Pyrrhic Victory: Difference between revisions

{{quote box|[[File:garfield_loses_the_contest_4259garfield loses the contest 4259.jpg|link=Garfield|rightframe]]}}

{{quote|''"Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone." ''|'''King Pyrrhus of Epirus''' in the [[Older Than Feudalism|Battle of Asculum]], his ''second'' [[Trope Namer|Pyrrhic Victory]] against the Romans.}}

Few victories come without cost, but the cost of a Pyrrhic Victory is ruinous to the victor. A Pyrrhic Victory will often involve a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] or people asking [[Was It Really Worth It?]]. If it happens at the end of a work, it will inevitably lead to a [[Bittersweet Ending]] or even a [[Downer Ending]] (and likely [[Inferred Holocaust]]). Often the implication of a [[Lonely Atat the Top]] situation, where someone gets everything he wanted, but lost everything and everyone that helped him get there. A clever enemy can use a [[Defensive Feint Trap]] to trick an opponent into "winning" such a victory.

These are common in [[Darker and Edgier]] series and is one of the defining characteristics of a [[Crapsack World]]. Compare to [[Pound of Flesh Twist]]. Contrast with [[Pyrrhic Villainy]] and [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]. If the bad outcome of a victory is due to post-victory arrangements rather than victory itself, you may look for [[Won the War, Lost Thethe Peace]]. When dealing with [[Eldritch AbominationsAbomination]]s, this overlaps with [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]. Contrast [[Xanatos Gambit]], where "losing" might benefit the planner more than outright victory.

* At the end of ''[[Hellsing]]'', [[Big Bad|The Major]] and every last one of his Millennium [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|vampire soldiers]] have been slain, but he dies content. The cost of his defeat was the destruction of London, with almost all of its population dead overnight, Alucard apparently destroyed, Pip dead, Walter dead and also a traitor, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Integra missing an eye]].

* ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'': After a long and hard battle, Kouji defeated Dr. Hell with Mazinger Z. However, the Mycene immediately attacks without giving any time to rest and he is unable to do anything to stop them. Mazinger Z, Venus A, Boss Borot and the Photon Research Institute are easily destroyed (and several world cities, including Tokyo, in the movie). Kouji is saved by Tetsuya and his Great Mazinger, who claims that Mazinger Z isn't needed anymore.

** And in ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]'', the heroes finally defeat the Mykene army... but it was due to the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] of Prof. Kabuto -Kouji and Shiro's biological father and Tetsuya and Jun's adoptive father-. In spite of they had won, nobody felt victorius, and in fact Tetsuya felt awful and [[ItsIt's All My Fault|blamed himself for his father's death]]. And rightly so). Not to mention in one of the adaptations, {{spoiler|Tetsuya}} himself bite the dust.

* ''[[Saint Seiya: theThe Lost Canvas]]''. By the series final, you can count the number of survivers on two hands.

* In ''[[Slayers]]'', the Koma War (translated variously as "Dark Lord's Resurrection War", "War of Demonic Invasion", "War of the Monsters' Fall") a thousand years ago ended badly for pretty much everyone. Ruby-Eye Shabranigdu destroyed Aqualord Ragradia... but was permanently frozen in the [[Grim Up North]], all his power sealed. Half the Golden Dragons in the world were slaughtered... but Mazoku also suffered the deaths of two Priests and two Generals (who are irreplaceable), as well as [[Enemy Civil War|the desertion of Chaos Dragon Gaav and all serving him]]. Even aside from Gaav's outright betrayal, without Shabranigdu organizing them, the Five Retainers couldn't get along and started [[We ARE Struggling Together!|bickering amongst each other over the best way to end the world]]. Humans suffered devastating losses, including losing the ability to perform Holy Magic and being confined to a single continent by the Mazoku God-Sealing Field, but on the other hand started developing increased levels of Black and Shamanic Magic. In short, nobody won. Thus, in the novels, when Dynast Grausherra decides to bring about the resurrection of Ruby-Eye through a second Koma War, even his fellow Mazoku are opposed to the idea.

