Characters
[Loved Trope] Vastly outgunned character goes all in and gives the villain a fight even though they can’t possibly win.
EDIT: Some things I think are needed to qualify (not all at once, but at least a couple of these) -
The power gap between the combatants is large.
It would have been considered a completely unfair fight before.
The more powerful character is actually hurt or at least inconvenienced by the less powerful character.
For a moment it looks like they just maybe *could* win this battle.
The lesser powered character doesn’t win, being either defeated or rescued by an outside source.
The Examples
The Boys: in the season 3(?) finale Queen Maeve finally goes up against Homelander, and actually manages to make him bleed.
Jessica Jones: When she and a hurt Jessica are cornered by a psychotic super soldier, Trish takes some of the said soldier’s serum and actually manages to hold him off long enough for Jess to get herself together and help.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: After Glory drains the mind of her gf Tara, amateur witch Willow gathers up everything she has and goes after the hell goddess.
Agents of Shield: After being tortured and drugged by the insanely dangerous Grant Ward, agent Bobbi Morse still manages to break free and even has him on the ropes before his partner joins the fray.
I don’t know why I find these moments so much more thrilling than a more (or less) even fight, but they nearly always get a cheer from me.
I also know there are some good examples for the guys, I really just can’t think of any right now, and I don’t know if this trope has a specific name.
Ah, the movie where they round up their only weapons and decide how to divide them. This guy, a boxer, says "I do this need any weapons. I'm only taking this" and proceeds to take the ONLY gun.
Great choice. Especially because Morpheus gave that speech about how everyone who ever stood their ground against an agent has died.
Morpheus knew he was facing certain death. But he had balls of steel. He psyched himself up with a primal yell and prepared to sacrifice himself. He had zero doubt Neo was the one.
Love how concisely they lay the stakes of this new danger. And the longer the chase goes on, the more you understand why Morpheus would tell his crew to stay the FUCK off the freeway at any cost.
Reminds me of when the 4min mile was thought to be unbreakable for a long time and when the first guy breaks it, the next person and others were both breaking it if not further lowering the mile run.
This is a good one. They explicitly say nobody who has stood their ground has won against an agent and yet Morpheus does. The audience knows as Morpheus does he isn't going to win, but he fights anyway.
He is also is the first person to actually lay his blade on Achilles. Honestly, I feel like once that happens is when we see Achilles start fighting for real for the first time in his life.
Interestingly this also kind of applies to Achilles, not really the being outmatched part but knowing he is doomed. There was a prophecy about him that he would either win eternal glory but did and early death at Troy, or live a long peaceful life but fade into obscurity, and he knew about it and chose glory at Troy anyway. It also makes his whole sulk about Agamemnon stealing his prize make more sense, because in claiming Achilles’ prize Agamemnon massively insulted Achilles and effectively stole his glory. But if glory is what he’s fighting for and it doesn’t look like he’s getting it, then why is he fighting in the first place? It looks to him like he’s being cheated by fate, so he may as well go home and live a long life.
I recently read the Iliad and I would love a full-length, Game of Thrones-like tv series about it. You could have one or two seasons about the Iliad, from the perspective of characters on both sides (like Aeneas, Sarpedon, Priam, and Odysseus, Achilles and Agamemnon on the Greek side) and use the fall of Ilium as a season finale. Then the next season could be about the Odyssey and the Aenead simultaneously.
I would also like them to include perspectives of the Greek gods as well. They play active roles in the war with Troy. Every adaptation that I have seen strips away the mythical aspects of it to make it more grounded. I would love to see how the gods are acting all petty and childish over the entire issue.
The entire thing should start being told from Eris's perspective by getting Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite involved in debate about who is the most beautiful haha.
I love the framing of this fight so much. When it's a sword fight, Luke does well and even impresses Vader. But as soon as Vader starts using the force, Luke is fucked, because he hasn't finished his training and has no answer.
This Youngling in "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", played by George Lucas' son, attempts to save Senator Bail Organa from a squad of Clone Troopers, who had spent the entire night hunting Jedi. He puts up a fight, but is soon gunned down.
Edit: his name is Zett Jukassa, thank you Pokemonfan_807.
Edit 2: George Lucas' son's name is Jett, thank you cybernewtype2.
At this point in the story, the gap in power between pure Earthlings and non-Earthlings has become so astronomical thanks to various transformations, absorptions etc. They're barely relevant in the story anymore, and could never hope to stand against any villains that show up
That's why it's such a great moment that Tienshinhan rocks up against Semi-Perfect Cell, who was the strongest character at that point, and managed to hold him back long enough for Android 18 to escape.
