Beat Them At Their Own Game: Difference between revisions
→Anime and Manga
| (19 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 9:
Compare [[Faustian Rebellion]], where the villains really should be ''in charge'' of the game, yet are at risk. Also compare [[Hoist by His Own Petard]], which is where villains are defeated by their own weapon or plot, but not necessarily by a hero.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime ==▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Beet the Vandel Buster]]'' could fight effectively against the gun-wielding Frausky only after he had learned how to properly use his own gunlike [[Empathic Weapon]], as opposed to his other four [[Empathic Weapon]]s, which are all melee.
* The main crew of ''[[One Piece]]'' tend to fight against similarly skilled members of every [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] they encounter: Zoro fights other swordsmen, Sanji fights martial artists and Usopp fights projectile users, while Luffy inevitably ends up going after the [[Big Bad]] for that group.
Line 27:
* During the Kyoto [[Story Arc]] in ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', Saitou challenges Sanosuke to hand-to-hand combat (the latter's specialty), even going so far as to suspend [[Combat Pragmatist|fighting dirty]], in order to prove that Sano isn't on his or Kenshin's level (and consequently, a liability in the coming battles). Needless to say, it was a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]], and not in Sano's favor.
* The favored method of the D'arby Bros. in ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' is to force the heroes to play an innocuous game (poker, a video game, or Rock-Paper-Scissors) and then cheat like hell at it to win (since, according to them, it isn't cheating if you don't get caught). Naturally, the heroes have to cheat right back while catching the D'arbys in the midst of their own cheating. The results were... [[Villainous Breakdown|memorable.]]
* [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]:
* In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]], Judai manages to defeat a deck destruction expert by deck out.▼
** In the [[Filler Arc| Virtual Nightmare Arc]] of [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (anime)|the original anime]], Lechter uses Jinzo as his Deckmaster, which gives him a rather obvious advantage, making Jinzo's Trap-destruction effect one-sided and enabling him to use his own Traps - such as Gravity Bind - without penalty. Joey's solution to this is to use ''his'' Jinzo to get rid of Gravity Bind.
*** In fact, the whole Deckmaster System was this Trope. Noah and Big 5 thought these [[House Rules]] would give them an advantage, only for the heroes to adjust to it like a duck to water.
▲** In [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]], Judai manages to defeat a deck destruction expert by deck out. He also beats a guy using a quiz deck with a quiz of his own.
* This is the tactic employed by the [[Anti-Villain|Anti-Spiral]] in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' - whenever the protagonists get a bigger mecha, they field an equally big one to try and instil despair into the protagonists in order to dampen their [[Hot-Blooded|hot blood]] powered Spiral Energy.
* When Kenshiro fights Shu in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', he managed to defeat him through a secret Hokuto Shinken technique that allows him to emulate Nanto Seiken.
Line 34 ⟶ 36:
* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'' Nanoha defeats Teana using her own attack, Crossfire. She gets even in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid|Vi Vid]]'': during a 5-on-5 mock battle Nanoha and Teana use Starlight Breaker against each other, defeating most of their opponents in the process; in the end, Nanoha is shot down by her own trademark spell, while Teana (barely) remains standing.
== Comic Books ==
* In one famous story during the [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] ("The Joker's Utility Belt!" ''Batman #73''), [[The Joker]] theorized that if a [[Utility Belt]] works so well for [[Batman]], it could work well for him too, and built his own. Unfortunately for him, Batman was a little ''too'' good at his own game, and [[Hoist by His Own Petard|managed to use Joker's belt to his own advantage]].
* In one ''[[Superman]]'' story set in [[The Silver Age of Comic Books| the Silver Age]], the hero decides to get even with Mr. Mxyzptlk for all the times Mxy drove him crazy by traveling to Mxy's Fifth Dimensional homeworld and driving ''him'' crazy. It was ''not'' a good time for Mxy, as he was running for mayor of his town, and ends up humiliated when trying to get rid of Supes using the same trick the hero used (getting him to say [[Sdrawkcab Name| "manrepus"]], his name spelled backwards) [[Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better| doesn't work]]. Once Mxy has learned his lesson, Superman leaves on his own by saying "Le-Lak".<ref>The "joke" of course, being that Kal-El is Superman's actual name.</ref>
== Fan
* In the story ''Team Probable'' from the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' fic series ''[[All Things Probable]]'', Team Possible end up falling victim to this trope when they face their evil gender-flipped doppelgängers, the titular Team Probable. Unfortunately, they’re able to stall Team Possible long enough to succeed in their tasks. And yes, they have their own computer hacker.
* The final battle of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: Curse of the Black Pearl''. In order to even the odds between himself and the cursed undead pirates, Captain Jack Sparrow picks up a gold piece from the cursed treasure trove, transforming into an [[Nigh Invulnerability|immortal]] undead pirate himself, allowing him to more easily buy time until the curse is broken and the evil pirates are rendered killable
* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger|Dutch]] uses stealth tactics to defeat the [[Predator]].
** In ''Predator 2'', Harrigan kills the Predator with its own disc weapon.
Line 47 ⟶ 55:
* In the [[Honor Harrington]] books, after repeatedly suffering losses due to Havenite deep raids, Manticore's reconstituted Eighth Fleet is tasked with doing the same right back.