* The ending of ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' certainly feels like one of these. {{spoiler|Soichiro Yagami}}, one of the only truly good characters in the series (according to [[Word of God|the artist himself]],) is dead, {{spoiler|L is dead,}} {{spoiler|Mello is dead}} although that was [[Memetic Mutation|just as planned]], poor Matsuda's probably going to need some serious therapy, {{spoiler|there is no afterlife (at least in the manga),}} god knows how many NPCs are dead, and {{spoiler|a year later, the world's practically returned to normal. Kira barely changed anything.}} Ouch.

* In ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', Uryu's fight with [[Mad Scientist|Mayuri Kurotsuchi]] ended with Uryu defeating Kurotuschi at the cost of having all of his powers {{spoiler|semi-}}permanently sealed away.

** When Ichigo wins a fight... by losing his internal fight against his [[Super -Powered Evil Side]]. {{spoiler|Also, his final victory against Aizen. Aizen can only be sealed away and imprisoned meaning there's always a chance he could return. Meanwhile, Ichigo sacrificed his powers and his ability to be a substitute shinigami. Thinking he has no right to complain about this, he tries to go on with a normal human life for 17 months, his grades slipping and not planning for his future because he's unable to face up to reality that having the power to protect is an integral part of who he is, without which he's reduced to simply existing instead of actually living. It takes another [[Arc Villain|substitute shinigami]] shaking up his life to make him face and accept the truth.}}

* The [[Gecko Ending|anime ending]] of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' qualifies. Chrono and Rosette manage to save Joshua and defeat Aion, but Joshua is badly brain damaged and can't remember them, Chrono and Rosette are badly injured during the final battle and die together six months later, Satella kills her sister and herself in order to stop Fiore from taking Joshua back to Aion, Remington is left broken and filled with regret, Aion's plans cause the Great Depression, and in the 1980s Remington witnesses a man that appears to be Aion take out a gun and shoot the Pope. It's also implied that Aion is revived by [[Humans Are Bastardsthe Real Monsters|humanity's sins]] and will live on [[As Long Asas There Is Evil|as long as sin exists in the world]], meaning that Chrono and Rosette's sacrifices only seem to stop Aion temporarily.

* In ''[[Monster (Animemanga)|Monster]]'', Tenma got his [[Idealism vs. Cynicism|moral victory]]... at a great cost.

* Whether you believe Tabris the 17th Angel allowed Shinji to kill him because he truly respected/cared for Shinji, or because [[Alternative Character Interpretation|he wanted to make Shinji suffer as he died]], it's indisputable that the destruction of the last Angel in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' ruined the last of Shinji's self-confidence and mental stability. {{spoiler|It gets worse in the Movie, when we realize the Angels are actually NOT the real threat as his Magnificient Bastard of a father AND SEELE an Ancient Conspiracy begin their plans for World Instrumentality. }}

* One of the premises of ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Anime)|G Gundam]]'':

** After winning the previous Gundam Fight, {{spoiler|Master Asia}} looks back and is horrified by the carnage and the damage he and the other participants have caused. He becomes bitter at humanity's willingness to go through such lengths {{spoiler|and [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|has thus chosen to be extreme in his own way]]}}.

* At the end of ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'''s Paramount War arc, the Navy succeeds in their stated goal of killing {{spoiler|Ace and Whitebeard}}, proving the strength of their justice. Unfortunately, as a result, islands once under the old man's protection are now open game for ''far'' less ethical pirates, and because of the war itself, dozens of vicious convicts have escaped from Impel Down, the great undersea jail. {{spoiler|Whitebeard's}} [[Famous Last Words]] have triggered a second Great Age of Pirates, and his formidable earthquake powers are now in the hands of Blackbeard. To top it off, the Navy, due to the losses in the war, are unable to deal with either problem effectively.

** [[It Gets Worse]], due to various reasons because of the war, the Navy loses {{spoiler|Garp, Sengoku, and Kuzan.}} and thereby dropping its overall power DRASTICALLY. If another such battle were to occur, they wouldn't stand a chance.

