Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?/Literature: Difference between revisions

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* In the ''[[Dragaera]]'' series, Morrolan kills a [[Physical God]] with a [[Artifact of Doom|Great Weapon]], and a [[Eldritch Abomination|Jenoine]] goes the same way at the hands of {{spoiler|Vlad and Godslayer}}. Tazendra manages to defeat a Jenoine in single combat ''without'' a Great Weapon, and {{spoiler|Devara, in dragon form}} ''ate'' one.
* In the ''[[Dragaera]]'' series, Morrolan kills a [[Physical God]] with a [[Artifact of Doom|Great Weapon]], and a [[Eldritch Abomination|Jenoine]] goes the same way at the hands of {{spoiler|Vlad and Godslayer}}. Tazendra manages to defeat a Jenoine in single combat ''without'' a Great Weapon, and {{spoiler|Devara, in dragon form}} ''ate'' one.
* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in the ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' novels. It is explicitly stated that [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] and demons lose much of their power when they enter reality. They still tend to be the strongest opponents Conan faces.
* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in the ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' novels. It is explicitly stated that [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] and demons lose much of their power when they enter reality. They still tend to be the strongest opponents Conan faces.
* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]' ''[[Perelandra]]'', Dr Ransom acts as the [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|Good Angel]] when the Queen of Venus is tempted by a literal demon towards falling from grace. With the salvation of the entire planet hanging in the balance, Ransom realizes the demon's [[Demonic Possession|possession of an astronaut]] (which enabled it to enter the planet in the first place) was its [[Achilles Heel]] -- he could simply pummel the thing into submission.
* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]' ''[[Perelandra]]'', Dr Ransom acts as the [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|Good Angel]] when the Queen of Venus is tempted by a literal demon towards falling from grace. With the salvation of the entire planet hanging in the balance, Ransom realizes the demon's [[Demonic Possession|possession of an astronaut]] (which enabled it to enter the planet in the first place) was its [[Achilles' Heel]] -- he could simply pummel the thing into submission.
* Subverted and played for a good laugh in John Dechancie's ''Red Limit Freeway''. After traveling for lightyears along roads built by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] the heroes meet a handsome, slightly androgynous man in flashy clothes. One of the heroes, convinced the man is responsible for his alien abduction, hits him with a sucker punch. Cue the protagonist: "I think you may have just punched out God." Other guy: "Nah, God has a beard."
* Subverted and played for a good laugh in John Dechancie's ''Red Limit Freeway''. After traveling for lightyears along roads built by [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] the heroes meet a handsome, slightly androgynous man in flashy clothes. One of the heroes, convinced the man is responsible for his alien abduction, hits him with a sucker punch. Cue the protagonist: "I think you may have just punched out God." Other guy: "Nah, God has a beard."
* [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy sets up {{spoiler|god, AKA the Authority,}} as the enemy of free will and human interest, but in the third book he proves to have been so weakened by old age that {{spoiler|he gets turned to dust by a strong breeze.}} A more threatening villain is his [[The Dragon|Second]], {{spoiler|Metatron, who himself can only be defeated when he is hurled into the void between universes, and thus destroyed forever}}.
* [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' trilogy sets up {{spoiler|god, AKA the Authority,}} as the enemy of free will and human interest, but in the third book he proves to have been so weakened by old age that {{spoiler|he gets turned to dust by a strong breeze.}} A more threatening villain is his [[The Dragon|Second]], {{spoiler|Metatron, who himself can only be defeated when he is hurled into the void between universes, and thus destroyed forever}}.
** {{spoiler|Calling Metatron "his Second" is kind of misleading - Metatron has actually been [[The Man Behind the Man|running things]] for quite some time}}.
** {{spoiler|Calling Metatron "his Second" is kind of misleading - Metatron has actually been [[The Man Behind the Man|running things]] for quite some time}}.
* John Taylor from the ''[[Nightside]]'' books does this approximately ''every five minutes.'' No sooner does he hype how much of a terrifying unbeatable badass so-and-so is, then half a page later he beats them.
* John Taylor from the ''[[Nightside]]'' books does this approximately ''every five minutes.'' No sooner does he hype how much of a terrifying unbeatable badass so-and-so is, then half a page later he beats them.
** Admittedly, it's usually through the [[Inherent Gift]] inherited from his vanished mother {{spoiler|who eventually turns out to be Lilith, who was the ancestor of 95% of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] in the series in the first place}}. Given that his Gift enables him to find and hit any beings [[Achilles Heel]], it's interesting that the series managed to maintain the necessary Dramatic Tension to keep going.
