Graceful Loser: Difference between revisions

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This is not a trick to catch the heroes off guard: the villain really chooses to lay down his sword. He might one day return to fight the heroes, but that is definitely another day. Might occur in the case of an [[Affably Evil]] or [[Harmless Villain]], or a [[Magnificent Bastard]]. Only seen if there is limited (or even no) actual hatred between the villain and the heroes, and especially if there is even a sort of camaraderie between them, or perhaps both were trying to [[Rousseau Was Right|do the right thing]]. Only, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|the villain]] was simply [[Utopia Justifies the Means|misguided]]. Needless to say, the [[Worthy Opponent]] (especially in more idealistic and heroic works) is almost guaranteed to do this. [[Defeat Means Friendship|It might even cause them to join your side.]]

Can happen more often in series where there is a [[Cardboard Prison]] involved. A villain who happens to [[Know When to Fold Em]] just may do this. Can also happen when he chooses to [[Face Death With Dignity]].

Can happen more often in series where there is a [[Cardboard Prison]] involved. A villain who happens to [[Know When to Fold'Em]] just may do this. Can also happen when he chooses to [[Face Death With Dignity]].

Contrast [[Unsportsmanlike Gloating]], [[I Surrender, Suckers]].

[[Super Trope]] to [[Villain's Dying Grace]] and [[Touche]], which the villain is likely to say.

[[Super-Trope]] to [[Villain's Dying Grace]] and [[Touche]], which the villain is likely to say.

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** He even comes back during the next season's [[Crossover]] episode to help the Rangers take out some Orgs that he had business dealings with, in the "[[Meanwhile in The Future|past]]".

*** And he was pretty damn awesome as a good guy too.

* In the ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' episode "Amy's Choice", after our heroes have worked their way through his dream trap, the Dream Lord gracefully admits defeat and accepts his end of the bargain, saving their lives and fading away. {{spoiler|It's a subversion; when he leaves them, they're still trapped in his dream trap, and this is just his way of trying to fool them.}}

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Amy's Choice", after our heroes have worked their way through his dream trap, the Dream Lord gracefully admits defeat and accepts his end of the bargain, saving their lives and fading away. {{spoiler|It's a subversion; when he leaves them, they're still trapped in his dream trap, and this is just his way of trying to fool them.}}

* In the 1980s ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'', a group of neighborhood men play poker against the devil, who keeps winning with triple 6's. So for a final hand, double or nothing to get back the souls lost, they play lowball, where the devil's typical hands, of course, lose. The Devil smiles and gives them back everything they've lost. Further, charmed by their pluck, he fills the fridge with beer and snacks they were too poor to afford for their game.

* The ''[[Smallville (TV)|Smallville]]'' episode "Combat" has Clark being forced to fight against an escaped prisoner (from the Phantom Zone) named [[Smallville (TV)/Phantom Zone/Characters|Titan]]. The fight is brutal, forcing Clark to actually use his full strength. After being tossed rather forcefully to the ground, Titan rises and turns to reveal that he has been fatally impaled by his own arm-spike. Evidently aware of his mortal wound, he simply smiles, says "[[Worthy Opponent|Good fight!]]" and drops dead.

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* Admiral Gregorio, the [[Worthy Opponent]] of ''[[Skies of Arcadia (Video Game)|Skies of Arcadia]]''. He takes his loss to the heroes (which only cripples his ship and makes him unable to chase you) by giving Enrique, the party's [[Defector From Decadence]] and basically his nephew, his well-wishes for the future. Enrique responds in kind, expressing regret at having had to fight him. [[Handsome Lech]] Vigoro also bows out gracefully after getting his backside kicked by Vyse [[Recurring Boss|for the third time]], admitting that Vyse is the bigger man and giving up his [[Love At First Punch|obsessive chase]] after Aika in the process since, in his own words, "the strongest man has the right to be with the prettiest woman".

* A particularly odd example occurs in ''[[Bioshock (Video Game)|Bioshock]]'': {{spoiler|Once you finally confront Andrew Ryan, he exploits your sleeper agent code words to take control of you, then makes you kill him anyway, just because he'd rather die on his own terms.}} It is also possible that he did so because he realized that {{spoiler|you are actually his own mind-controlled son.}}

* King Bulblin from ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' offers his only line to the hero after being defeated for the last time: "[[I Fight for The Strongest Side|I follow the strongest side.]]" He then gracefully bows out, implying that he believes Link to be stronger than his former master.

* King Bulblin from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' offers his only line to the hero after being defeated for the last time: "[[I Fight for The Strongest Side|I follow the strongest side.]]" He then gracefully bows out, implying that he believes Link to be stronger than his former master.

* Most of the ranked assassins in ''[[No More Heroes (Video Game)|No More Heroes]]'' accept their deaths quite calmly. Especially {{spoiler|Speed Buster}}, but ''totally'' inverted with {{spoiler|Bad Girl}}.

