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You have no clue who is winning.
When two supercharged beings hit each other with enough force to shatter a brick wall, but can take it because they are [[Nigh Invulnerable]], we have no way of knowing if the blow was significant or not. The character may reel, but after a moment he's back in the fight as if it had never happened. This is easy to accept at first, but if the fight goes on too long, you start getting lost, and the end of the fight becomes somewhat anti-climactic,
You know this is occurring when you, J. Random Viewer, have no idea which moves are supposed to be the killer unbeatable finishers and which are just throwaway moves and desperation attacks; or who has the advantage and who's on the ropes. It's almost like the combatants are fighting not to win, but to entertain and impress some invisible audience of spectators. But that would be silly, right?
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Obviously, the breaking point on this can be a bit subjective.
When one side is getting all the damage and you still are wondering (slightly nauseated) how much more he can take, the trope is [[No
See also [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours]] and [[Rasputinian Death]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Heroic Age]]'' is essentially about super-huge reptilian monster things called Nodos that can (and do) destroy small moons with a single attack. This overwhelming power really makes itself apparent when two Nodos are engaged in battle for ''over 300 hours.'' That's nearly two weeks of pummeling each other over and over again with enough force to rend a small celestial body in half. And near the climax of the fight, neither one seems any worse for the wear.
* Nearly all fights in ''[[
** The fight at the end of the Saiyan saga actually showed what Goku and Vegeta's limits were; getting stepped or landed on by a 50 tall ape is apperently too much.
** Vegeta is the "king" of this trope. No matter what anyone throws at him, he just wont stay down. Heck he and Frieza are the only canon characters that have ever stood up after being hit by the Spirit Bomb!
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** The majority of that was just added to the anime, though ({{spoiler|6-Tails Naruto vs. Pain}} was even worse in that aspect). What was really the indication of who was winning was who had to rely on their [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] first, with the whole fight escalating until they were both using all that they could. ''Then'' it ended after [[Beam-O-War|one attack]].
*** {{spoiler|Well, keep in mind that the fight was 6-Tails Naruto vs Pain...'s last animated corpse. So we've got a monster made mainly of chakra with a human body somewhere in the middle versus a guy fighting from miles away using a dead body as a glorified puppet. It makes sense that neither one would really SHOW a lot of damage being taken since the two guys fighting aren't even on the front lines.}}
* It's a good thing people watch ''[[Bobobo-Bo
* Sort of used with [[Lampshade Hanging]] in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' A's. Both combatants think that they're losing and wonder if they will to be forced to use their ultimate weapon.
* Basically the default form of combat in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: Advent Children''. It demonstrates how well video-game-style fights translate to a non-video-game medium: Not well.
** This is averted Advent Children Complete. Many scenes were revised, and fights now show battle damage.
* This is played painfully straight in ''[[Devil Hunter Yohko]]'': each of the demons is [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|assuredly stronger than its predecessor]], but when they're functionally identically sacks of muscle and claw, this is only apparent to the viewer when the protagonists give up earlier than before after going through a [[Strictly Formula]] battle scene before the [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya]] moment.
* ''[[Ultimate Muscle]]''. Sure, that "Ultimate Muscle" power can account for a sudden comeback, and the protagonist's sheer [[Heroic Resolve]] probably counts for something... but somewhere around the third time he gets thrashed until he can barely stand up, only to start fighting back a few minutes later with renewed energy, it just gets ridiculous.
** Hell, that's nothing. In the original Kinnikuma's tag-team arc, Terryman gets impaled by floor tiles decorated with swords twice. The first time is painful, but the second time is bad enough to kill him. {{spoiler|He gets better.}}
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', the battle between Sanosuke and Monk Anji has the two trading Futai no Kiwami blows, each supposed to be able to pulverize rocks into dust. The final blow? Sano develops the sucession move to the Futai no Kiwami on the spot.
** Kenshin does acknowledge that neither fighter should be on their feet and that it is their will and not their bodies keeping them on their feet. After Sano wins the fight, he is the one in need of medical attention and is out of commission for some time because the repeated blows almost killed him.
