then imagine the old frail man simply snapping their wrists in precise, efficent motions.
* The U.S. military holds very large areas of desert in the southwest that are used for training exercises. The areas are bigger than they really need, so some parts are used rarely. Meth labs sometimes move in. And fight small-scale gang wars. Until they accidentally fire on real soldiers, and then they learn about things like indirect mortar fire, and air support.
* Ever wonder why you so seldom hear about Russian diplomats being kidnapped? According to tales it is because when that happens, the Russians simply abduct terrorists, their relations, or both - and start mailing ''fingers'' to the terrorists who claim responsibility. [[Mother Russia Makes You Strong|You do not want to mess with Mother Russia]]. [[You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry|You wouldn't like her when she's angry]].

== Video Games ==
* Several [[RPG]]s feature highwaymen (or similar) as an encounter/enemy. Once you get powerful enough, they start following this trope.
** Who would attempt to rob a group of travelers consisting of a [[Badass|huge, scarred man]], an [[Knight Templar|animated suit of armor carrying a huge axe]], a [[Magic Knight]] with an [[Empathic Weapon]], a street savvy [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-demonic]] [[Action Girl]], a [[Horny Devil|succubus]], a [[Power Floats|floating]] and [[Incendiary Exponent|constantly alight]] [[Ax Crazy]] mage, a rogue from a [[Mecha-Mooks|robotic]] [[Hive Mind]], [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and a wisecracking floating skull]]? If ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' is to be believed, every thug in the goddamn [[Wretched Hive|Hive]].
** Keep in mind, this is ''Sigil''. Those thugs have probably seen worse by just living there a year, and it's not like most of you wear any equipment that mark you out as particularly dangerous. Well, at least not early on.
** That does ''not,'' however, excuse the idiots who mug you in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]].'' You have to make an Intimidate skill check to tell them to try their luck with someone who ''hasn't'' bathed his blade in the blood of a thousand Githyanki and a few dragons.
* In ''[[Elder Scrolls|Oblivion]]'', merely being the Hero of Kvatch, Archmage of the Mage's Guild, Guildmaster of the Fighter's Guild, Champion of the Arena, the Divine Crusader, Champion of Cyrodiil and, (in the expansion) {{spoiler|Sheogorath's heir, the new God of Madness}}, isn't enough to make highway robbers leave you alone.
** It could be a bit of a subversion: thanks to the feature that makes the enemies level up with you, bandits can still be quite tough for a while (although most [[NPC]]s have their levels capped, so at higher levels this trope is still in effect).
** Though the robbers get downright silly at high levels. They always ask for 100 gold, no matter when it is that you face them. At low levels, this can be a burden to pay. At higher levels, 100 gold is practically spare change. Plus, since the robber's equipment levels with you, the people demanding one hundred gold are wearing glass armor that's worth thousands.
** In ''[[Skyrim]]'', you can actually respond to a random highwayman ambush by telling the moronic robber that "I don't have time for this" and walk away.
*** Or intimidating them into letting you go. Or pointing out that you run the Thieves' guild...
* Random brigands attack all through ''[[Baldur's Gate]] I and II'', despite the fact that you're equipped with [[Power Glows|glowing weaponry]], armor made from dragonscales, and frequently ''outnumber them.''
** They finally get wise in the ''Throne of Bhaal'' expansion, when the closest thing to random bandit encounters is when a group of vampires lure you in, then realize who you really are, and their leader gives a [[Rousing Speech]] that includes something about her and her allies being mercilessly slaughtered.
*** Also, while in Saradush you can make thugs and ruffians [[Oh Crap|piss their pants]] by announcing that {{spoiler|you are a Bhaalspawn}}.
** In ''Baldur's Gate II'' you will occasionaly encounter thugs while moving around in the city, who will try to kill and mug you. If you are strong and well-known enough, the thugs will have half the brain to say "It's [[Hello, Insert Name Here|CHARNAME]], run for your lives!!!"
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' has serial killer Eddie Low have much hype about being a terror in Liberty City (he's killed a dozen people, most either unsuspecting joggers or hitchhikers). The optional encounters with him ends with his trying to kill Niko, who [[The Yugoslav Wars|fought in the Balkans]] and is now a freelance "problem solver" (read:he's killed a few hundred people, ''at least'', most of which include armed thugs and police). It's pretty obvious how this one turns out.
* Somewhat averted in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'': The range from which NPCs attack you depends on the level difference between the attacker and the "victim". With enough levels, players practically have to walk into enemies to get them to attack. The mechanic also works the other way around, creating a powerful incentive for low-level characters to stay away from high-level areas.
** Similar rules in ''[[City of Heroes]]'', where an opponent of sufficiently low comparative level will simply pretend you aren't there unless you attack them first. (Presumably your heroic reputation precedes you and they're thinking "Oh shit, it's Hyperman; please don't see me mugging the old lady, PLEASE don't see me...")
*** Although in some cases a player would be ambushed by mooks following certain missions, who would follow the player until defeated or left behind by zoning. Usually at a player-appropriate level. Sometimes...not so much. Leading to scenes involving a group of high level (30+) characters standing around as their players chat, surrounded by mooks of level 1 attacking them relentlessly and futily.
** And in ''[[Fusion Fall]]'', where the difference in level between you and a monster directly relates to the range at which they will become agressive. Naturally, if a monster is ten levels tougher than you are, he'll chase you down and grind you into paste, but won't so much as notice you if the reverse is true.
* ''[[The Darkness]]'' has a hilarious example. Whilst walking relatively peaceful streets of New York City, the player, a mafia hitman turned world killing god of darkness with [[Combat Tentacles]] and worse, can be attacked by a simple mugger. The results are... [[Too Dumb to Live|predictable.]]
* ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War|Deus Ex Invisible War]]'' has this at the very beginning. You encounter a group of thugs who then threaten you into handing over some money. You are an augmented super agent, armed with at least a few guns. Leads to one of the best lines in the game. "You picked the wrong person to mug, punk."
** There is another part later on that might count as this. You need to buy tickets to gain access to the laser guarded WTO HQ. The main ticket seller has been killed and replaced with a thug who grossly overcharges. You can [[Air Vent Passageway|sneak in through a vent]], kill all the thugs, and press the button to deactivate the lasers yourself.
* Whenever you have to backtrack far in ''[[Pokémon]]'', the wild mons hit this. "Oh my, a Level 5 Caterpie. Do your thing, Level 62 Charizard."
** Also, grinding early on makes for funny situations. You can also skip some early trainers, who then say that you look pretty easy and challenge you, only to find that you have a team of Level 100's.
*** In Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the first Pokémon in yout party follows you around on the overworld, outside of its Pokéball. This trope approaches Too Dumb To Live levels when Youngster Joey decides to take on you and your [[Olympus Mons]].
* ''[[Fallout 2]]'' averts this with the New Reno crime families. If you are a made man of a family the other families will attack you on sight - unless you are wearing a [[Powered Armor|Power Armor]], in which case they will treat you with respectful politeness.
