History Main / BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame

* There is a quite literal example in VideoGame/GranTurismo, where you are supposed to beat a time set by Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the series, in the last Time Trial race.

** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS19E8SponsoredContent Sponsored Content]]", Jimmy is the first person to actually ''win'' against PC Principal and his thuggish dudebro "{{political correctness|IsEvil}}"... by using his own LogicalFallacy manipulation tactics against him and insisting ''he'' is only getting mad because he "has a problem with disabled people" and that ''he'' is the one who is "confused". PC Principal does ''not'' take it well.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591880/chapters/28680388 Lila and the Anger Management Class]]'': When Chloe starts her usual ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections spiel, Lila quickly shut her up by doing the same:

* ''Fanfic/MarinetteDupainChengsSpitePlaylist'': One of Lila's favorite tactics is making up stories about supposedly participating at various benefits and charitable acts in order to pass herself off as an activist. Marinette and her allies turn the tables on her with ''real'' charity work, [[{{Defictionalization}} defictionalizing]] the movements she claims to have been involved with... only Marinette and her friends are ''actually'' making those things happen.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Played with in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E12BartCarny Bart Carny]]". When Homer and Bart work at a CrappyCarnival, one of their jobs is temporarily covering for a father and son who run an impossible ring-toss. Chief Wiggum threatens to close down the game since it's rigged and does so when Homer remains oblivious to Wiggum's attempts to be bribed. Homer lets the two stay at their home and the father and son ended up locking the Simpsons out of their house when the family are away. Homer bet the house on being able to throw a hula-hoop around their chimney and the carny agreed. [[spoiler:When Homer seemed about to throw the thing, the family run back into the house and lock the door, so they ''really'' beat them at their own game: cheating.]]

-->--''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''

* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic'' #3 it is revealed that Starswirl the Bearded, knowing full well that all his magic would be useless against them, attempted to beat the Sirens with the very thing they were using to hypnotize the Canterlot ponies: music. Night after night, Starswirl and the Sirens competed for ponies' ears. But in the end, he failed. Desperate, he took the magic mirror and used it to banish the Sirens to an alternate world, one he knew there was no magic for them to steal. And the rest, as they say, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks is history.]]
* In one story during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] tried this, figuring that if a UtilityBelt works so well for Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}}, it could work well for him too, and built his own. (Unfortunately, Batman was a little ''too'' good at his own game, and managed to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use Joker's belt to his own advantage.]])

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'': The master of disguise Nemesis falls for [[Characters/WonderWomanVillains Circe]]'s disguise as Wonder Woman, which she lampshades and which nearly gets him killed.

* {{Exploited|trope}} and {{subverted|trope}} during Cedric Alexander's feud with Decade, where he made a point to take up Wrestling/RoderickStrong's moves. When it came time for their "Battle Of The Back Breakers" though, Alexander instead caught Strong off guard with a roll up.

** And ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|SonsOfLiberty}}'''s final fight makes you battle Solidus with swords only. Here any use of guns is not possible.
** ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'' had a sequence where you get to [[spoiler:pilot Metal Gear REX in a battle with Liquid Ocelot in his Metal Gear RAY. [=RAYs=] were ''created'' specifically to take down ''REX's'' knockoffs]]. And it's awesome.

** This is entirely optional for the most part, as there are several ways to beat each boss or situation. When you fight Sniper Wolf [[spoiler:again]] you can take cover behind an embankment and spam Nikita missiles at her. With ''[=MGS3=]'''s The End, you ''could'' fight fire with fire by sniping him, or you could sneak around and make the fight up close and personal. Or just run out the clock (although this takes several days without cheating). You can even kill him and prevent his boss fight later on; when he is being wheeled out at the docks, you can snipe him down easily.
** Inverted in the fight with Laughing Octopus in ''[=MGS4=]'', where [[spoiler:she will occasionally hide in a cardboard box]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Said word for word by Long Feng, but denied by Azula.

'''Azula:''' [[MagnificentBastard Don't flatter yourself]]. [[XanatosSpeedChess You were never even a player]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Read My Lips", the first appearance of Scarface in the cartoon, Batman is able to fool Scarface into arguing with Wesker by using his own skills in {{ventriloquism}}.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Magic Duel", Trixie was able to beat Twilight Sparkle in their first duel by using the [[AmplifierArtifact Alicorn Amulet]] to have more powerful and advanced spells than her. In the rematch, Twilight won by using stage magic, Trixie's specialty, to make her think Twilight was more powerful.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "Major Competition", the girls are seemingly upstaged by a new superhero named Major Man who always shows up in the nick of time whenever there's a crisis. Becoming suspicious, the girls decide to spy on him and catch him setting up situations in advance so he can go in and save the day. How do they decide to expose him? By setting up a crisis themselves (a giant monster attack to be precise), and Major Man's inept response shows the people of Townsville that he's a phony.