* ''[[D .Gray Man-man]]'': At the end of the Noah's Ark Arc, after battling all these Noah, Allen Walker restores the Ark by playing a special song in a secret room within the Ark that the Noah don't know. Of course, Everyone who came along for the journey, got left behind, and supposedly died come back, but when they get back, poor Allen is charged for knowing how to control the Ark, since only certain Noah know how, and for being the container for the 14th. Not only does he have to control this monster inside his head, he has to be subjected to some not so good treatment from Leverrier. Now is that the way to treat your savior?

* Arguably, the end of ''[[Code Geass (Anime)|Code Geass]]'' goes something like this- {{spoiler|Lelouch is dead, Suzaku's had to fake his death (and both of their reputations are in ruins), the entire populations of both Tokyo and the Britannian capital are dead and it's likely that Nunnally and several others are likely to need some kind of therapy. The world's at peace, but it's come at a heavy price.}}

* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Anime)|Gurren Lagann]]'': {{spoiler|The Anti-Spirals are defeated, but more than half of the Gurren Brigade are dead, including Kittan, and Nia dies soon after returning to earth, because her life force was tied to the Anti-Spiral. On her ''wedding day'' of all days.}}

* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Anime)|Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'': {{spoiler|In any timeline (excepting the penultimate one) where Walpurgis Night is defeated, all the local magical girls are left either dead or having expended so much magical power that they'll soon be powerful witches themselves}}.

* The resolution of {{spoiler|the Yurin/Flit/Emily [[Love Triangle]]}} in ''[[Gundam AGE]].'' Sure, {{spoiler|Emily got to both marry Flit and be the mother of his children Asemu and Unoa}}, but {{spoiler|this is because Yurin was ''horribly'' killed off, thus Emily's "second-best" for him. And she's very aware of it.}} And we're not counting how {{spoiler|Flit himself was broken beyond belief by the death of Yurin... enough to become the [[Dark Messiah]] [[Anti -Hero]].}}

* After [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]] ends in the death of [[Captain America (comics)]], [[Iron Man]] actually [[Invoked Trope|mentions Pyrrhus]] in ''The Confession''. Overwhelmed with guilt and grief, he ultimately concludes that the victory [[Was It Really Worth It?|was worthless]].

* When Batman faces [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|Jason Todd]], who forces him between letting Joker die or killing Jason, Batman [[Take a Third Option|makes Jason drop his weapon and sends him into shock]] by [[Improbable Aiming Skills|throwing a batarang at a pipe so it rebounds and cuts the side of Jason's neck]].

{{quote| '''[[Complete Monster|Joker]]''': You managed to find a way to win... and everybody still ''loses''!! }}

* [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]: The heroes beat the Anti Monitor but in the process the entire multiverse is lost (and this is canon.) Arguably, the heroes can't be held responsible for the worlds lost before they got involved, but there were still six or seven worlds remaining when they began their counter offensive, two of them were destroyed and the other five were collapsed into one that was almost but not quite like one of the five with a few borrowed elements from the other four.

** And thanks to [[Brightest Day]], the Anti Monitor is back and ready to give it another go. We're either in for epic [[Villain Decay]] or the [[Grand Finale]] of the DC Universe.

** By the end of the film {{spoiler|Harvey Dent has gone insane and started murdering people, has gotten killed and Batman has taken the heat for the murders}} [[Near Villain VictoryEucatastrophe|all so the Joker won't win]].

** DSOTM's ending had {{spoiler|all the major Decepticons killed off}}, and the Autobots managed to save humanity {{spoiler|from enslavement at the hands of the Decepticons}}. Cost? {{spoiler|Only eight Autobots are confirmed to survive the trilogy. Chicago's in ruins and the Autobots' [[Hero Insurance|hero insurance]] are rather lukewarm in this series. Cybertron was also implied to be destroyed, making it pretty impossible for any Transformer to return home, let alone restore it}}. (The upcoming sequel may prove otherwise).