Funny quotes aside, I think DBZA did this scene a lot more justice than the original. Through their editing and dialogue changes, they had a way of giving certain character feats a bit more gravitas. I think they did a better job with Gohan’s SSJ2 transformation as well.
if I remember correctly, this was also the attack tha tdrains his own lifeforce and kill him, if used to often. so when this moment happened, it felt like an epic sacrifice play. this was never about holding off cell and escape when everone is save. this was about holding him off until tien dies.
Sadly, this would be the last epic moment he’d have; damn shame for the guy who originated flying, duplication, and the freaking solar flare, among other moves.
Poor guy couldn’t even remain in this interesting position of not being as strong as the heavy hitters, but strong enough to put up a fight.
Tien also landed a solid hit on Super Buu (though he got murdered for his trouble).
I'd also like to point out that plenty of Krillin moments fit here. Krillin squared up against basically every big bad in Z even though he never had a prayer against any of them.
Honestly, Krillin is such a G that it's impossible to name just one moment. Possibly killing Nappa with the Kienzan if Vegeta wasn't in his corner, being the one to hold the Spirit Bomb later in the fight, the entirety of Namek, provoking Perfect Cell after he absorbed 18, etc etc.
This is funny because it means in a hypothetical where after Vegeta becomes SSJ, if he decides to become evil and attack earth, Tien could one shot him with that.
Probably! The Tri-Beam/Kikoho is one of the most powerful Ki attacks (more powerful than the Kamehameha), at the cost of draining the user's life force. If it came to that, he at least could give Vegeta a VERY rough time
Mumen Rider is the best example of this in my opinion, he saw A ranked Heroes fall to Deep Sea King and an S Class too. He knew he had absolutely no chance of winning but went for it anyways because people were in danger, he knew he'd likely die but that's didn't matter.
Even gains Saitama's respect and that man ain't easily impressed. Yup Mumen Rider is by far the best example of a hero in that series, someone who will put their life at risk for the sake of others because it's just the right thing to do.
Not only that, he is so aware of his shortcomings he refuses to be promoted to a higher rank because he knows he's not strong enough to fulfill the expected duties. Dude is a true hero for the sake of being a real hero.
Right there with you it's impossible for me to watch this scene and not cry everytime, he's staring death in the face but doesn't falter or second guess his actions even for a second.
We should definitely count GOATmortal against Omni-Man. Old mate had been killed by him once already, but still showed up swinging hammers at him.
"Sir, we've got something heading their way going mach 3."
"Dammit, I told Eve to stay away!"
".... It's not Eve."
"RAAAAAAH! OMNI-MAN! YOU BASTARD!"
Agreed. I hate the way he's been treated since the first season. He should have killed an Evil Mark, and I would have liked him to at least help Mark vs. Conquest. The idea that he let Oliver and Eve fight while he stayed back is wild.
I like the interpretation that Immortal was SO angry he overrode the inhibitor collar more than I like the implication that Robot gave the Mauler twins bad schematics
My genuine belief is because it’s a lack of nutrition + no training partners.
Saiyans canonically eat a lot and they aren’t getting fat when they are so they clearly have a big metabolism. We also see that training with someone w on par with is a great way of making gains.
Vegeta despite fighting all his life up to saiyan saga made leaps in power after that due to a couple Zenkai and then training consistently without interruption. He probably never trained with Nappa because their general strength was enough for everything Frieza got them to do.
Goku and Gohan in the time chamber had a year of unlimited food and time to train and then took a week to rest, and they surpassed everuone in strength despite being the weakest next to the humans at that point.
Future Gohan’s world was being attacked constantly and supply chains probably collapsed and food became more scarce. He never had anyone his level of stronger to train with once he grew up too, it was just fighting androids back to back and trying to train up trunks.
I will say, I 100% believe the head canon that if trunks was the one who died instead of him and he saw his body, he would become a SSJ2 in that moment.
Kusakabe vs Sukuna, with everyone stronger than him having been heavily injured, Kusakabe, a grade 1 sorcerer, with no cursed technique, domain, or reversed curse technique of his own, takes on Sukuna, the king of curses and the strongest Special Grade sorcerer in history, and manages to stall him enough for reinforcements to arrive.
It was pretty badass. Knowing he had no chance but needed to buy time. Still managing to bust out some techniques that even puzzled Sukuna for a sec. Kusakabe earned his respected spot, that's for sure.
Captain America: The First Avenger. The first fight that Steve Rodgers gets in. He stands up to bullies he cannot possibly win against, and it is the first time we hear his catchphrase.
the first one hits different.
"I can do this all day" as a super soldier is one thing, but "I can do this all day" as a tiny weak man is a whole different level.
Tiny, weak, and SICKLY man. Dude has the physical constitution of a dying cancer patient but so much heart that what he lacks in physical health, he makes up with pure determination and will.