** ''[[Fallout 3]]'' plays it straight, though. No matter how well armed, armored, and guarded by followers you may be, Talon Company or the Regulators (or both if you've been both good and evil) will not hesitate to attack you if you fast travel in certain locations. May be somewhat justified in that they are hired guns. Played even straighter with one of the [[Random Encounters]], which features what has to be the most suicidal mugger in the entire freaking universe. He will try to rob you with a shotgun ''that isn't loaded''. Although finding this guy early in the game would have made sense, being a random encounter means you're far more likely to find him when you've already beaten half the game. You have the choice of either turning him into hamburger or telling him to jog on, and you can even point out that his gun isn't loaded. Seriously, by the end of the game, any time pretty much anyone short of Enclave troops or Super Mutants attacks you would count as this.
** ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' takes this a step further with the Freeside Thugs. When you first show up, you are attacked by 2 or 3 unarmored and unwashed thugs armed only with pool cues. They pose very little threat even at low levels, yet they will attack the Power Armored wearing bad ass with an Avenger Minigun, followed by a Nightkin Super Mutant with a BFS and heavily modified Eyebot. They last roughly the amount of time it takes for you to decide which of the numerous means of killing them you feel like using at that moment in time.
*** The first mission for the Kings, with the bodyguard who runs scams on tourists, is even worse. The mission involves hiring the bodyguard to protect your 'tourist' selves for a trip through Freeside. For some reason the guy wearing a metal armor vest and armed with a hunting revolver will still believe that you're harmless tourists needing his protection to make it across Freeside alive even if you're, oh, two women wearing Brotherhood of Steel power armor and carrying Gatling lasers, backed up by an Enclave-issue war robot.
* Early in ''[[Return to Krondor]]'', two random muggers attempt to rob legendary thief Jimmy the Hand—who in fact scolds them for not recognizing a dangerous mark when they see one, yet they try it anyway.
* Early in ''[[Dragon Age|Dragon Age: Origins]]'', you come across some bandits trying to extort "tolls" from refugees. When they try to pull this on your group (typically at that point consisting of a mage, a mage-hunter, a war dog and whatever the player character rolled as) one of your possible responses is basically "[[You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!|Are you serious?]] [[Lampshade Hanging|Look at us!]]"
** You can actually turn the situation on its head, and demand that the bandits pay up.
** You can, alternately, reveal to them that you're a Grey Warden. The Grey Wardens are, by the by, wanted for treason and apparently murdering the king, which you can point out to the bandits, at which point the leader will immediately crap himself, stand aside and bid you a good day and to "continue on with your king-killing ways."
** And, if you're playing a mage, you can make this known to them. Cue the whimpers of "[[Baleful Polymorph|I don't wanna be a toad!]]"
** Much later on in ''Dragon Age'', when you've leveled up a lot more and your personal reputation has been well established, you can talk to a city guardsman named Sgt. Kylon in Denerim. Although there's still a bounty on your head for your supposed treason, he explains that he has no interest in attempting to arrest you. "If I asked my men to apprehend you, they'd all run and cry big, sobby tears in their courtesan's bosoms and leave me all alone to be skewered." You can then discuss collecting bounties on bandits. He asks you incredulously: "And people actually voluntarily attack you? Are they just stupid?" Finally, one of the side quests he can give you involves roughing up a local criminal organization. "I said beat down, not kill. Let me make that really clear. Not on fire, or exploded, or Maker knows whatever type of grisly death you can dream up... Sorry, used to giving orders to my boys."
** If you imported your Fereldan Warden in ''Awakening'', any non-Darkspawn trying to kill you will pretty much be trying this out, especially {{spoiler|Bann Esmerelle and her lackeys}}. From before the start of the expansion, half the nation of Ferelden led by a hero, the Antivan Crows, (a faction of) the Blackstone Irregulars, some Orlesian assassins, a dragon-worshipping cult (and their dragon), the Witch of the Wilds, some Tevinter smugglers, a forest full of werewolves, a dwarven political faction, some maleficars, some golems, some demons and Maker only knows what else have ''all'' tried to kill you and ''all'' have failed. This isn't counting the countless darkspawn that all but died by your hand, and the archdemon itself, and some ass-headed jokers from Amaranthine think they could do any better?
*** While going as an Orlesian Warden means you have no such accomplishments under your belt, the conspirators and everyone else are forgetting something: (1) you're a Grey Warden and (2) you're Orlesian. Orlais is known for its [[Deadly Decadent Court]], where assassinations, conspiracies and backstabbings are the order of the day, alongside some fancy new shoes and a cleavage enhancing dress, if we're to take Leliana's word, and you could strike back at your enemies like an Orlesian (like by taking people hostage). And being a Grey Warden is never something to take lightly, as there ''is'' a reason you were made one. And putting those aside, your first feat in Vigil's Keep is to near-singlehandedly take it back from the darkspawn, where everyone else was pretty much getting slaughtered until you pulled their bacon out of the fire.
** And in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', if you wander around Kirkwall at night, you are routinely set on by muggers from various gangs. Sort of makes sense when you're a penniless refugee, less so when you're the champion of Kirkwall having singlehandedly dealt with dozens of threats to the city, and even less so near the end of the game when you are so ridiculously powerful that the local Knight Commander treats you with kid gloves.
*** Noteable for being able to actually wipe out all the criminal gangs, essentially ending the problem completely.
*** It actually sort of makes sense as the game progresses; in the first act, they're just standard bandits. But by the third act, the gangs have been replaced by brainwashed cults and slaver bands led by demons and blood mages.
** The DLC ''Mark of the Assassin'' has [[French Jerk|Baron Arlange]] foolishly attempt to murder Hawke for being the first person to kill a Wyvern, when Arlange had bribed the competition so that [[Dirty Coward|he would be the winner.]] Lampshaded as ''everyone'' points out how idiotic this move is and warn him that he is nothing in comparison to the Wyvern ''you just killed'', particularly if Hawke at this point is The Champion.
*** If you show mercy and let him leave with his tail between his legs, he later attempts to murder you ''[[Ungrateful Bastard|again]]''... [[Curb Stomp Battle|which is more funny than aggravating, since you've been leveling up so much faster than him]].
* In ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' randomly encoutered enemies may cower in fear and flee when they realize that their intended target is the legendary mercenary who is said to slaughter whole camps and maim opponents just for laughs. Provided your reputation is high, of course.
* An unintentional version used to happen in ''[[City of Heroes]]''. Certain missions would spawn an ambush waiting for the players when they exited the mission. What was supposed to happen is that the spawned mob would be at the appropriate level for the characters. On rare occasions, however, the ambush would be composed of critters of a rather lower level than the player(s). Like Level 1. Even if the player or group was level 50.
** This bug was in or around Issue 5. All ambushes would spawn at the minimum level available for that group (Council - Level 1, Circle of Thorns, level 5). This also lead to an unintentional spoiler for anyone who hadn't completed the level 35-40 Rikti story arc if they got an ambush, as the game would through level 5 {{spoiler|Lost}} at them.
* Notably averted in ''[[EarthBound]]'', where enemies will actually run away from you instead of engaging you in combat if you're powerful enough.
* In ''[[Splinter Cell]]: Conviction'', there is a flashback to 20 years ago when three of the world's unluckiest home invaders try to rob Sam Fisher's house. This flashback also serves as the [[Justified Tutorial|tutorial to the "Mark and Execute" ability]].
* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Redemption]]'' this is how, after spending a thousand years asleep, your character gets his modern day clothes. He was lucky enough to be targetted by a mugger of similar size to him.
