History Main / BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame

* Since July 2005, when the first UsefulNotes/FormulaOne driver was a guest on ''TopGear'', none had cracked [[BadassDriver 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''.

* Before Jon Stewart took over ''Series/TheDailyShow'' and ''Series/WinBenSteinsMoney'' was in its prime, Stein was given a set of five questions to answer after an interview. The questions were outrageously difficult and based on very obscure facts. (Stein, to his credit, managed to answer one correctly.)

* Wrestling/SaraDelRey beat Wrestling/AmazingKong by count out when defending the Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Championship so when Amazing Kong was defending the Wrestling/{{N|ational Wrestling Alliance}}WA World Women's Championship she threw Del Rey out of the ring and demanded the referee count Del Rey out. [[SubvertedTrope He disqualified Kong]].

* In ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic]]'' #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 hipnotize 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 ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'' Nanoha defeats Teana using her own attack, Crossfire. She gets even in ''Manga/ViVid'': 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.

** It's worth noting, however, that in the original version, Pegasus himself decided to expand the DDM game adding new monsters and abilities(including the aforementioned Dark Magician), and Duke failed to check out which additions he had made. When Yugi managed to summon the Dark Magician, Duke had no idea of what abilities he had, which played a major factor in his defeat. Still, seeing that he (Duke) had created the game, he should have double-checked it beforehand.

** Yugi was also able to beat Duke Devlin at ''Dungeon Dice Monsters'' by adapting to Duke's game rather easily, but a lot of that [[HoistByHisOwnPetard was Duke's fault]]; he had made the DDM version of Dark Magician, [[TheAce Yugi's favorite card]], ''very'' powerful and very similar to the one Yugi was familiar with. Yugi couldn't help but ''thank'' him for creating such a faithful adaptation of his best card before scoring the winning move.

* Meta Knight, the recurring sword-wielding WorthyOpponent from the ''{{Kirby}}'' series, usually leaves a sword in the boss arena for you to take and use against him. Originally, in ''Kirby's Adventure'', he refused to start the fight until you took it, but in ''Kirby Super Star'', he will fight you if you wait several seconds without taking it, which isn't advisable outside of the Arena due to the time limit you're given, plus the extremely low amount of ammo he creates makes defeating him without an ability extremely difficult (Though future games and remakes remedy this by making him generate stars after most attacks).

* Since July 2005, when the first FormulaOne driver was a guest on ''TopGear'', none had cracked [[BadassDriver 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''.

* In an episode of ''[[SuzumiyaHaruhi The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', the SOS Brigade are challenged by the Computer Society at a video game of the latter's own design to keep their computer (and their EmotionlessGirl, thanks to Haruhi's tendency to treat brigade members like property.) The SOS Brigade ends up winning in spite of only having a week of practice, having a strategic moron for a leader, and [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard rampant cheating on the part of the Computer Society]].

* In {{Pickory}}, [[UnexpectedGameplayChange one of the boss fights is actually a clone of [=KSpaceDuel=]]]. You get a ship which is identical to the boss in every way.

* A literal example: a team of ''LeagueOfLegends'' developers was beaten at ''League of Legends'' by a team of ''HeroesOfNewerth'' developers, their [[DuelingGames chief competitors]] in the market, which is doubly ironic because ''[=HoN=]'' is considered by many to have a higher skill cap, which ''[=LoL=]'' fans often vehemently deny.
* [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] pulls this on [[spoiler: Hades. The God of the Underworld tries to steal his soul. Kratos takes his soul-stealing weapons, then uses them on Hades.]]
* Don Flaminco in ''PunchOut'' uses this against you. For most opponents, you have to block or dodge their attacks and then counterattack. Don does the same trick against you, refusing to land a blow on you unless you strike first so he can counter. Of course, you can counter his counterattack.
* In ''{{Evolva}}'', you're forced to do this, as you must mutate to get the defeated enemies' attacks and use them against the enemies, if you don't want to complete the game only with your fists. It's still not recommended to use an attack against the enemy that gave you the attack in the first place.