* ''[[LAL.A. Confidential]]'': Ed Exley has to destroy pretty much everything he cares about over the course of the movie.

* Michael didn't want to 'get mixed up in the family business', things didn't exactly work out that way by the end of...''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather Part II]]''

* The 1954 film ''[[Gojira (Filmfilm)|Gojira]]'' certainly applies. Sure, the titular monster was killed...but at the cost of the [[Heroic Sacrifice|life of a human being who chose to die alongside the monster rather than expose the secret of the weapon chosen to kill them]] and {{spoiler|It's HEAVILY implied that Godzilla isn't the only one of his species...}}

* An implication of ''[[The Descent (Filmfilm)|The Descent]]'' was that this was the only way the characters could beat the monsters and escape was to become equally as savage and primal, which was the main character arc for the lead. Although in the end she subverts it {{spoiler|when--after about twenty minutes of being progressively [[Ax Crazy]]--she sees her dead daughter, and chooses to stay with the hallucination rather than keep fighting.}}

* In ''[[Star Trek II: theThe Wrath of Khan (Film)|The Wrath of Khan]]'', {{spoiler|they defeat Khan, but Spock dies, [[Back Fromfrom the Dead|temporarily]]}}.

** Similarly, ''[[Star Trek III: theThe Search For Spock (Film)|The Search for Spock]]'' ends with {{spoiler|Spock revived and the Klingons defeated, but at the cost of Kirk's son David Marcus, the Genesis planet, and the original ''Enterprise''}}.

{{quote| '''T.S.:''' "What's the point?"<br />

'''Brodie:''' "You know how long it takes for that smell to come off? Scrub all you want, it'll stick around for at least two days. How does he explain it to his colleagues and family? They'll think he doesn't know how to wipe his ass properly."<br />

'''T.S.:''' "Meanwhile you yourself are left with a hand that smells like shit."<br />

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': Defines Jon Snow. Even when he wins he loses. ''The Battle of the Blackwater'' is another excellent example. This is something of a hallmark of the series. A non-Pyrrhic victor tends to be an [[Unwitting Pawn]], up to and including some of the competing [[Chessmaster|Chessmasters]]s.

** ''The Thousand Orcs'' has another. The last of the survivors of the attack on the town are spirited away by means involving a fake idol of Gruumsh, the orc god. When the other orc shamans hear about this, they not only bring in ''thousands'' of new recruits to avenge the sacrilege, they also perform a rare ritual on the orc king that makes him permanently stronger and quicker.

* In ''[[World War Z]]'' humanity managed to be victorious over the zombie hordes. But the war and overall situation devastated the planet.

* In ''[[The Riftwar Cycle|A Darkness at Sethanon]]'', the invading army of the moredhel finally capures the city of Armengar, but with devastating losses--notlosses—not only is the city an invader's nightmare, built with technologies and magic long lost to mankind, but those in charge of the defense ''blow it up'' just when the invading army has finally broken through, leaving the moredhel with a ruined city and great losses. Ten years later, the risk of a devastating defeat or a Pyrrhic Victory is what spurs one of the moredhel chieftains to oppose the efforts to launch another invasion, going as far as allying himself with the humans to accomplish it.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] novel ''The Brothers of The Snake'', a chapter of Space Marines retake a refinery from Chaos forces. They realize that the place was tainted by something it had pumped up from under the earth, and it could not be used any more -- whichmore—which meant they could just have blasted it from orbit, without losing three Marines in the fight.

** In a similar vein, the defense of [[GauntsGaunt's Ghosts|Vervunhive]], which leaves the hive with so many dead it is officially decommissioned at the end of the war. Although with [[Complete Monster|Heritor Asphodel]] dead, Chaos has nothing to celebrate, either.