** There's also an amusing encounter in the Middle Ages: as you get ready to storm the Big Bad's castle you are ambushed by three generic mooks, the leader of which snarls that he's going to avenge the True Deaths of more or less all of the ancient and powerful vampires you've defeated so far. As he's done enumerating them (which takes some time), his cronie wonders aloud if this is such a good idea after all...
* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' includes a similar scene much later with an unofficial patch: the PC gets mugged by a member of the local gang in Chinatown down a dark alleyway, with no witnesses... One dialogue option is to Dominate him into giving ''you'' all of ''his'' money. Otherwise, he makes a good snack.
* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' [[Badass|Geralt of Rivia]] is lured into an abandoned house by a thug who attempts to ambush him with a small pack of friends. Right before he butchers them all, Geralt [[Lampshade Hanging|points out that it was pretty stupid of them to pull that scheme on a Witcher.]]
* The first groupings of mooks you fight in ''[[Tales of Eternia]]'' tend to be bandits and rogue mages. Why they choose to mug a kid carrying a two-foot long bowie knife and a buckler and his buddy who clearly knows several forms of karate is a mystery.
* The list of people who threaten [[Player Character|Commander]] [[Badass|Shepard]] and crew and are obliterated shortly thereafter in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' could fill a short book. In the first game, it's excusable, as Shepard doesn't have much of a reputation outside of the Alliance. In the second game, after Shepard saved the Citadel and killed Sovereign, opposing him/her in any way is probably grounds for a [[Darwin Awards]].
** [[Eldritch Abomination|The Reapers]] are justified being [[Nigh Invulnerability|ridiculously powerful]], [[Eldritch Abomination|Cthulhu-esque]] ships of extinction. Others, not so much. The best example of this in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' has to be Warden Kuril of Purgatory. When Shepard goes to pick up and recruit Jack, not only does he refuse to release Jack into Shepard's custody, he attempts to capture him/her, hold him/her for ransom for the Illusive Man or sell the Commander to the highest bidder on the black market as a slave. Can you say [[Too Dumb to Live]]?
** Lampshaded by Doctor Chakwas saying the Commander "doesn't have many enemies, alive ones anyway"
*** Garrus does it again if you pick the Renegade options when recruiting Jack:
{{quote|'''Shepard''': I'm offering you the chance to be my friend. You don't want to be my enemy.
'''Garrus''': They have a way of dying. }}
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', there are [[Random Encounters|randomly encountered]] robbers who attack Ezio Auditore because he looks like a rich nobleman (which he essentially is, to be honest) and an easy mark (which he is hilariously '''''not'''''). This sometimes occurs even when he's on horseback, in which case he could just ride away... but him getting off of his horse only gives him more varied ways to butcher them. Worse yet for them, they somehow all have various baubles, trinkets and items he could make use of...
** It only gets worse for the poor sods when Ezio starts recruiting Assassin apprentices, and as a result can wipe out the entire ambush party with a wave of his hand and a flurry of Hidden Blades or [[Rain of Arrows|a storm of unseen arrows]]. (According to the community manager the apprentices are actually tailing Ezio discreetly, so they're actually ambushing the would-be ambushers.)
** It's implied by the Thief Assignments (or rather that completing them all causes the attacks to cease) that the robbers are from the Cento Occhi ("Hundred Eyes") gang in [[Big Bad|Cesare Borgia]]'s employ, though none of them seem to recognize Ezio as an Assassin despite him (and his apprentices) being the only one(s) in Rome to "show their colors."
* In ''[[Mount & Blade]]'', several of the unaffiliated wandering parties (read, bandits) can and will do this. The game seems to only read party size and occasionally the quality of troops in said party as the trigger for whether the bandits will pursue or flee from the player. This can lead to situations where Looters (the weakest NPC in the game, even below the much-abused peasant farmers and villagers), [[Suicidal Overconfidence|will attempt to pursue a lone player]] whose weapon alone is worth more than the belongings of the entire Looter party combined wearing armor that ignores an overwhelming percentage of the damage done by the Looters' bottom-tier weapons. Seriously. A handful of stones and a stick versus a guy in plate armor carrying a [[BFS|Sword of War]]. You might almost pity those Looters.
* Occurs in the advertisement for ''[[Hybrid Heaven]]''. The first page shows a little old lady about to be mugged. The next page shows the lady walking away from the mugger's remains.
* Happens quite often in [[Red Dead Redemption]]. Even when people recognise Marston in the streets and his name is considered synonymous with badassery, people still love trying to mug him.
* A frequent occurence in [[Pokémon]] games is for the enemy [[Mooks]] to demand your Pokemon if they win. Depending on how well you've trained and what Pokemon you have, this trope might apply more in some cases than others, but often their dialog consists of whining about how you were far stronger than they thought you'd be.
* In [[Knights of the Old Republic]] a trio of Rodian punks start hassling the bounty hunter Calo Nord, who calmly tells them to go away and begins counting to three when they don't. Calo then blasts them all in under fives seconds and warns you to go away if you bother him as well.
* In ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'', it's justified since the various bandit gangs in Amalur have no way of knowing their lone mark is a [[Back from the Dead]] [[Badass]] capable of beating them to death with their own Fate. It does get a little ridiculous if you happen to be completely decked out in full Prismere gear.
* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Khelgar Ironfist]]'s backstory in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' features him picking a [[Bar Brawl]] with a group of what turned out to be traveling [[Bare-Fisted Monk|Sun Soul monks]]. Mainly because they were (in his mind) insulting the establishment by drinking water. (Yes, he was somewhat inebriated at the time.) Long story short, they beat the crap out of him. Ironically this inspired Khelgar to try and become a monk himself.
* In ''[[Police Quest]] II'' when Bonds is pursuing Bains in Steelton Park, you encounter a mugger who will mug you with his bare hands. Radioing your partner will scare him away and get arrested.

=== Visual Novels ===
* Kinda count in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' where the protagonist goes insane with bloodlust and kills some foreigner who just happens to be pretty much the most powerful thing on the whole freaking planet. She got better, though it wasn't easy.
* In ''[[Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!|Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! S]]'', a poor robber tries to hold up a restaurant. Who's currently in the restaurant? Among others, [[World of Badass|Momoyo, Tsubame, Yoshitsune, Benkei, Shakaido, Tesshin, Lu,]] [[Battle Butler|Hume & Claudio]]. Basically, all the absolutely strongest fighters in the game. Oh, and the girl he took hostage, [[Badass Bookworm|Seiso]], just sent him flying out the door with a light shove too. [[Too Dumb to Live|Poor bastard]] then gets run over by her [[Knight Rider|robot]] [[Expy|bike]].

== Web Comics ==
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]''. While Grace and Sarah are walking through an alley, they're [http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-09 jumped by a knife wielding mugger]. Little does the mugger know that Grace is a [[Shape Shifter]] with an [http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-10 exceptionally powerful alternate form]. And in case it's not enough, telekinesis.
{{quote|'''Mugger:''' AAAAAAAA!!! Demon Girl!!! Repent!!! Repent I Say!!! AAAAAAA!!!}}
* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]''
** Parodied [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0158.html in this comic].
** Directly referenced at the [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0170.html end of that arc]:
{{quote|'''Durkon:''' One a' these days, yer just gonna end up trying ta rob like a level 16 fighter by accident and get massacred.}}
** Played straight after the end of the bandit arc in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0189.html this strip] where the former leaders of the bandits get killed picking on a much higher-level character.
