View source for Hoist by His Own Petard

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{{quote|''"Impaled on your own sword, Gilderoy!'"''|'''Albus Dumbledore''', "''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (novel)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''", Chapter 18 - Dobby's Reward, Pg. 331.}}

The villain's own weapon or malicious plan is the cause of his downfall and/or death. This could be something as big as a [[Mad Scientist]] who creates monsters and/or a [[Weapon of Mass Destruction]] getting killed by his own creation, or as small as prankster accidentally setting off his own trap.

In media intended for young children, it is often a [[Death by Irony]] that releases the hero from the unpleasantness of actually killing their enemy; a more specific type of [[Self-Disposing Villain]].

If the [[Hero]] is not responsible for the death in any way, it can also be a [[Karmic Death]].

A "petard" is an explosive device (basically a bucket full of gunpowder) intended to demolish gates and fortified walls; being too close to the detonating explosive could well toss the engineer into the air. Thus, this term literally means "Blown into the air by one's own bomb" and [[Zeroth Law of Trope Examples|was first coined]] by [[Shakespeare]] in [[Hamlet]].

If an [[Eldritch Abomination]], [[God of Evil]] or otherwise supernatural evil entity gets [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Punched Out]] by the same powers it gave, you have a [[Faustian Rebellion]] in action. If it's an [[Ancient Conspiracy]], [[Government Conspiracy]] or other organisation whose [[Applied Phlebotinum]] is empowering the one who will bring them down, you have a [[Phlebotinum Rebel]]. If it's a [[Mook]], long abused, who finally snaps and turns against him at the last moment, it's [[The Dog Bites Back]]. It's it's a [[Video Game]] boss whose attacks can be redirected back at them, it's [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]. [[Gone Horribly Right]] is typically a case of this.

Compare [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]] and [[Beat Them At Their Own Game]] (a video game variation on this). See also [[Didn't Think This Through]]

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[[Category:Unisex Tropes]]
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Villain Ball]]
[[Category:Index Backfire]]
[[Category:Gambit Index]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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[[Category:Ironic Tropes]]
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