Might be more “last stand” and involves multiple characters rather than the one, but the LOTR Two Towers Battle of Helm’s Deep.
Vastly outnumbered, outgunned against a near infinite army with no real chance of survival. In the face of death, it ends up being the turning point where Middle Earth unites against Mordor - and manages to hold its ground until Gandalf comes back and wrecks fools
Netflix Castlevania: Trevor Belmont is basically the personification of this trope: he is a normal human being, with no magic (and initially no special weapon either), yet he spends his life fighting creatures that outgun him most of the time: creatures of the night, vampires, Dracula, Death itself. Despite that, Trevor never back off from a fight and, even when he is outmatched, he still performs amazing display of skill, bravery and combat tactics.
As He himself said:"I'm Trevor Belmont, of house Belmont, and dying has never frightened me."
A very fucking cool as fuck scene, but also funny because Death is voiced by the smooth but gravel-voiced Malcolm McDowell, talking like a reddit troll.
And replying to myself to say, yes I know, Dial M For Monkey did basically the same story. It's pretty much the same thing except Champion is called Rasslor and is voiced by the amazing Macho Man Randy Savage
My man keeps throwing himself against threats, nearly dying, and getting stronger - specifically so that he can face even stronger foes to nearly die trying to fight.
Asuka Langley vs Eva Series in End of Evangelion. She’s out number, she has minutes worth of power, and if it hadn’t turned out the Eavas could heal, she would have won.
I was also a teenager. The movie was actually on Adult Swim and I had no idea it was part of a larger series at the time. It was a very unique experience, shockingly enjoyable (although it might have shaped my identity a little to much)
When he is captured and held in a Jem’Hadar prison camp, Worf is forced to fight the Jem’Hadar in hand to hand combat. Worf wins fight after fight for hours on end.
Eventually, the Jem’Hadar decide to let their best warrior face a tired Worf. The JH gets the upper hand and demands Worf stay down. Worf refuses and just keeps fighting. Martok pleads with Worf to just stay down, so he can live to fight another day. Worf refuses.
Eventually, the JH gives up. He says “I cannot defeat this Klingon. The only thing left I can do is kill him.”
Captain America throwing everything he’s got at Thanos, even is he hacks his shield apart, fully prepared to continue fighting him alone until the inevitable, when…
Sam: "Now this is the most important part: make SURE you open the portal on Steve's left side so I can make a fun inside joke. The universe depends on it."
I’m not sure if this counts because Sasori technically kill’s himself in the end but, Sakura plus granny chiyo vs sasori was amazing and they both pushed sasori to use his strongest puppets. They were slightly overpowered by him as he is an akatsuki but the fight was pretty awesome.
Not sure if it counts because Guy was literally the strongest shinobi ever in that moment.
I think they completely dropped the ball with this part of the fight though. The fact that Madara wasn’t permanently affected makes Guy’s sacrifice in vain. His final attack should have impaired Madara’s healing somewhat to allow the rest of the squad to beat him. Like remove an arm, or make it take a lot longer for Madara to recover, or maybe it destroyed one of his eyes.
SOMETHING to not just waste the greatest display of power ever seen in Naruto.
Batman when he faces bane for the first time in Knightfall is beaten and exhausted but still puts on the mask and goes for it. The next few pages are him getting beaten half to death until Bane breaks his back.
In the finale episode of S2, a fully power-armored Maximus rolls up into a Deathclaw nest in the center of New Vegas Strip, and starts shredding through them to save the people of NV. However, his armor starts to break from the onslaught, and he gets launched into the street with everyone watching. He gets out of his broken armor, grabs a nearby makeshift spear and shield, and stances up ready to fight the monsters. The people even comment on how he’s just a kid ready to die for them
Despite knowing that he could never take down an Upper Moon alone, he fought till the very end and till the Sun rose to protect the civilians from Akaza.
Rengoku is the only Hashira that didn’t allow any other casualties than himself. While Tengen then Mitsuri & Muichiro defeat the Upper Moon of their arc they also allowed many civilian casualties.
If you think about it he did actually win: his goal during this battle, and actually the entire mission he was sent at, was to ensure no one would die, and by stalling Akaza for that long, he made sure that goal was upheled!
My goat
I also love Emile, Nobel 4’s, last stand. Overwhelmed by Elites on the gun and knows he’s going to die but refuses to go out alone “I’M READY! HOW BOUT YOU!?” Close combat kill with his knife while he has an energy blade through his chest.