** Played straight (albeit more mildly) in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0673.html another strip]; [[Give Me Back My Wallet|Pickpocketing the Rogue]] if you will.
** Xykon once [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0434.html tried to steal a cool crown from a librarian].
{{quote|'''Xykon:''' ...and it turned out oops! He was also an archmage! Needless to say, [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarity ensued]].}}
* Happens in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', which incidentally turns something the mercs are not good at (a formal dinner) into [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-09-17 something that they are very, very good at]. Note this continues to happen occasionally, only these days the mercs tend to be wearing power armor (it looks just like the uniforms they wore before that weren't armor... so it stays this trope).
** While acquiring Schlock some new eyes (after his were gouged out in a particularly brutal fight) the Toughs are continually faced with a more numerous but far less able enemy. Culminates in the enemy fleet attacking Petey in the belief that any '''ex'''-Tausennigan warship can't possibly have a working AI. They are "[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-03-06 rather fatally mistaken]".
* ''[[Megatokyo]]'': It is not a good idea to [http://megatokyo.com/strip/125 try groping Erika].
* In ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'', a foxwoman finds a young man going to visit his grandmother. She takes human form, lures him with the promise of random sex, and then shifts into her foxwoman form, making it look she's going to eat him. [http://yafgc.net/comic/1411-tairy-fail-little-red-riding-turncoat/ Turns out the man is a shapeshifted dragon.]
** Later a variation when an adventuring party [http://yafgc.net/comic/2352-prejudices/ captured] Gren and Wolf to try and use them as guides. These two don't struggle, but for some reason fail to take this situation seriously and start giving a [[Tour Guide Gag|guided tour style lecture]] on geology and history of the Black Mountain. That she is expected home a hour ago by her beholder boyfriend and he's currently the prince-consort of the local Drow Queen may have something to do with this.
* ''[[Blip]]''
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130405072332/http://blipcomic.com/276/ Done here.] The would-be victims are a vampire and a witch. A vampire, incidentally, who appears to have once been the Queen of Demons before she and Lucifer broke up.
** Also, in a later scene, a date rapist [https://web.archive.org/web/20140217125408/http://blipcomic.com/380/ tries] to take advantage of [[Horny Devil|a succubus]].
* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', a group of angry townspeople catch Quentyn trying to flee with their prisoner. Quentyn warns them off with his elfshot pistol. The lead roughneck laughs in his face—only to be pincushioned a moment later.
* In a guest ''[[Alien Loves Predator]]'' strip, a mugger pulls a gun on [[Alien (franchise)|Abe]] and [[Predator|Preston]] while they are talking about crime in New York. The mugger quickly asks if the gun is theirs, while Preston's Plasmacaster accidentally targets his head.
* Mocked in ''[[Another Gaming Comic]]''. Within the tabletop game the characters play, poorly-equipped bandits attack a group of "flying, flaming weaponmasters"—a standard ''D&D'' party. "They're bandits, not brain surgeons."
* In ''[[Drowtales]]'' a mugger decides to [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=273 go after Ariel and Faen] and lead them into an alley when they ask him for directions . While he is right that they're two young Val girls with relatively little in the way of street smarts, what he didn't know was the fact that Faen's mother, Ash'waren, is [[The Empath|the most powerful empath in Chel]], and Faen is powerful enough and [[Power Incontinence|has so little control over her abilities]] that she [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=274 sics a wolf on the mugger] [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=275 without meaning to] before he can react.
* Emily Watson's [[Establishing Character Moment]] in ''[[Spacetrawler]]''. Two guys with knives tell her to hand over her wallet; she whips out a pair of handguns and demands her would-be muggers' wallets and car keys.
* This happens a few times in ''[[Wapsi Square]]''. The mugger pulls a knife. [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/02242005/ Heather pulls a gun.]
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130624095659/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib059.html some men decide to stalk Caspian as a freak lover].
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120702031359/http://endstone.net/2010/08/12/4-14/ finding a naked girl in the woods may not be that lucky a thing.]
** In the [[Backstory]], aiming your [[Witch Hunt]] [http://endstone.net/2011/05/23/5-37/ at Kyri and her daughter may not be wise], even with [[Torches and Pitchforks]].
* In ''[[Heartcore]]'', a couple of thugs attempt to do [[Rape as Drama|horrible things]] to a helpless woman. {{spoiler|Oh wait, that's no helpless woman; that's Amethyst Lashiec, former [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess]] of [[Hell|Asgard]] and a powerful [[Horny Devils|succubus]], incognito.}}
* According to ''[[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120619085720/http://www.rhjunior.com/QQSR/00013.html this is the inevitable fate of space pirates].
* During one story in ''[[At Arm's Length (webcomic)|At Arms Length]]'', a troupe of conquistador-like alien bugs choose Reece's house as the starting point of their invasion of Earth. [https://web.archive.org/web/20191216013939/https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/articleList?titleNo=39242 They quickly regret this.]
* In ''[[Blue Yonder]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20150920163350/http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1252606/blue-yonder-chapter-1-page-21/ this is broadly implied to be part of the] [[Backstory]] of Claremont Apartments and why such a wretched neighbor is so safe.
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' once had senior schoolkids [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=406 mocking Annie and Kat]. And the "teddy", which was a doll possessed by the spirit bored out of his mind for years and now also annoyed. And somewhat shapeshifting. Quoth the big guy on the next page, "I absolutely did not expect thiiiiis!" (comment below: "I bet that guy wasn't expecting that.")
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', [[Butt Monkey|Tavros]] [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002999 really shouldn't have tried to troll] [[Pretty Fly for a White Guy|Dave]].
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' had Oublenmach try to break into what turned out to be a [[Super Soldier|Jägermonster]] bar, brandish his weapon and threaten the staff into giving him what they consider a sacred relic. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110518 The next time we see him] subjected to [[Neck Lift]].
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120413 The last surviving hostile Spark] in [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070604 Mechanisburg] found himself "a charming pair of ''innocent hostages''": [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20041103 Zeetha, daughter of Chump] and [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100217 Axel Higgs].
* A mugger once told Butch of ''[[Chopping Block]]'' to [http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20010712.html empty his pockets]. He tried, but he ran out of body parts to stab the mugger in [[Hyperspace Arsenal|before he ran out of blades to stab him with]].
* ''[[xkcd]]'' strip "[http://xkcd.com/1027/ Pickup Artist]", where one of these tried to demonstrate a pickup technique on [http://xkcd.com/440/ Black Hat Guy's girlfriend]. [[Alt Text]]: "Son, don't try to [[Break Them by Talking|play 'make you feel bad']] with the Michael Jordan of making you feel bad."
* ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' had a ''mutual'' case. Faith wanted to charm and seduce a random girl. Layla wanted to get her evening sip of blood. Oops.
* ''[[Bite Me! (webcomic)||Bite Me!]]'' had it with a rat who tried to scare Lucien from its territory [http://www.bitemecomic.com/?p=437 by hissing and showing teeth].
* ''[[Nerf Now]]'' demonstrates in "[http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/1756 Nature's Balance 4]" how it works on the species, by way of [[Mama Bear]].
* ''[[Evil Inc.]]'' got one dude who [http://evil-inc.com/comic/saturday/ just had to tell] the complaining Lightning Lady that he "does not give two hoots for her charge". Then he hooted three time - redundancy didn't hurt anyone, right? Certainly not as much as her charge going through, anyway.