{{quote| Locke: So this is winning.<br />

Jean: It is.<br />

* [[The Dresden Files (Literature)|The Dresden Files]] has several such victories, most notably in ''Turn Coat.'' {{spoiler|1=Morgan is dead, the (only identified) traitor in the council is dead, Dresden and McCoy have no further information on the Black Council, the White Council has lost three of its most valuable members (the man Morgan was framed for murdering, Morgan, and the traitor), virtually everyone within the council needs to go in for [[Deprogram|deprogrammingdeprogram]]ming from mind-control magics, the Senior Council is now living in a permanent state of wondering if their actions were truly their own, and their newest member may or may not be a member of the Black Council.}}

* Described as an inevitability in [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lukyanenko:Sergey Lukyanenko|Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s novel ''[[Genome]]'' in a war between two galactic powers with relatively equal military strength. A historical example is cited with the ancient Taii Empire, whose territory once spanned much of what is now owned by the younger races. They engaged in an all-out war with another empire, resulting in a Taii military victory but at the cost of utter devastation of their empire. The Taii briefly described in the book are now a [[Vestigial Empire|dying power]], holding no more then several dozen worlds and flying enormous ships that are ridiculously inferior when compared with more modern ships of the younger races. The same fate is predicted for the humans or the Czygu in a total [[Bug War]]. This prospect would force the humans to recruit the aid of a colony of [[Church Militant|Church Militants]]s whose goal is the total extermination of all aliens for the betterment of the "true children of God." This would cause all other alien races to ally against humanity, resulting in a [[Pyrrhic Victory]] for ''everyone'' who survives.

* In the ''[[Farsala Trilogy]]'' by [[Hilari Bell]], the Roman Empire [[Expy|expy]] have many rules about their conquering of other territories and one of those rules is that if they don't have full control of the country within a year then they will withdraw their forces and offer allegiance with it instead or just leave it alone. This rule was put in place because early in their history, they were victors of a [[Pyrrhic Victory]] and vowed that victory would never cost so high again. According to the books, they're so good at taking over countries that out of the dozens they'd taken over only two were been able to resist past the time limit.

* In the ''[[Percy Jackson and& Thethe Olympians (Literature)|Percy Jackson]]'' series, Kronos, the Titan Lord, is called 'the Crooked One' for his ability to engineer schemes which leaves the good guys in a tight spot either way. It is possible to foil him, but it almost never happens without cost, often a heavy one.

* ''[[Time Scout (Literature)|Time Scout]]'': Congratulations, Skeeter! You just stood up to a bully! A bully with massive wealth, criminal connections, government power, and a vindictive nature. And you've a checkered past he won't have any trouble using against you.

* "[[The Hunger Games (Literaturenovel)|The Hunger Games]]": After Katniss and Peeta win the first Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell is announced, which {{spoiler|is implied to have been rigged by President Snow to take Peeta and Katniss out- it requires each district to choose tributes from their pool of victors.}}

* Invoked by name in [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter]]. This triggers [[Fridge Logic]] when you wonder [[Orphaned Etymology|who it was named for]].

* From ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'':

{{quote| ''"You may win this war, Commander, but I promise you, by the time it's over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your 'victory' will taste as bitter as defeat."''}}

*:* [[Discussed Trope|Discussed]] in the two-part special "The Way of the Warrior", when the battle between ''Deep Space Nine'' and a Klingon attack force reaches a stalemate.

{{quote| '''Worf:''' "Consider what you do here today, Gowron! Kahless himself said, 'Destroying an empire to win a battle ''is no victory'' '! "<br />

*:* In the opening battle of the Dominion War, Dukat managed to capture Deep Space 9, but lost over 50 ships, a vital shipyard, and failed to bring in reinforcements through the wormhole. Nevertheless, that didn't stop him...

* During the evacuation of New Caprica in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', {{spoiler|the Galactica and most of the civilian ships manage to escape the planet...at the cost of massive damage to Galactica and the loss of the high-tech, advanced battlestar Pegasus, which was capable of building Vipers. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice job breaking it, Lee]].}}

* Londo Mollari on ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' had a few of these.