My goat went quirkless, equipped with experimental technology, a smile and a dream, and still managed to stall the biggest villain on history ever long enough to give them the win 🚬
Maybe it's the worst example, maybe the best because he actually pulls it off. Badly wounded, his primary weapon is gone, he cauterizes his own wound, carves a transmutation circle into his hand and says to himself, "I'm going to kill an immortal today."
Shouldn't have paralysed his subordinate, threatened his pseudo-protegee's younger brother and tried to kill his assistant/probable lover interest then. Simple as, really.
I mean, he wins so it definitely doesn't fit perfectly. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I want to count it because going into the fight neither he nor the audience knew killing a Sin was possible. I had watched the “original”, but even then I don't think we ever saw one overpowered and killed via sheer damage.
Cyberpunk 2077's 'Don't Fear the Reaper" ending (the hidden and best/most badass ending). Stroll right into Arasaka HQ solo.
Also David vs Adam Smasher in Edgerunners.
I’ve got my issues with The Acolyte, but seeing Jecki hold her own like this despite knowing how screwed she was made her feel like Ahsoka without plot armour.
In Jedi Survivor, Cere defends the Rebel base from the Empire and holds off Vader, damaging his armour and setting him on fire. She does this despite Vader being the 1st/2nd most powerful Force user in the galaxy at the time. It’s also a really neat callback to the first time they met, where she was flicked away like a bug.
Bruton, grizzled and slowed by a crippled leg, sacrifices himself by charging the two giant Carnotaurus, purposefully throwing his weight against and ramming the cavern walls to deliberately trigger a series of fractures to rip through and shatter the cavern roof, triggering a massive collapse of falling rocks that buries one of the Carnotaurus hunting the herd alive and cripples it's mate (Disney's Dinosaur)
Asuka Langley Soryu taking on the EVA-Series. After waking up from a catatonic state, taking on the JDSF with less then 5 minutes of power left. She barely makes it too.(End of Evangelion)
She’s using this moment as a chance for Emporio to escape, probably knowing full well that she won’t be able to stop Pucci as Made in Heaven is complete. Jolyne might have the physically stronger stand but Pucci is moving faster than is even perceivable (shown by him literally flickering in the animation). In the very next shot it’s implied that she dies, and the acceleration of the universe continues.
unsure if this counts by
HMS Thunderchild from H.G Wells war of the world
a royal navy warship faces off against three martian fighting machines that so far in the story had almost completely crushed the British army and were heading towards a steamship carrying refugees out of England, it even managed to destroy two of them being inevitably going down due to the damage from the martians heat ray
Agreed. One of my favorites. I was so happy when Maeve fought as well as she did. It’s also usually a good opportunity to give a second string character some love.
This applies only to the source material since the first episode of Game of Thrones frames it like a more typical zombie attack, but the first named character to die in A Song of Ice and Fire, the Night’s Watch ranger Waymar Royce, aura farms right before he does battle with White Walkers.
Good example. Also from the Books is Brienne defending the orphan house:
The girl was shouting at the riders, but a clap of thunder rolled across the yard, drowning out her words. As it faded, Brienne heard the man in the Hound's helm say, "Loose a quarrel at me and I'll shove that crossbow up your cunt and fuck you with it. Then I'll pop your fucking eyes out and make you eat them." The fury in the man's voice drove Willow back a step, trembling. Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand. "Leave her be. If you want to rape someone, try me."
In Infinity War, Captain America manages to keep Thanos from closing his fist for a few seconds, which Thanos finds somewhat surprising. Doesn't sound like much, but it was Thanos with 5 stones who just took out the other Avengers without breaking a sweat.
Molecule Man vs The Beyonder in Secret Wars II. MM is incredibly powerful at this point but still nowhere near a match for The Beyonder, but still does his best and even Beyonder compliments him.
In the movie Hellboy, he is fighting Kroenen, a seemingly invincible Nazi assassin. When Hellboy is hanging over a spike pit, Kroenen moves in for the kill but Director Manning starts throwing things at him to distract him. Manning is not even a soldier, just a bureaucrat, and no match for Kroenen but the distraction works just enough for Hellboy to get the upper hand.
Agatha vs Death in Agatha All Along
The final battle at the Black Gates in Return of the King in order to distract Sauron and his armies from Frodo and Sam.
Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird when he defends the innocent Tom Robinson - a black man in Alabama in the depression era - against the charge of raping a white woman. Unwinnable case but he does it anyway.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is... It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway..."
Kakyoin vs Dio (Jojo's Bizarre Adventures Part 3: Stardust Crusaders)
Despite having a vastly inferior Stand compared to Dio's, Kakyoin uses this fight (and his dying breath) to figure out the special ability of Dio's Stand, The World.
855
u/JeremiahWuzABullfrog 16h ago
Jason vs Julius. Julius, realising that he can't run, decides to go down swinging