* ''Optipess'' had [http://www.optipess.com/2009/01/05/rancor-robbery/ that one guy] who tried to rob a bank implementing a [[Shark Pool|Standard Villain Procedure]].
* ''[[Erma]]'', in the strip [https://tapas.io/episode/854723 "Down To Clown"]. Stock horror-movie [[Evil Clown]] versus Erma... who happens to be the cutest little [[Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl]] you'll ever meet.
* ''[[Looking for Group]]'' had such a moment when brigands tried to attack the team, and didn't figure out why no one takes them too seriously until they actually attacked. Much later a robber with knife [https://web.archive.org/web/20180329083103/http://www.lfg.co/page/1075/ jumped a lizard kid]. This was the kid Richard adopted. The snout sticking out of the handbag that he patted after this was sorted out is a dragon.
* ''[[Exploitation Now]]'' had [http://www.exploitationnow.com/2001-03-19/83 a moment] with some guy trying to mug Jordan and Bush. Hysterical laughter ensues. Unfortunately for the mugger, he didn't catch where it goes.
* ''The Monster Under the Bed'' had Tim peacefully treat-or-tricking with his girlfriend. Or shall we say, eponymous girlfriend. When accosted by a bully from Tim's school. Eventually he tried to take Shadow's candy bag, Tim tried to defend her and things went downhill until she decided to drop the human disguise. [[For Halloween I Am Going as Myself|Halloween bonus happens]]. That guy did not appreciate [[More Teeth Than the Osmond Family|so many sharp teeth]] so close.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had a pack of vengeful zombies who [https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=59#2009-04-28 found] Riff's old house. And tried to eat a girl who happened to be around. This being [[Person of Mass Destruction|Oasis]], the news didn't particularly upset her.
{{quote|'''Oasis''': (happily smiling) "Do unto others", I always say!}}

== Web Original ==
* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', this happens from time to time:
** A mugger tries to rob Jade and Jinn. The knock him unconscious, destroy his gun, and steal his wallet.
** A pair of stick-up artists bump into Chou "Bladedancer" Lee while attempting to rob a diner.
** A third-rate punk is silly enough to call Jadis "She-Beast" Diabolik a "little skank".
* In ''[[Darwin's Soldiers]]'', some punks tried to pick a fight with Aimee. She looks completely harmless as she is missing both arms and has them replaced with prosthetic limbs. They found out the hard way (IE death) that not only is she a skilled fighter, her artificial arms give her enough strength to crush the barrel of a pistol with almost no effort.
* [[Asdfmovie|ASDF Movie 4]], to the mugger's confusion
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYJGmYsHCUg In this] ''[[Planescape]]'' inspired short, a guy actually tries to hit on [[Eldritch Abomination|The Lady of Pain]] herself. Interestingly enough, the Lady shows what would be considered (for her) remarkable restraint here, as she usually has no tolerance whatsoever for anyone who annoys her.

== Western Animation ==
* On ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', a mugger tries to rob Iroh. Who promptly takes him down, teaches him a proper fighting stance, has a talk and some tea and convinces him to get a job. [[Warrior Poet|Beneficent]], yes, but since he's earned the name [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Dragon of the West]], still a monster.
* In [[Sequel Series]] ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' a [[Power Trio]] of protection racketeers from the [[Equal Opportunity Evil|Triple Threat]] [[The Triads and the Tongs|Triad]] attempt to extort a Republic City music store owner, just as a teenaged girl tourist from the Southern [[Elemental Nation|Water Tribe]] is walking past. When she [[Exploited Trope|calls them out]], they try to put her in her place, and make the mistake of attacking her with their respective [[Elemental Powers]], only to learn the hard way that she's the current [[God in Human Form|Avatar]] Korra, already master of three of the four elements. Cue a [[Curb Stomp Battle]], made more hilarious by Korra taking out each mook with their respective element, with grinning gusto.
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'':
** An episode of the 1980s cartoon has Shredder being jumped by a mugger upon being teleported into Central Park after a long imprisonment in Dimension X. It is one of the few occasions on the show where Shredder actually gets to kick someone's ass.
** Another episode has a mugger try to mug the disguised turtles, which is delt with in a similar way to the [[Crocodile Dundee]] example shown above. The mugger demands "Give my your wallet!". Leonardo replies "I've got a better idea *draws huge katana blade* give ''me'' your knife!"
* In one episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'', a thief—not a supervillain, just a regular, common burglar -- [[Too Dumb to Live|actually tries to rob the Girls]], because he had somehow never heard of them. Needless to say, it does not go over well, though they couldn't just kick his ass immediately because they didn't want to wake the Professor.
** At the end of the episode, the thief was heading towards Mojo Jojo's house intending to rob him.
* ''[[Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo]]'' has [[Badass Normal|Robin]] on the run from the police who wrongfully accused him. He hides in an alleyway and notes that he needs a disguise to escape. Suddenly a thief appears, pulls out a gun and says "Give me your money." [[Battle Discretion Shot|We don't get to see the fight]], but we do see a tied up thief in his boxers, and Robin wearing his clothes (and [[Cool Shades|shades]]).
* Happens several times in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' with Elisa Maza. She's an NYPD detective, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and an expert markswoman. And then there are her very protective friends....
* ''[[Batman Beyond]]''
** The two-parter "The Call". In an attempt to escape Terry, Inque takes an approaching bystander hostage... who turns out to be [[Superman]]. On the whole, not her finest hour.
** Something similar also happens in the very first episode, when a group of Jokerz (a street gang patterning themselves after the original [[Monster Clown|Joker]]) decides it would be a good idea to intimidate a certain old man by saying "We're the Jokerz!" Unfortunately, said old man was [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]]. Cue the [[Curb Stomp Battle]].
{{quote|'''Bruce:''' ''Sure'' you are.}}
:* A small group of Jokerz harrasses Willy Watt midway through "Golem". They try to put the squeeze on him, but Willy calls out his [[Humongous Mecha|little friend]]...
:* And in "Bloodsport", a lone Joker tries to mug Terry when he's chasing the Stalker—and gets dismissed in an especially pathetic fashion.
:* Continuing with the Jokerz in a crossover with [[Static Shock]]: the Jokerz lure two teens onto their turf... but one of them is Terry and the other one is Static. Uh oh.
* In the ''[[Spawn]]'' [[Animated Adaptation]], when Angela is first introduced, a couple of thugs follow her into an alley to rape her. Naturally, only she leaves the alley.
* In the ''Fantastic Four'' cartoon (the one that took place in the ''Iron Man Hour''), a mugger tries to rob a guy in a trench coat with a young woman. That guy turns out to be the Thing. Alicia points out that with Ben, she feels safe walking in the park at night.
* ''Season's Greetings'', the cartoon short on which ''[[Trick 'r Treat]]'' is based, is also about this. A man chases the [[Grotesque Cute|adorably creepy]] [[Creepy Child|trick-or-treater]] Sam into an alleyway, and, for whatever reason, attacks him. Sam is then seen walking out of the alleyway with bag full and [[Expressive Mask|a big smile on his mask]].
* ''Superman/Batman Apocalypse'' features a naked [[Supergirl|Kara Zor-El]] wandering confused into an alley just after arriving on Earth and being spotted by three workers. One decides to play Lothario and gets his ass kicked. The second tries to help his friend. The third wisely proclaims he's not with the other two and offers her his coat.