** The same goes for ''[[No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle (Video Game)|No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle]]'', where the assassins' dying reactions usually consist of quiet acceptance or, in the case of [[Death Seeker|Nathan Copeland]], outright jubilation.

** The same goes for ''[[No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Video Game)|No More Heroes 2 Desperate Struggle]]'', where the assassins' dying reactions usually consist of quiet acceptance or, in the case of [[Death Seeker|Nathan Copeland]], outright jubilation.

* Rubicante, fitting with his status as a [[Worthy Opponent]] and a [[Noble Demon]], praises you after defeating the Elemental Lords when they team up in ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]''.

* The Turks from ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' ignore their orders to confront the party again if you refuse to fight them during the Midgar raid. Rude concludes, "We've completed our job" and they go back to awaiting the end of the world.

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* Assassin in ''[[Fate Stay Night (Visual Novel)|Fate Stay Night]]''. {{spoiler|After losing a fight to Saber only because his sword is slightly bent ''despite'' having no superhuman abilities, he just tells her to go, sits down and talks to himself for a few minutes before vanishing. It helps that he didn't really care if he won or even lived, he just wanted one good fight against another master swordsman. He was even rather graceful about [[Body Horror|True Assassin eating him from the inside.]]}} [[Extreme Doormat|He's just that kind of guy.]]

** And {{spoiler|Gilgamesh}}, who at least takes losing to Saber ''slightly'' better than you'd expect given [[Jerkass|his normal mode of behaviour]].

* In case 1-3 (Turnabout Samurai) of ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney]]'', the murderer {{spoiler|Dee Vasquez}}, upon being discovered in full in court by Phoenix, chooses not to go into a grand [[Freak Out]] (like so many other murderers do, though she does snap her pipe in half in anger first), but to simply thank Phoenix and quietly admit their guilt. Lampshaded by Phoenix. {{spoiler|Partially-Justified: The victim, Jack Hammer, was planning to kill Dee Vasquez and blame the murder on the guy you're defending, due to blackmailing Hammer over the death of a close friend on set five years ago. She killed him in accidental self-defense - the same way her friend was accidentally killed five years ago.}}

* In case 1-3 (Turnabout Samurai) of ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney]]'', the murderer {{spoiler|Dee Vasquez}}, upon being discovered in full in court by Phoenix, chooses not to go into a grand [[Freak-Out]] (like so many other murderers do, though she does snap her pipe in half in anger first), but to simply thank Phoenix and quietly admit their guilt. Lampshaded by Phoenix. {{spoiler|Partially-Justified: The victim, Jack Hammer, was planning to kill Dee Vasquez and blame the murder on the guy you're defending, due to blackmailing Hammer over the death of a close friend on set five years ago. She killed him in accidental self-defense - the same way her friend was accidentally killed five years ago.}}

** {{spoiler|Damon Gant counts as well. When he's finally taken down for the shit he's pulled, he bursts into almost childish laughter and extremely fast clapping out of madness. Afterward though he calms down, apologizes to the Judge for being unable to make their later appointment and even admits that the justice system is in good hands with Wright, Udgey and Edgeworth at the helm.}}

** {{spoiler|Manfred von Karma}} could also be considered one. When found out as the ultimate perpetrator for the current case and the DL-6 incident that led to the death of Edgeworth's father Gregory, he doesn't take it so lightly, screaming Edgeworth's name out and smashing his head on the crowd bench behind him. However, afterward he calms down, he snaps at the judge for ''not delivering the verdict fast enough.''

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* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E7 May the Best Pet Win|May the Best Pet Win]]", in which Rainbow Dash has a contest to see what animal becomes her pet, the falcon is a remarkably good sport about losing to a tortoise on [[Exact Words|a technicality]], even going so far as to shake, er, forelimbs.

** When Fluttershy tells motivational worker Iron Will that she refuses to pay up for his seminar due to him saying that he guarantees 100% satisfaction or else "You don't pay", he keeps his word (though not before asking if she's even mildly satisfied) and continues his way, even considering his experience with her worth using in his next seminar.

* In an episode of ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'', Francine goes to her 20th anniversary high school reunion, where they get the ballot box from Homecoming out of a time capsule. Inside they discover two uncounted votes which show Francine's rival should have been Homecoming queen. Francine handles it admirably, simply saying "How about that?" and giving her tiara to the other girl. Stan however has a [[Freak Out]], since he wanted to date the Homecoming queen to make up for his being a total loser in high school.

* In an episode of ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'', Francine goes to her 20th anniversary high school reunion, where they get the ballot box from Homecoming out of a time capsule. Inside they discover two uncounted votes which show Francine's rival should have been Homecoming queen. Francine handles it admirably, simply saying "How about that?" and giving her tiara to the other girl. Stan however has a [[Freak-Out]], since he wanted to date the Homecoming queen to make up for his being a total loser in high school.

* In the ''[[Hey Arnold (Animation)|Hey Arnold]]'' episode "Tour de Pond" Rex Smythe-Higgins III takes his defeat much better than his grandfather.

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[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Graceful Loser]]

[[Category:Trope]]