*** Londo could very well be the [[Trope Codifier]]. This is in fact the whole point of his arc--hisarc—his association with Morden and the Shadows gives him everything he says he wants, but each time at a terrible cost--bringingcost—bringing into [[Be Careful What You Wish For|sharper focus]] [[Armor -Piercing Question|the Shadow question]], "What do you want?". The DVD commentaries point this out, but really, it's plain for all to see.

* [[Doctor Who (TV)|"You've got to! Come on. It can't end like this. You and me, all the things we've done. Axons! Remember the Axons? And the Daleks. We're the only two left. There's no one else... REGENERATE!" "Look at that.. I win..!"]]

* At the end of the ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' miniseries ''Children of Earth'', Jack manages to save the world. {{spoiler|However, in order to do so, he had to kill his grandson. Not to mention that his boyfriend also just died in the previous episode...}}

* In ''[[Power Rangers RPM (TV)|Power Rangers RPM]]'', in the [[Grand Finale]], after three long years the rangers win the [[Robot War]]... but by the time the [[Big Bad]] goes down, at ''least'' 90% of humanity is dead, with the entire planet outside of Corinth's protective dome having been bombed to a post-nuclear war wasteland. Plants are just starting to regrow in the less radioactively "hot" areas, but the global ecosystem is by and large too far gone to recover most of the lost biodiversity or return with new life with any speed.

* Sylar finds this out the hard way in Volume 5 of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. He's got everything he ever wanted. He's the most powerful Evolved Human on the face of the earth. He's immortal and invulnerable to harm. There's maybe a gran total of two people (That we know of) who could realistically pose a threat to him and he can easily take all the powers he wants. He's also killed the only two people who ever cared for him and realises that he's now going to be utterly alone, wretched and despised for eternity. It's enough to mke him have yet another [[Heel Face Turn]] this one seemingly more permanent than the previous ones.

* ''[[Twenty Four|24]]'' excels at these, but Day 3 is particularly notable for how Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida and Gael Ortega set in motion a [[Plan]] to destroy the Cordella virus. The day ends with Gael having died horribly of the disease, Tony being shot ''and'' watching the scheme nearly kill his wife ''and'' facing 20 years in federal prison, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Jack breaking down crying in his car]]. But hey... they do accomplish what they set out to do, which is contain the virus.

* There's an odd example the end of the fifth season of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', Sam and Dean manage to defeat {{spoiler|Lucifer, but at the cost of Sam having to [[Fate Worse Than Death|jump into Lucifer's cage]]. Particularly heartbreaking because all Dean was trying to do was [[Big Brother Instinct|save his brother]] for most of the series. Then it turns out that Sam's ''[[Mind Screw|actually alive after all]]''}}

** Though technically, Eric Kripke intended to end ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' with season five {{spoiler|, and both Sam ''and'' Dean were supposed to go into the cage}}.

** Season six ends with {{spoiler|[[Well -Intentioned Extremist]] Castiel}} preventing [[Archangel Raphael]] from restarting the Apocalypse. To do so, {{spoiler|he only [[Deal Withwith the Devil|allies with a demon]] he then betrays, [[Jumped Off the Slippery Slope|kills his closest angel allies]], [[Kick the Dog|breaks Sam's mind]], then absorbs all the monster souls from Purgatory for the [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|power]] to [[A God Am I|declare himself the new God]].}}<br /><br />And if this wasn't bad enough, season seven opens with {{spoiler|Castiel [[Disproportionate Retribution|smiting]] numerous angels who opposed him and humans who offended him, and [[Phlebotinum Overload|losing control]] of this power so it releases [[Eldritch Abomination|voracious, unkillable monsters]] from Purgatory on the world}}.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Friends]]'' when Chandler got the highest score in Ms. [[PacmanPac-Man]] but his hand became spasmed and stuck in a "claw" formation.

{{quote| I got the highest score, but at a price.}}

* ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'':

* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' is chock full of these, the best example by far being the Imperium's disastrous triumph against Chaos in The [[Horus Heresy]].