* A variation occurs in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Up the Down Steroids", where Cartman's rather ill-conceived [[Evil Plan]] is to pretend he's disabled in order to enter the Special Olympics and win the $1000 cash prize. How hard could it be to beat a bunch of disabled kids? Well, as it turns out, pretty hard, and because Cartman is an overweight, out of shape, junk-food-junkie, he comes in dead last after being humiliated utterly.
* ''Knight Time'' from the [[DCAU]] featured another Superman/Batman crossover in which Superman had to disguise himself as Batman in order to help Robin (Tim Drake) find out where his boss had gone. At one point, Superman also found it necessary to round up Bane, the Mad Hatter, and the Riddler. The Mad Hatter and the Riddler, who knew they were no match for Batman physically, wisely tried—unsuccessfully—to make themselves scarce at once. Bane, who ''did'' have reason to think he might do better, ended up having "Batman" [[Curb Stomp Battle|beat the CRAP out of him]] while the Riddler (detained by Robin) watched in utter disbelief.
{{quote|'''Robin:''' He's been working out.}}
* [[G.I. Joe: Renegades]] features James McCullen attempting to play hardball with Cobra Industries CEO Adam DeCobray, saying he'll save Dr. Mindbender ([[Batman Gambit|who he put in danger]] [[Chessmaster|by luring the Joes to the building]]) if Cobra gives in to his "proposal". Cue DeCobray [[Dramatic Unmask|revealing his true identity]] as [[Big Bad|Cobra Commander]] and making the arms dealer a "[[An Offer You Can't Refuse|counter-proposal]]" [[Oh Crap|with a giant, hungry, mutant cobra]].
* Used nonviolently (but ''very sadly'') in a Russian cartoon "Maska". It's Halloween, and a little pretty girl walks down a street, alone. Then two blokes with huge monster masks jump from the corner and attempt to scare the little girl. The girl first watches indifferently, then she has enough, [[Face Revealing Turn|and tears down her face]]—which turns out to be a mask concealing her real face, [[Nightmare Fuel|scarier than both monster mask combined.]] The blokes, horrified, drop their masks and run away, leaving the girl weeping—by their scare they reminded her of [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|her own face.]]
* An episode of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' had the Rodeo Clowns kidnap [[Ax Crazy|Heloise]]. The results were obvious.
* ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' has the organization MECH attempt to steal a nuclear device from "an unarmed civilian truck". The Autobots [[Curb Stomp Battle|trash]] the attacking cars, without bothering to transform.
* An episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' had Bender constantly harrassing a thin robot sitting in front of him at the movies. Finally he has enough and challenges him to "fisticuffs". Bender laughs...[[Oh Crap|until he transforms into a much scarier form]]. Turns out he was a professional robot fighter.
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' has several:
** In the episode "Birds of a Feather" proves that just because Penguin always loses to Batman doesn't mean he is a bad fighter. He is able to hold his own against three muggers before Batman intervenes and defeats all four of them (Batman thought he was with them until it was funnily resolved.
** Jervis Tech's first appearance in "Mad as a Hatter". He hadn't quite become the Mad Hatter yet, but when escorting his date Alice through the park, two muggers accosted them, and he quickly used his mind control devices on them. After doing so, he ordered them to "go jump in the river". They took it literally, climbing to the top of a bridge to do so.
** Joker ends up begging Batman to save him from some particularly crazy/tricky victims of his crimes in "Beware the Creeper" and "Joker's Favor".
** Speaking of which, "Joker's Favor" starts out with one of these moments. Normal Joe Charlie Collins has had a bad day, and so when a car cuts him off on the freeway, It's [[The Last Straw]] and he begins to yell at the other driver- until he gets a close look and sees that the other driver is ''The Joker''.
{{quote|'''Charlie:''' That was the Joker. I cussed out the Joker!}}
* In ''[[Invader Zim]],'' Iggins learns the hard way why it is ''not'' a good idea to withhold the Game Slave 2 from [[Creepy Child|Gaz.]] How? She follows him all the way to his house, writes "the game is mine" on the bathroom mirror, appears in the door, steals all the batteries in the house to keep him from getting to the save point on the game, causes the elevator to malfunction ''when he's still in it,'' and finally throws him down said elevator shaft.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** In a [[Distant Finale|future episode]], Jimbo, Dolf, and Kerney try to mug Lisa and Milhouse, who are now married. Unfortunately for them, Milhouse is now a zombie for some reason, and not having to breathe means no more cowardly bouts of asthma attacks. He defends Lisa and has the three for lunch - [[Brain Food|literally.]]
** In "22 Short Films About Springfield", Nelson makes the mistake of laughing at the Very Tall Man, who punishes him by forcing him to walk down the street in public in his underwear.
* In one ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'' short, this happens to Woody ''twice'':
** The first time, he asks an owl for directions, but the owl responds to all of his questions with "Who?". Eventually, Woody gets frustrated and picks a fight with it, only to [[Battle Discretion Shot| get his butt handed to him offscreen.]]
** In the next scene, Woody tries to get directions from what he assumes is a tall Native American wearing a poncho, [[If It Was Funny the First Time| only for the guy to reply each time with a "How."]] Woody gets frustrated and picks a fight again, only to find that what he thought was one tall Native American is actually [[Totem Pole Trench| two short ones under the poncho.]] It ends badly for Woody.
* In the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' short "Mexicali Shmoes", Jose decides to give up chasing [[Speedy Gonzales]] and go after the much slower Slowpoke Rodriguez, only to learn, the hard way, that Rodriguez is packing heat.
* In the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Ultimatum", Giganta (at giant size) is about to wreck the maximum security wing of a prison, and finds novice hero Long Shadow in her way:
{{quote|'''Giganta:''' Out of the way, tiny!
''Long Shadow uses his own powers to grow until he's a head taller than she is.''
'''Long Shadow:''' You were saying?
'''Giganta:''' [[This Is Going to Suck|Oh, poop]]...}}
* Zigzagged in an episode of ''[[Star Wars: Clone Wars]]'', where Chancellor Palpatine seems to be doing this, at least from the point of view of the characters witnessing it. When General Grievous barges into his penthouse, he stands up to the General (who has already killed at least three Jedi Knights) calling him a thug and ordering him to be gone. Of course, as the fans doubtlessly know, Palpatine is far more a "monster" than Grievous is, and unbeknownst to everyone (Grievous included) this is a ruse where he is orchestrating his own kidnapping to remove himself as a suspect in the greater conflict.

== Real Life ==
* A variation [[Truth in Television|occurs in nature]], but with predators instead of muggers. Tiger Beetle larva feed on ants, and the ''Methocha'' wasp looks like an ant. When the larva attacks, the wasp wriggles out of the larva's grasp, paralyses the larva and then lays its eggs, which hatch and devour the larva alive.
** The Portia Spider will go to another spider's web and tap on it, most likely imitating a trapped insect. When the spider approaches, Portia rushes it and quickly kills and eats it.
* In a particuarly amusing example of this trope, two yobs attacked a pair of crossdressers only for said crossdressers to turn out to be a couple of cage fighters in fancy dress. Full story [https://web.archive.org/web/20091011114938/http://www.mmauniverse.com/news/SS4727 here].