** This happens a little later in Kenshin's final battle with Shishioh, after taking multiple hits from Kenshin's ultimate technique and being struck directly in the face by a Futai no Kiwami. Eventually it ends with {{spoiler|Shishio helpless on the ground, being protected by Yumi whom he takes advantage of by stabbing her to seriously wound Kenshin. With both of them on the ground, various members of the team states that the first one to get up will win easily, as the other will be helpless. Kenshin totally collapses, bleeding out, and Shishio manages to stand, maniacally cackling as he thinks he's won before ''bursting into flames'' (his body heat became so intense that it caused the fats and oils in his blood to ignite, as he has no sweat glands). Holy shit.}}
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* In ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', Yusuke and Chu have one. This is after spending all their spirit energy on various attacks and utterly pulverizing each other with energy attacks and such, and they can't even use their spirit attacks anymore. There's also a catch: Not only can they not move at all or they agree to forfeit, but their back heel is resting against a knife. Every hit that they each take knocks their foot into the knife, causing immense pain. Eventually {{spoiler|Yusuke wins after Chu tries to finish him with a mammoth headbutt. Yusuke intentionally just takes the attack and Chu is knocked out.}}
** The knife had two purposes: the aforementioned resting of the heel against the blade, and if one of the fighters ''did'' step back, the other would take the knife that was now between them and stab him with it (more or less just a guarantee that no one would be retreating, as by that point Chu liked Yusuke well enough to not kill him and it's doubtful Yusuke would kill Chu even if they weren't friendly as he didn't see Chu as being either evil or a threat to his friends).
* In ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'', Kabaji and Kawamura's match in the Hyoutei arc is literally like this. {{spoiler|And it WAS a part of Kawamura's [[Batman Gambit]], who since the beginning wanted to [[Taking You
* A beatdown of this sort happens between the two Rival Protagonists in {{spoiler|the last few minutes of the final episode of}} the anime ''[[
* The Dio Brando-versus-Joutarou Kujou Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny in ''[[
* Happens between Shirou and {{spoiler|Kotomine Kirei}} in the finale of the Heaven's Feel route of ''[[Fate/stay
** And a route before that in Unlimited Blade Works, we have Shirou vs. {{spoiler|Archer.}} Outclassed in skill and power, has a broken arm, a broken leg, shattered fingers, is bleeding profusely, and is much to his opponent's surprise, ''still able to parry and attack''.
* Don't even try guessing who is winning on ''[[Hellsing]]''. Even if someone has been decapitated, shot in the head, impaled a bajillion times and stuck to the wall, they've still got it under control. Really.
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** The fact that everyone in the series has [[From a Single Cell]] regeneration and are [[Nigh Invulnerable]] to boot makes it difficult, but there is a rule of thumb- has Alucard done something so far beyond badass it comes out the other side and ends up being silly yet? He's probably losing. But he'll win in the end.
** Except for his final battle, which is so far beyond weaksauce it comes out the other side and ends up being deeply compelling.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has normally made sure to emphasize the character's mortality during combat (such as things like sharpened stone spears being fatal like they should be). Then the match between Negi & Kotaro against Kagetaro & Rakan came about and threw all that out the window. {{spoiler|The match started with Raken being pummled by [[Full
** The fight is now over. {{spoiler|Both parties ended up running out of magic before they took down the other guy, so they ended up engaging in [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]. At that point, they both fainted from exhaustion.}}
* In ''[[Black Lagoon]]'', {{spoiler|Revy and Roberta}} end up settling their differences in a fistfight that ends up being a very good example of this trope. The end result is draw by [[Cross Counter]] (although {{spoiler|Roberta}} isn't knocked out, which technically makes her the winner).
** Not really, since it was shown that they both were extremely exhausted just before the finale blown. {{spoiler|Revy}} was just slightly more tired than her rival.
* ANY fight in ''[[Bleach]]'' involving Kenpachi is one of these, especially the one between him and {{spoiler|Nnoitra}}. Hell, any fight in Bleach that isn't a [[Curb Stomp Battle]].
* Pretty much every one of [[Kenichi:
* ''[[Visual Novel/Clannad After Story|Clannad After Story]]'' has a fight that lasts from dawn until after dark in episode 8.
* [[Hajime no Ippo|Ippo]] is notable for three things, strength (he punches way above his weight class), stamina, and an iron will. In a long bout, this trope is very much in evidence, as Ippo just never gives up, and can take a lot of punishment. The scariest thing for his opponents, after the intensity in his eyes, is that his punches just don't die.
* In chapter 87 of [[Claymore]], we see a claymore who is seemingly [[Curb Stomp Battle|curbstomping]] {{spoiler|Isley}} : she cuts {{spoiler|him}} with a [[Big Fancy Sword|BFS]], nearly destroy half of {{spoiler|his body}} without being injured... then we see her thought and realise that the situation is exactly the opposite, it's {{spoiler|Isley}} who is winning this battle.