** Admittedly, it's usually through the [[Inherent Gift]] inherited from his vanished mother {{spoiler|who eventually turns out to be Lilith, who was the ancestor of 95% of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]] in the series in the first place}}. Given that his Gift enables him to find and hit any beings [[Achilles' Heel]], it's interesting that the series managed to maintain the necessary Dramatic Tension to keep going.
* [[Secret Histories|Eddie Drood]] has also done this on a regular basis, both to full-blown [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horrors]] as well as lesser higher-dimensional monsters. In his case, possessing [[Powered Armor]] designed by a ''friendly'' [[Eldritch Abomination]] helps. Pretty much the only thing preventing him from being a [[Boring Invincible Hero]] is that his challenge is not beating the bad guys, but finding them before they bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]].
* [[Secret Histories|Eddie Drood]] has also done this on a regular basis, both to full-blown [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horrors]] as well as lesser higher-dimensional monsters. In his case, possessing [[Powered Armor]] designed by a ''friendly'' [[Eldritch Abomination]] helps. Pretty much the only thing preventing him from being a [[Boring Invincible Hero]] is that his challenge is not beating the bad guys, but finding them before they bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]].
* Done repeatedly in [[Robin Jarvis]]' ''Deptford Mice'', ''Deptford Histories'', and ''Whitby Witches'' series.
* Done repeatedly in [[Robin Jarvis]]' ''Deptford Mice'', ''Deptford Histories'', and ''Whitby Witches'' series.
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* None of the gods actually die in Dan Simmons's ''[[Illium]]'', but the Greek heroes send several teleporting away with injuries, [[Unfazed Everyman|Hockenberry]] tasers Hera with 50,000 volts, and Mahnmut (who is a kind of sentient non-combat android) steals a flying chariot by jumping in kicking out the goddess driving it.
* None of the gods actually die in Dan Simmons's ''[[Illium]]'', but the Greek heroes send several teleporting away with injuries, [[Unfazed Everyman|Hockenberry]] tasers Hera with 50,000 volts, and Mahnmut (who is a kind of sentient non-combat android) steals a flying chariot by jumping in kicking out the goddess driving it.
** Actually, in ''Olympos'' {{spoiler|Hector}} decapitates {{spoiler|Dionysos}} and feeds his body to the dogs and {{spoiler|Paris's}} funeral pyre.
** Actually, in ''Olympos'' {{spoiler|Hector}} decapitates {{spoiler|Dionysos}} and feeds his body to the dogs and {{spoiler|Paris's}} funeral pyre.
** Achilles can't really kill Zeus, but since the gods are very carefully recreating mythology Achilles is protected by destiny. Specifically they made sure that he could only be harmed by an arrow fired by Paris at his [[Achilles Heel|infamous heel]]. By this point Paris is slightly deader than he's supposed to be. Things go poorly for Zeus.
** Achilles can't really kill Zeus, but since the gods are very carefully recreating mythology Achilles is protected by destiny. Specifically they made sure that he could only be harmed by an arrow fired by Paris at his [[Achilles' Heel|infamous heel]]. By this point Paris is slightly deader than he's supposed to be. Things go poorly for Zeus.
* At the end of the first book of ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'', the protagonist (a 15-year-old scullion with barely any formal training with weapons, noted by several characters as having not stopped growing) kills or at least seriously wounds one of the last remaining dragons in the world, which had already killed two of his much stronger/faster/more skilled/generally better at killing things comrades.
* At the end of the first book of ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'', the protagonist (a 15-year-old scullion with barely any formal training with weapons, noted by several characters as having not stopped growing) kills or at least seriously wounds one of the last remaining dragons in the world, which had already killed two of his much stronger/faster/more skilled/generally better at killing things comrades.
* In the ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''[[Blood Angels|Deus Sanguinius]]'', Rafen manages to kill the Lord of Change Malfallax. However, to do so he had to use the [[Ancestral Weapon|Spear of Telesto]] to do so and {{spoiler|[[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu|Broke His Arm Doing So]].}}
* In the ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' novel ''[[Blood Angels|Deus Sanguinius]]'', Rafen manages to kill the Lord of Change Malfallax. However, to do so he had to use the [[Ancestral Weapon|Spear of Telesto]] to do so and {{spoiler|[[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu|Broke His Arm Doing So]].}}
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