** Speaking of [[Drag Queen]]s, a valuable lesson is to never pick a fight with one. You will probably lose. To paraphrase a famous queen, "A guy doesn't dress up like this unless he's prepared to get shit for it." Also, two words: [[Combat Stilettos]].
* Somali pirates attacked a French navy command ship, mistaking it for a cargo ship, leading to the swift arrest of the pirates.
** And [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/04/01/2010-04-01_us_navy_captures_5_somali_pirates_siezes_pirate_mother_ship_off_kenya_somali_coa.html more recently], Somali pirates in a small skiff fired on what they (presumably) assumed was an unarmed freighter. The US Navy guided missile frigate ''Nicholas'' promptly returned fire with its deck-mounted, water-cooled, .50 caliber machine gun. (The pirates were captured, their ship sunk, and their "mother ship" subsequently tracked down and also captured.)
* In 1993, somewhere in the Pacific, two pirate boats fired machinegun warning shots in the direction of unidentified dry-cargo freighter. And got an auto-cannon warning shot in return, which dissuaded them from trying to board a vessel that's supposed to carry 440 marines. It was "Nikolai Vilkov" - Russian large landing ship. Being a remake of civilian project it [http://www.navy.ru/nowadays/strength/images/vilkov.jpg resembles a freighter]{{Dead link}} with its big crane.
* A man attempted to mug a 77-year-old Air Force veteran, who [https://web.archive.org/web/20091121021510/http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=7083552 beat his attacker off with a Pepsi bottle] after being ''shot in the balls.'' Apparently he's okay except for a slight limp.
* There's a case mentioned in one of John Douglas's true crime books where a serial killer broke into a ranch house and assaulted the couple that lived there. As it was a ranch house ''on'' a ranch, and in Montana no less, the killer should've at least considered the possibility that the residents would keep guns at home. Douglas cites it as one of the few known instances in which a serial killer got killed by his intended prey in real life.
* In 2008, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH8kxDPl6tc two men with machetes tried to rob a club in Australia.] Inside were fifty members of [[Badass Biker|a motorcycle club]], who promptly [[Bar Brawl|grabbed the bar stools, chased down the thieves and hogtied one of them]].
* In 2010, three men in South Africa, armed with a firearm and and knife, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100821113237/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 attempted to rob some schoolchildren]. The schoolchildren responded by [[Vigilante Execution|stoning one of the assailants to death]].
* Dressing up policewomen like [[Ms. Fanservice]] and sending them out to troll for johns is standard practice for vice squads worldwide. Muggers and psychos occasionally fall for their act, and get snapped up by the decoy or her backup.
* This is the entire basis of pedo-hunting, whether by the FBI or Anonymous. You pose as a gullible young girl, wait to be solicited by a child molester, track them down, and either arrest them or just ruin their life.
* In the late [[The Roman Republic|Roman Republic]] a young [[Upper Class Twit]] was captured and held to ransom by some [[Pirates]]. Guess who [[Julius Caesar|he]] turned out to be?
** The story gets better. While being held prisoner on the ship, the personable [[Julius Caesar]] befriended the pirates, and made jokes that when he was ransomed he was going to come back and kill them all. The pirates laughed at their captive's great sense of humor. Later, [[Oh Crap|they found out he wasn't joking]].
* In 1890 the three Dalton brothers and two henchmen came riding into Coffeeville Kansas in order to gain fame by robbing two banks at once across the street from each other. Of course there were problems with this scheme notably that before their job was done word got out among the townsfolk. And a typical Western town had a lot more than five people, and an awful lot of guns.
** They were attempting to outdo [[Jesse James]]... who had come to grief trying to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota in the 1870s. Unfortunately for Jesse, he had forgotten that he was no longer in his usual hunting grounds of Eastern Kansas/Western Missouri...and the locals not only did not include any sympathizers of his, but had their life savings in the bank he was targeting and no sense of humor about losing those savings. [[Oh Crap|Oops...]]
*** Worse yet, Jesse had forgotten about a certain historical event of the previous decade known as the Civil War, and about Union recruitment patterns in rural Minnesota. Something like half the men in town were combat veterans.
* On September 2, 2010, Bishnu Shrestha was on his way home in East Bengal when forty gangsters stopped boarded it, and started robbing the passangers. Bishnu complied, knowing fighting these gangsters wasn't worth his life - up until the leader of the train-robbers decided to rape a girl. At this point, Bishnu drew a [[Kukris Are Kool|kukri]], took the gang's leader as a human shield, and started hacking down thugs left and right. You see, Bishnu Shrestha was a Corporal in the [[Nepali With Nasty Knives|7th Battalion of the 8th Gurkha infantry]]. In the subsequent torrent of ass-kickings that followed, three gangsters were killed and eight more disabled by Bishnu's knife, and the rest of the robbers took off in sheer terror. It should be noted that they all had guns, and all he had was his kukri. There's a reason that Gurkas are some of the most feared and respected soldiers out there.
* An April 2011 incident in Britain had 3 burglars in for a shock when they [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12978065 broke into a house only to find out it belonged to a soldier] who, completely naked, gave chase to one who tried to make off with his car, complete with breaking open the driver's window with his bare hands!
* [[Smelly Skunk|Skunks]] are quite unassuming to predators who have never run into one before, and some see them as an easy meal, only to be sent running with a face full of musk.
* Two teenage thieves broke into a van parked in a council estate in Manchester, [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3544485/Thieves-targeting-vans-on-council-estate-are-confronted-by-four-SAS-men-on-a-stakeout.html only to find that inside there were four SAS men on a night-time counter-terrorism training exercise. ]
* Some young men were routinely killing dogs on their neighborhood and killed one small Labrador. The owner came home, pursued them in his car with a gun, then held them at gun point until the Texas Rangers appeared and arrested them. The men threatened the man who had held them at gunpoint, saying he did not know who he was messing with. The man then had the Texas Rangers reveal to the men who had killed his dog that he was [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30136615/ Marcus Luttrell], an ex-Navy SEAL, who had won a firefight against roughly 80 Taliban fighters and was the only survivor of the battle, after dispatching every enemy fighter.
* Two "tough guys" [http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/1274688/Chuck/ tried to rob] [[Chuck Norris]] with knives, under the assumption that what he did in ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' [[Reality Is Unrealistic|was all fake]]. The two ended up with arms so broken that bones were sticking out. The police didn't even handcuff them, partly out of concern for the thugs' injuries, and partly because they were laughing too hard.
** Well, the stuff on ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' '''is''' all fake. It's some of the worst stuntwork Norris has ever done. Which is probably why the younger generation has forgotten that back in his prime, Chuck had won the World Middleweight Karate Championship tournament ''six times in a row''. Seriously, short of going back in time to pick a fight with Bruce Lee it's hard to top being stupid enough to throw a punch at Chuck Norris.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131206004129/http://superstore.wnd.com/Shooting-Back-The-Right-and-Duty-of-Self-Defense-book Shooting Back] recounts an incident where some Islamic terrorists tried to shoot up a church, presumably expecting that they'd be able to slaughter people without resistance. Much to their surprise, Charl van Wyck returns fire, thwarting their attack.