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== Comic Books ==
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* Jango Fett's backstory/tribute comic ends with him and his [[Cycle of Revenge|lifelong archnemesis]] brutally beating each other down on a spaceship and then on the planet below. This fight mostly refrains from the "two supercharged beings no discernible damage" part of the trope listed above: both of them take a beating and show it (especially after Fett slashes Vizsla's belly open).
* [[The Punisher]] regularly suffers injuries that would render a normal man utterly comatose, if not dead. This is because he is [[Made of Iron]]. Once a shotgun blast blew one of his ribs clean out (!) and he kept on fighting.
* [[Batman]] has also suffered phenomenal physical trauma and kept going.
** Of course he has. He's [[Batman]].
* ''[[Sin City]]'' characters are generally hard to put down. Marv is probably the main offender. In his original story, he gets run over with a car mutliple times in a row, gets beaten by a [[Serial Killer]], and is still perfectly healthy enough to fight an entire SWAT team of federal agents... all in the span of one night. Cardinal Roark even mentioned how hard he was to stop.
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== Fanfiction ==
* In ''
== Film ==
* [[Superman (
** This is why the tense moment at the end of that fight when Superman is believed to be dead completely fails to fool the audience. Sure, he got crushed by a bus, but he's ''Superman'', for goodness sake. You'd have a hard time convincing us that that'd even knock the wind out of him.
* This can even happen in movies about supposedly normal mortals:
** [[James Bond (
** ''[[Rocky (
*** ''Rocky IV'' is bad, too. Ivan Drago managed to ''kill'' Apollo Creed with one of his punches, and Rocky is still able to hold him off for ten minutes screen time before his "come-from-behind" win.
** ''[[Face Off]]'': You would think that getting stabbed by a butterfly knife (and twist to make sure the wound won't close) would end a fight. No? How about a Harpoon to the gut? Still going? These guys didn't even slow down despite receiving wounds that at the very least should have made them limp.
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== Literature ==
* The climax of Max Barry's ''Machine Man''. {{spoiler|[[Man in
* Generally averted in the [[Dresden Files]] for humans. Harry can put out a ''hell'' of a lot of damage, but is human underneath it. Played straight with most of the big, supernatural enemies that Harry faces, as well as Cowl, who's currently one of the [[Big Bad|biggest bads]] in the series.
* Metalcrafters and the Vord Queen are this in the [[Codex Alera]].
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== Live Action TV ==
* [[
** It should be noted both fights end in a climatic way - {{spoiler|Spike}} beats {{spoiler|Angel}} after stabbing him on the shoulder with a stake and {{spoiler|Buffy}} beats {{spoiler|Faith}} after stabbing her in the stomach with a knife.
** Spike in general has a tendency to do this. He starts off being beaten around by virtually everything, then wins the fight in a short space of time. E.G., fighting against that fire-fisted demon to regain his soul, he was being destroyed before suddenly gaining the upper hand and snapping the guys neck.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''Fudge'' is one of few tabletop RPGs that actually weakens people as they get beat up, using a wound track (boxes under wound categories that get filled in), with hurt and very hurt wound boxes. A hurt is a significant penalty, and it will be obvious, a very hurt is a huge penalty, and will be just absurdly obvious.
* The almost unknown RPG "AMMO" (only published in Italy) uses 16 different stats for a character. Half of this are used both as normal stats (like Strength for damage, or Agility for dodges) and as life points: damages are randomly distributed amongst stats, reducing them. A very wounded character is highly inefficient, expect for magic users that have little use for physical stats anyway.
* ''[[Burning Wheel]]'' has a wound meter, but rather than filling up with damage, you just mark each hit under how much incapacitation it inflicts. It's actually very difficult to land a killing blow; most combat ends when one fighter's will breaks and he flees or surrenders, but between strong-willed fighters, they can keep going until one is so penalized by wounds that he can't move.
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', the final fight between Ocelot and Snake is this. Both beat eachother down time after time after time and yet both of them keep getting back on their feet.
** This is also sort of a callback to ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' (the first with the word "Solid" in the title), where {{spoiler|Liquid Snake, who Liquid Ocelot is a doppleganger of, simply ''won't '''die'''.'' You actually fight him a total of ''four'' times - ''five'' if you're counting both halves of the REX battle}}.
* ''[[Dissidia]]'' features leads and antagonists of most of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series duking it out with Brave attacks (that merely strengthen the attacker's next attack and weaken the opponent's) and HP ones (that actually deal damage), both featuring sharp weaponry and explosive magic. While all of the characters involved are inhumanly tough, strong and agile, there is no [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|in-game explanation]] ''why'' one kind of a seemingly deadly charging slash can wound, while another just discourages the enemy.