== Live
* Since July 2005, when the first [[Formula One]] driver was a guest on ''[[Top Gear]]'', none had cracked [[Badass Driver|the Stig's]] record in the Suzuki Liana, and notably, only one actually took the same line the Stig takes going around the track (though it's speculated that the rainy weather was what handicapped him). Then Rubens Barrichello comes on the show, takes the same line as the Stig, and ''beats his record by a tenth of a second''.
Line 100 ⟶ 108:
** ''Metroid Prime'' also features Space Pirates who wield copies of one of your weapons and are only vulnerable to the same weapon they use.
** Also, in ''Metroid Prime'' the fight with the Metroid Prime's exoskeleton form can only be damaged by attacking it with the weapon that corresponds to its current colour and attack pattern. What's more, Metroid Prime always needs Phazon weaponry to finish it off, which it always gives you in some way or another, be it via puddles, projectiles, or injecting you with the crap.
* Some of the more recent [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] [[Wrestling Game]]s allow players to "steal" their opponent's finisher with a special combination of buttons. This can get rather hilarious if, for example, the player is playing as The Big Show (who measures 213 cm and weighs an even 200 kg), and borrows Jeff Hardy's signature Swanton Bomb (which involves leaping off the top turnbuckle, flipping forward 270 degrees, and landing back-first across a prone opponent).
** Swanton Bomb nothing. Have Show or Andre the Giant steal Rey Misterio's finisher—swinging kick through the ropes, land on the apron, spring to the top rope, then fly off and land sitting on the victim's shoulders, then backflip into a pin. Tell me there isn't anything more frightening than seeing a 500-pound wrestler flying groin-first at your face.
** Or on the other side of the gamut, playing Rey Mysterio and having him do a Tombstone Piledriver on the Undertaker.
Line 151 ⟶ 159:
* In the final battle of ''[[Kirby's Return to Dream Land]]'', {{spoiler|Magolor's second form and Soul form imitates the various [[Limit Break|Super Abilities]] used by Kirby as attacks after he [[Turns Red]].}}
* Vitally important in both the [[X-COM]] series and [[UFO: After Blank]] series. Humanity only stands a chance against the alien invaders by stealing and reverse-engineering all of their technology as quickly as possible, as well as capturing the aliens themselves, dead or alive, for dissection or interrogation respectively.
* ''[[Resident Evil]]'' is a franchise notorious for two things, ravenous zombies and deadly traps. However, in the "Lost in Nightmares" DLC in the fifth game, losing their gear means Jill and Barry have to ''use'' the traps in order to fight the zombies, a rather ironic use of this trope. You can even off them with the notorious [[Descending Ceiling]] that once threatened to turn the heroine into [[Memetic Mutation| a "Jill Sandwich"]]!
== Web Original ==
Line 159 ⟶ 167:
{{quote|'''Michelle''': Fire with fire.
'''Zoey''': I don’t know if God is proud of you, but I am. }}
:* Zoey [http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2018/07/26/1007-words-of-wisdom/ vs. Sandra].
{{quote|'''Zoey''': If you dream of beating your nemesis with her own weapons, you better be prepared!}}
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'':
**
** Played straight when Jack becomes a ninja to fight a group of ninja.
*
▲** Also don in an issue of Spider-Ham complete with lampshade hanging, Mooster Fantastic consult the hero's manual and find the proper tactic for dealing with evil counterparts, switching opponents!
* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' uses this in most episodes with Professor Nimnul as the villain. Most times that the Rescue Rangers go up against Nimnul, they end up turning his own inventions against him.
* In ''[[Asterix|The Twelve Tasks of Asterix]]'' they face a trial that the magic potion has no effect on... Bureaucracy! However, Asterix is smart enough to play the system against itself, causing enough chaos for the head of the place to just hand him the item to make him go away.
* [[South Park]]: Don't try to make Cartman regret his actions and behavior using a psychology approach.
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]: Said word for word by Long Feng, but denied to Azula.
{{quote|'''Long Feng:''' You've beaten me at my own [[The Chessmaster|game]].
'''Azula:''' [[Magnificent Bastard|Don't flatter yourself]]. [[Xanatos Speed Chess|You were never even a player]]. }}
* The ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "Mad Love" is known to contain one of the best [[Batman Gambit]]s the [[Trope Namer]] has ever pulled, tricking the Joker into saving him from certain-death by convincing Harley to call him and let him know she was about to succeed in a goal he would ''never'' allow anyone but himself to do.
** ''However'', it is rarely noted that Batman was captured in the first place when a sobbing Harley called Gordon, claiming the Joker was trying to kill her and offering to turn herself in if Batman came to meet her. He did so, and when the Joker - or rather, a robot that looked like him - showed up with a machine gun, seemingly confirming her story, the hero tackled her to shield her from the attack, only for Harley to jab him with a sedative. That's right, ''Harley fooled Batman with her own Batman Gambit!''
* ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'': Captain Freeman tricks Grand Nagus Rom (as in the ''ruler of the Ferengi'') into [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y2KOoa0VxU signing a contract without reading the fine print]. Rom is [[Graceful Loser|actually impressed by her ingenuity]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Badass]]
[[Category:
| |||