* An example out of Ferdinand von Schirach's ''Verbrechen'' (a book of cases he precided over as a lawyer). Some skinheads decide that a wimpy looking man in a neat suit would be a nice diversion. They ended up dead. It was hinted later, that the guy in the suit was a contract killer on his way home. He had no papers on him, no mark that could identify him - he didn't speak a single word. They had to let him go because they had no evidence and the thing they had on him was clearly self-defense - there were several witnesses to clear him.
* In February 1997 near Warsaw, highway robbers stopped a car. The men in the car turned out to be the coaches of the Russian and Belarussian teams driving home from the world biathlon championship - as in "skiing and shooting". The car was followed by the team bus - as in "fifty Olympic-class marksmen and equipment". Seeing athletes leaving it with rifles, the robbers guessed it's a good time to exit stage right, and quickly.
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/05/anthony-miranda-tried-rob_n_1129836.html A man asks a driver for a lighter then pulls out a gun.] His victim complied initially...until the mugger let his guard down and showed him why it's a bad idea to mug a [[Mixed Martial Arts]] fighter. He ended up with two black eyes cuts all over his face and a [[Gun Struggle|self inflicted]] gunshot wound to the ankle.
* In 2008, a suspected serial killer and his crew [http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/07/23/foiled-lloyd-irvin-home-invasion-thief-suspected-of-being-serial?sms_ss=twitter invaded the home of] Lloyd Irvin, Muay Thai and Combat Sambo expert and trainer to UFC fighter Brandon Vera.
* [[Charles Bronson]] once related a story in which he was vacationing in Italy, and a mugger came up behind him with a knife and said "You give me money". Bronson turned around and said "No, you give ''me'' money." The mugger ran upon realizing he'd just tried to mug the star of ''[[Death Wish]]''.
* One such incident has become fondly-recalled lore in the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]]: After one of the earlest Society events (circa 1970 or so) in Berkley, CA, a lady who uses the name "Sir Trude Lacklandia" (AKA the first female fighter in the Society) was walking home late at night and assaulted by several muggers. When she refused to hand over her cash, one tried to stab her with a six-inch knife - only to have the blade turned by the chainmail she was wearing under her woolen cloak. She then drew her (very real) sword, said "I'll see your six, and raise you thirty-five!" before chasing the muggers off. A bard in the SCA afterwards wrote a [http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/sf/filk/seeyrsix.htm humorous song about it], which has become quite popular.
* In the 1920's a group of five men attempted to mug a well-dressed man and his two female companions. When the police arrived, the sidewalk was covered in blood, none of it belonging to the intended victim. The victim was Harry Greb, a boxer, usually ranked either first or second on all-time pound-for-pound lists who had by this time acquired a 261-20-17-1 record.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDjqQFln72E&feature=g-vrec&context=G2e99147RVAAAAAAAADg Around 2008 in Canada], two rednecks in a pick-up truck come across a guy and his girlfriend in a fancy car. They heckle him with lots of [[Cluster F-Bomb|cursing]] and insults while driving right behind them and filming the incident on their camera the whole time. The guy in the fancy car is eventually cornered by the two rednecks at a dead-end; when the rednecks get out of their truck with a baseball bat and walk toward the guy, the guy [[Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight|pulls out a handgun]] and tells them to back off. The guy's girlfriend takes the camera, and the guy takes the rednecks' truck key and tosses it in a nearby sewer before driving off and later uploading the camera footage to [[YouTube]].
* In the early 1700s, Dick Turpin, famous highwayman, once stopped a gentleman on a coach road and threatened him with a pistol. That "gentleman" turned out to be Thomas King, ''another'' famous highwayman. King was so ''impressed'' that he took Turpin as a partner and they robbed and murdered on the Essex roads together for two years.
* The infamous Sony CD manufacter-sponsored rootkit would probably have had a longer run out in the wild if one of the first computers it had infected [https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/markrussinovich/2005/10/31/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights-management-gone-too-far/ hadn't belonged to Mark Russinovich]—a senior Microsoft executive who invented most of the debugging, process monitoring, and system monitoring utilities for the Windows operating system, was a significant contributor to the Windows source code, and was one of the only human beings on Earth actually capable of doing the kernel-level debugging and audit of Windows XP necessary to find the rootkit in action.
** It gets better. He was also the developer of Windows' original RootkitRevealer utility.
* Some rather clumsy scammers were unlucky enough [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/17/tech_support_scam_takedown/ to catch parents of a computer security expert] with scareware. Hilarity (and irony of the "antivirus vendors" receiving a "photo of my credit card" infected with the hottest disk-encrypting malware at the time) ensues.
* In 1937 a mob of Nazi rioters killed a Warner Bros. representative for being Jewish. In so doing they picked a blood feud with Hollywood. [[Sarcasm Mode|Yeah, that was a good idea.]]
* Two more cases summarized and linked in a blog article titled ''[https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-sudden-and-acute-failure-of-victim.html A sudden and acute failure of the victim selection process]''.
* [https://www.rawstory.com/busted-man-targeted-for-anti-asian-hate-crime-was-an-undercover-nypd-cop/ In April of 2021], an anti-Asian bigot stormed into the Good Choice for Nails Salon near Manhattan's Chinatown and started berating and threatening the staff and customers with racial slurs. When a passerby intervened, she called the Asian American man 'a Chinese mother f-----"; and was quickly arrested by the undercover NYPD officer she had just insulted.

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Latest revision as of 20:04, 5 November 2022

So Fingers McStealy is lurking in an alleyway waiting for a victim. Ah here comes someone, and that fetching hat and coat look expensive, he's smiling too, so maybe he just came into money? Ooo, he even has something shiny under his coat. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Basically this is when some random crook, and occasionally a pretty stupid one at that, has the misfortune of targeting someone much more powerful than he anticipated. When the Big Bad monster/alien assassin/robot from the future appears, the criminal acts as an Acceptable Target (specifically, an Asshole Victim) for them to begin their massacre. Alternatively The Hero is held up while going about their business. If they have a Secret Identity then it can lead to a Bruce Wayne Held Hostage scenario, but if the criminal attacked them in costume or the hero is just some Badass Walking the Earth then it typically just serves as an introduction. Bonus points if the would be victim looks particularly vulnerable.

When an assailant targets a crowd of people not knowing that Everyone Is Armed, you get this trope with strength of numbers replacing individual dangerousness.

Tends to make a good Establishing Character Moment, depending on how (and how easily) the crooks are dealt with. Occasionally this can lead to them recruiting a sidekick or other ally. Can be deeply satisfying. When the person looks vulnerable due to chronological endowment, it's Never Mess with Granny.

When a Video Game character does this, it's often due to Suicidal Overconfidence. Compare Bullying a Dragon, when the perpetrator knows full well how dangerous their victim is (but is reckless and/or stupid and/or drunk and/or desperate enough to provoke a confrontation anyway). See also Dude, Where's My Respect? when this keeps happening with no signs of anyone figuring out the pattern. Compare Colliding Criminal Conspiracies. Supertrope of Robbing the Mob Bank. Compare Superweapon Surprise, which is like this, but involves more people.

Please note: the trope need not include actual mugging (though it is a popular method). As long as the provoker or provokers intentionally and excessively antagonize someone much more powerful than they are without knowing beforehand what they are screwing with, and the provoker or provokers are thrashed because of it, then it's Mugging the Monster.

Not quite what it sounds like....

Examples of Mugging the Monster are listed on these subpages:
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