* In [[Digital Devil Saga]] 2, by the end of the scene with {{spoiler|Cielo's death}}, he's singlehandedly {{spoiler|taken out 3 jets and missiles, all while having his limbs torn off and blood pouring out. In fact, after the first jet was destroyed, he shouldn't have been able to fly anymore...}}
** Those wings should not have let him fly to begin with since he never flaps them for flight; he just uses his magic flight to go through. The wings are likely just for steering.
* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'' averts this to the point that quite a few of the injuries the 4 heroes receive last ''the entire game''. It's quite obvious when the player is failing too many
* The ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series has been notorious for this, however ''[[
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' and other MMORPG's the [[An Adventurer Is You|main tank]] is often required to be hit by enemies so powerful, a single blow would likely slay almost any other player. The tank is required to endure these colossal hits by the hundred and is only able to do so by being extremely powerful and the subject of his own personal battery of healing spellcasters. The result of this can be that if a healer mistimes a spell or runs out of [[Mana]], a tank can be [[Critical Existence Failure|suddenly killed]] by an attack which previously appeared inconsequential.
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** But still, they are equally strong until slain or poisoned. Wounds are just a cosmetic issue.
*** This is deliberate, as the whole premise of the comic is "people living in a world that works like the D&D rules"; Therefore, while they are getting wounded (losing HP) it doesn't actually impair them - just like it doesn't in D&D.
* Lampshaded by ''[[8-Bit Theater
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'''Red Mage''': This is why we should really play by the grim and gritty rules. Rather, our '''opponents''' should. Like hell I'm not gonna use my AC. }}
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* Tennyo vs. the Arch-Fiend, in the story ''Boston Brawl'' of the [[Whateley Universe]]. It just keeps escalating, and they just keep healing up, all the way until a building falls on them. They both get up from it {{spoiler|but the Arch-Fiend is out of energy, and Tennyo is just pissed off.}}
** Averted with Sara, who has similar regeneration abilities. Getting cut in half meant she was pretty much doomed, and needed to eat FAST. Fortunately, some minions are nearby.
** It bears mentioning with the above fight that Tennyo is an intentional [[God Mode Sue]]; the writer attempts a [[Deconstruction]].
== Western Animation ==
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** Taken to the extreme in the [[Grand Finale]], where the fight between Superman and Darkseid goes on for far too long, and is mostly Darkseid smacking the crap out of Superman, with several blows that look like they ''should'' be devastating - one looks like it'd break Superman's back! - but don't noticeably affect his ability to fight in any way. What makes this even crazier is that it seems like ''Batman'' - yes, ''Batman'' - tries to mix it up with Darkseid, and because of this trope, it seems like his jump-kick is about as effective as Superman. And after enduring this horrific, brutal abuse from a stronger-than-ever Darkseid for the ''entire episode'', Superman gets up, shrugs it off, comes up with the [[World of Cardboard Speech]] and a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]...but the comeback doesn't even last as long as it took him to ''get through'' the speech, when he's interrupted by a device that ''puts him in as much pain as is physically possible'', and ''that'' ends the fight.
** On the other hand, decently averted in the episode "Flash Point", in a brawl between [[Captain Atom]] and Superman - the two of them (particularly the Captain) visibly take damage and slow down as the fight goes on.
** On a similar note: [[Superman: Doomsday]]. The titular characters go at it in Metropolis, [[No
* How ''[[Family Guy]]'''s Peter vs. Giant Chicken fights tend to go, although they accumulate at least cosmetic injuries over the course of the fight. It helps that they're all [[Rule of Funny|played for laughs]] and pretty much happening for no reason anyway.
* ''[[Transformers]]'' often faces this problem and ''[[
** Waspinator's spark is also located within his head, allowing him to survive attacks and mishaps that blow him to pieces. This spark placement is meant to be very unusual.
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider
== Real Life ==
* Matthew Saad Muhammad, a Hall of Fame boxer, was the walking, breathing example of this trope. Nearly all of his significant fights resulted in him taking massive amounts of punishment while never going down, then proceeding to turn the fight around shortly after and recuperating from the damage to win, usually in the most spectacular fashion possible. His nickname was Miracle Matthew for a reason.
** Another boxing example: Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward beat the everloving bejesus out of each other, both sustaining incredible amounts of punishment. They ended up fighting [[Wasn't That Fun?|three times]], producing much of the same excitement. (A writer for the ''Boston Globe'' described all three fights as "like a Popeye cartoon, only more eventful.")
* According to [[That Other Wiki]], the [
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