** Any victory against the Tyranids. The three Hive Fleets that have been encountered so far were stopped, but... they lost dozens of worlds and countless lives before even recognizing the fleet's advance, many more worlds were lost in the scramble to stop it, and the battles that finally broke the fleet came at a staggering cost to the armies involved.

** Tyranids however specifically avoids this result as long as the entire planet still possesses biomass, since the final phase of any invasion is to harvest and devour any biomass on the planet, both friendly and enemy. Thus they actively use this trope to their advantage, creating troops solely for the purpose of wasting enemy ammunition and manpower so that they would either retreat, or draw the battle out until the enemy eventually just collapse and dies.

** Meta-example: Any world-wide campaign would usually result in this, usually due to not wanting to piss off half the fandom by saying their faction lost. All global campaigns usually end in an Imperial (specifically Space Marine) victory, but reading deeper reveals that while they held whatever planet they were fighting for, the enemies usually made off with some powerful artifact or got what they came for (most notably, while the Dark Eldar were officially defeated in the Medusa campaign, it's stated they've managed to grab so much slaves that they can gorge themselves for eons).

* [[Risk (Tabletop Game)|Risk]]- If you've played a few games, this has happened to you at least once.

{{quote| "Oh, they only have two defenders, my fifteen troops should plow right through that territory into their continent!"<br />

* [[Wicked (Theatretheatre)|Both Elphaba and Glinda]] have these. The former has {{spoiler|survived her death sentence, but must pretend to be dead, grievously hurting her best friend, and accept voluntary banishment}}. Glinda, said best friend, has ascended as the effective ruler of Oz, but {{spoiler|at the cost of the lives of her friends and fiancé}}.

* Delita in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' achieves peace and rulership of all of Ivalice... and loses absolutely everyone and everything he's ever cared about in the process. It really is [[Lonely Atat the Top]].

* All four ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' games end in [[Pyrrhic Victory]] for Zero and his group. ''Z1''={{spoiler|Zero goes missing}}, ''Z2''={{spoiler|the Dark Elf, the one who caused [[The End of the World Asas We Know It]], was free and [[Mega Man X]]'s body destroyed}}, ''Z3''={{spoiler|Neo Arcadia is taken over by the [[Big Bad]] Dr. Weil}} and ''Z4''={{spoiler|Neo Arcadia is destroyed, and Zero dead, [[Killed Off for Real|for the last time]]}}.

* If you don't do any of your partners' [[Sidequest|loyalty missions]] and just rush through the game, ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' ends with one: The collectors' base is destroyed/given to Cerberus, but at the cost of the lives of you and your entire squad.

** As it turns out in [[Mass Effect 3]] {{spoiler|''ALL'' the endings are this trope.}}

{{quote| In two of the Endings {{spoiler|the Reapers are defeated at the cost of destroying the mass relay network, cutting off all galactic civilization, and the allied fleets are stranded in the Sol system with no way home. If the player rushed through the game and didn't gather enough war assets for the final fight then Earth is also destroyed.}}<br />

* In the last GDI mission of ''[[Command and& Conquer]] 3: Tiberium Wars'', choosing to drop the Liquid Tiberium Bomb not only wipes out all of the Nod forces, but all of your own forces and [[Disaster Dominoes|sets off a chain reaction that kills]] ''[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|twenty-five million civilians]]''.

** Each sequel reveals this is what happened for the last game. In Tiberian Sun, it's revealed that after Tiberian Dawn, Tiberium contamination spread to uncontrollable levels and while Nod is pacified, they have developed cyborg technology and several splinter cells are trying to take command. In Tiberium Wars, it's revealed that the cure discovered at the end of Tiberian Sun was not only ineffective, it caused Tiberium to mutate, becoming even more toxic than before and causing 80% of the world to either be thrown back into the dark ages or become dangerously inhospitable. By the fourth game, Tiberium not only took over the world, but threatens to kill off the entire human race within 6 years. Apparently GDI looses more ground with each game.