* Reverse example. in ''DevilMayCry 3'', Dante goes the whole game with his broad sword and his brother Vergil with a [[KatanasAreJustBetter Katana]]. At the final level, Vergil gains a similar sword and starts fighting almost exactly like ''you'', going from a GlassCannon Ken to a full-fledged PerfectPlayAI.

* A variation in ''Anime/AldnoahZero'': while trying to take back New Orleans, Inaho and his team face off against the occupying Martian Knight's [[HumungousMecha Solis Kataphrakt]]. The Solis uses ''terrifyingly'' powerful FrickinLaserBeams, allowing it to blast opponents and even missiles to slag before they even get close. Inaho's solution to this long-ranged opponent is even ''longer''-ranged combat: [[spoiler:he relays the exact position of the Solis to the [[CoolShip Deucalion]], allowing them to lob shells at it from behind the safety of the horizon.]]

* Vitally important in both the {{X-Com}} series and UFOAfterblank 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.

* In ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'', Tron's entire strategy revolved around this. His two Numbers (Number 8: Heraldic King Genom-Heritage and the even stronger Number 69: Heraldry God - Coat of Arms) could both steal the effects and even the names of opposing monsters, using them themselves and leaving the opposing monsters powerless. (Thankfully, the RealLife versions of these cards are ''far'' less potent.)

* ''BoboboboBobobo'' is quite fond of using parodies of his enemies' attacks.

* ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' has a boss named Duon that has a melee-attacking side and a projectile-throwing side. The blog notes that it's best to match him and fight close to it when the melee side is facing you, and keep your distance from the projectile-throwing side.

** Inverted in the fight with Laughing Octopus in ''MGS 4'', where [[spoiler: she will occasionally hide in a cardboard box]]

** And VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2's final fight makes you battle Solidus with swords only. Here any use of guns is not possible.

** With the exception of the original MGS, though, this is entirely optional for the most part, as there are several ways to beat each boss or situation. With [=MGS3=]'s The End, for example, 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).

*** It's optional in the first MGS as well. When you fight Sniper Wolf [[spoiler:again]] you can take cover behind an embankment and spam Nikita missiles at her.
** Inverted in the fight with Laughing Octopus in MGS 4, where [[spoiler: she will occasionally hide in a cardboard box]]

* At some point in [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock's]] career, he began to make a habit out of hitting his opponents with their own finishers. This included giving Wrestling/TripleH a Pedigree onto a table, giving the Undertaker a chokeslam, spearing Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}, putting Wrestling/KurtAngle in the ankle lock and giving Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin lots and LOTS of Stunners. While he usually tried to pick up a pin after this, they pretty much always kicked out. Also, this usually meant that eventually the other wrestler would give him the Rock Bottom.

* Many times a wrestler will have a trademark finishing maneuver. As in the WWE game cited above, a point of drama is to use a wrestler's finisher against him/her. This only works if the move in question is unique, though; there's not as much drama if Wrestling/{{Kane}} and Wrestling/TheUndertaker trade Tombstones and chokeslams, since they both 'naturally' have them. Some of these can cross with [[HoistByHisOwnPetard/ProfessionalWrestling Hoist By His Own Petard]].

* Before Jon Stewart took over ''Series/TheDailyShow'' and Series/WinBenSteinsMoney was in its prime, Stein was given a set of five questions to answer after an interview. The questions were outrageously difficult and based on very obscure facts. (Stein, to his credit, managed to answer one correctly.)

* A case where the incident in question prompted a rule change occurred in Extreme Dodgeball, where one player would abuse the 5-second rule regarding delay of game, by placing the balls on the opposing half of the court. Since this forced the opponents to act, and in doing so got knocked out by the offending player, it was considered a cheap, yet highly effective tactic. Later that game, an opposing player used the very tactic against them, even taking out the original user as the final shot. Afterwards, the rules reflected this unfair tactic, naming it ''The Benedetto Amendment''.