** "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS1E7JackAndTheThreeBlindArchers Jack and the Three Blind Archers]]": Jack uses his own skills in blind-fighting to defeat them.
** "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS1E8JackVsMadJack Jack vs. Mad Jack]]": Inverted. After Aku grows tired of sending wave after wave of bounty hunters against Jack, he decides to solve the issue by creating an EvilTwin of Jack [[EnemyWithout from his hatred and anger]]. True enough, Jack could not defeat it in combat; instead, [[SheatheYourSword he defeated the clone by meditating and reaching inner peace]].
** "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS4E1SamuraiVsNinja Samurai vs. Ninja]]": Jack becomes a ninja to fight a ninja.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart Carny". When Homer and Bart work at a CrappyCarnival, one of their jobs is temporarily covering for a father and son who run an impossible ring-toss. Chief Wiggum threatens to close down the game since it's rigged and does so when Homer remains oblivious to Wiggum's attempts to be bribed. Homer lets the two stay at their home and the father and son ended up locking the Simpsons out of their house when the family are away. Homer bet the house on being able to throw a hula-hoop around their chimney and the carny agreed. [[spoiler:When Homer seemed about to throw the thing, the family run back into the house and lock the door. So they ''really'' beat them at their own game: cheating.]]

** In "Sponsored Content", Jimmy is the first person to actually ''win'' against PC Principal and his thuggish dudebro "{{political correctness|IsEvil}}"... by using his own LogicalFallacy manipulation tactics against him and insisting ''he'' is only getting mad because he "has a problem with disabled people" and that ''he'' is the one who is "confused". PC Principal does ''not'' take it well.
---> '''PC Principal:''' WHO DOES THIS KID THINK HE IS?! CHALLENGING ''ME''?! I SAID ONE MICRO-AGGRESSION TO HIM OKAY?! ONE LITTLE MICRO-AGGRESSION!!! BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I HAVE AN UNCONSCIOUS BIAS TOWARD PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES!!!
** In "Franchise Prequel", Professor Chaos and his minions slander the Coon and Friends on Website/{{Facebook}}. Even when the heroes try to tell other people the truth, everyone believes what is posted on Facebook. This makes them pariahs in the town, which among other things causes them to lose out on the opportunity to make shitloads of money from Creator/{{Netflix}}. Knowing that physically stopping Chaos is illegal, they realize that Mark Zuckerberg is the key to putting an end to the problem and the Coon mentions this trope by name. They ZergRush him but he easily throws them aside. The Coon wails that Tupperware (Token), Fastpass (Jimmy), and the Human Kite (Kyle) were simply standing up for black, handicapped, and Jewish people, respectively, and wonders why Zuckerburg would be so cruel to them. Zuckerberg says that isn't true but the Coon points out that Super Craig has filmed the whole fight on Facebook Live and now Facebook says its true. Zuckerberg has no choice but to shut his site down.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'': Inverted in an episode where the demon Trigon forces Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire to fight the evil side of themselves -- a black-and-white, evil copy of each Titan. After a long while of trying (and failing miserably) to beat themselves, they figure out that the copies can be defeated by each Titan taking down a copy other than their own.

* ''[[https://salthaven.tumblr.com/post/190458693897/ A Lady's Scout (and the Salt within her Soul)]]'': One of Lila's favorite tactics is [[CelebrityLie claiming to know various celebrities]]; this includes pretending to be "Ladybug's best friend" when she actually ''despises'' her. She also loves spreading MaliciousSlander. Marinette turns ''both'' of these traits against her when she starts giving the temporary heroes special clothing designed to be reminiscent of their heroic personas as a sort of 'parting gift' to signify their replacement. When Lila suggests that Marinette is [[RightForTheWrongReasons responsible for Alya getting demoted]], she turns them to her advantage, spreading rumors that she serves as a talent scout for Ladybug. This causes Lila to start losing favor with their [[FairWeatherFriend Fair-Weather Friends]] as most of them try cozying up to Marinette, wanting to be chosen themselves.

* [[WorldWarII/WarInAsiaAndThePacific The Battle of Midway]] was a second attempt by the [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Japanese Navy]] to trap and destroy the US Pacific Carrier Fleet. The plan called for drawing the US Carrier fleet out into a battle by capturing the strategically important Midway Island. First, a Carrier strike force (Kido Butai, lit. "''Striking Force''") would launch air attacks to neutralize the Midway airfield before waiting far northwest; then a landing force would assault and capture the island. In response, the American Carrier group was expected to deploy to Midway to stop the Japanese landing force, where Kido Butai would be waiting to ambush. On paper, it seemed to be an elegant and well-thought out plan, if [[ComplexityAddiction a bit too complex]]. What the Japanese didn't know is that the Americans had broken their codes, forewarning them about the attack and allowing them to set up their own ambush. When Kido Butai approached Midway, they were ambushed by dozens of US Fighters and Bombers from the same carrier group they intended to destroy, which resulted in all their own carriers sunk. Midway has since gone down as [[DecisiveBattle one of the most important naval battles in history.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Franchise Prequel" Professor Chaos and his minions slander the Coon and Friends on Website/{{Facebook}}. Even when the heroes try to tell other people the truth, everyone believes what is posted on Facebook. This makes them pariahs in the town, which among other things causes them to lose out on the opportunity to make shitloads of money from Creator/{{Netflix}}. Knowing that physically stopping Chaos is illegal, they realize that Mark Zuckerberg is the key to putting an end to the problem and the Coon mentions this trope by name. They ZergRush him but he easily throws them aside. The Coon wails that Tupperware (Token), Fastpass (Jimmy), and the Human Kite (Kyle) were simply standing up for black, handicapped, and Jewish people, respectively, and wonders why Zuckerburg would be so cruel to them. Zuckerberg says that isn't true but the Coon points out that Super Craig has filmed the whole fight on Facebook Live and now Facebook says its true. Zuckerberg has no choice but to shut his site down.