* 2008 ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' ends with [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|sealing Ahriman away for a thousand years]]...[[Downer Ending|except]] that Elika [[Heroic Sacrifice|had to die]] (again) to put him away for good.

** If you keep playing through the *real* ending and the downloadable Epilogue, Ahriman's "victory" smacks of [[Pyrrhic Villainy]]. By bringing Elika back, the Prince freed Ahriman to destroy the world, but it seems that Elika is also somehow vitally important to finally defeating him-- revivinghim—reviving her enabled his release but will probably result in his ultimate destruction (assuming sequels happen).

* At least two endings of ''[[Oracle of Tao (Video Game)|Oracle of Tao]]'' are like this. {{spoiler|The best ending has the whole party teaming up to kill off the [[Big Bad]], resulting in another boss, followed by a [[Playable Epilogue]] and a whole bunch of new endings. But if you don't meet all the prerequisites, you get secondary endings (the only one of which is actually good involves the use of a legendary sword). One of these involves the hero sacrificing all her energy and half-destroying the universe to kill it off (and [[In Spite of a Nail|STILL might not be enough]], so you need some party members that will survive the event, namely your angel/demon characters) just to end the demon's rampage, and the second involves an exorcist ringing a [[Old Kingdom|bell that is deadly to everyone who hears it]], taking herself out as well. Either of these losses completely wrecks party morale, and the group splits up thereafter.)}}

* The [[Multiple Endings|bad ending]] of ''[[Persona 4]]'' where you choose to {{spoiler|kill Namatame. If you didn't kill him, he would have gotten away with it, right? But Nanako is dead, Dojima is left all alone, and your friends have to live with the fact that they killed a man who they weren't even sure was the true culprit. [[Downer Ending|Heavy fog continues]] to [[EndoftheThe End of the World Asas We Know It|envelope the world]] as you say goodbye to your friends...}}

* ''[[Saya no Uta (Visual Novel)|Saya no Uta]]'' has this in all of its endings, to some degree.

* ''Super [[Metroid]]'': Samus defeats Mother Brain and takes down the Space Pirates, but loses not only the Larva she went down there to save, but her childhood home as well.

** The Covenant suffer one as well in ''[[Halo Reach|Halo: Reach]]''. Though the invasion of Reach was a complete success that basically broke the backbone of the human forces, they still loss 2/3 of their fleet trying to occupy and destroy Reach. Not only that, but they also were not able to prevent the ''Pillar of Autumn'' from escaping the system with the coordinates of an ancient Forerunner instalation. The arrival of that ship on the first Halo in the first game directly lead to the end of the Covenent and prevented the total extinction of all humans.

** Really, this is a habit with [[Bungie]]. The ''[[Marathon (Video Game)Trilogy|Marathon]]'' trilogy had only a handful of the Tau Ceti colony escape alive, plus the Pfhor angered enough by their defeat to pull a [[Superweapon Surprise]] as a final “screw you” (almost causing the destruction of the universe too through accidental stupidity;) ''[[Myth (Video Game)|Myth]]'' has {{spoiler|pretty much your ''entire army'' slaughtered to a man}} over the course of the game, culminating in a [[Taking You Withwith Me]] when you destroy the [[Big Bad]]; and ''[[Oni]]'' ends with the revelation that {{spoiler|the entire planet is ecologically on its last legs}}.

* The Protoss ending in the first ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]''. The Overmind was destroyed but Aiur is now infested by Zerg. Crazy, disorganised and rampant Zerg.

** The ending of ''X-COM: Enemy Unknown'' isn't much better--thebetter—the {{spoiler|global financial crisis following the war results in the collapse of most of the world governments}}. Also, {{spoiler|the eventual depletion of Earth's only supply of [[Unobtainium|Elerium-115]] results in all [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]] becoming useless}}.

* ''[[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Final Fantasy I]]'': The heroes confront Chaos, destroying him and shattering the time loop. But because that loop is shattered, no one--notone—not even the ''heroes''--remembers—remembers there was ever a battle to begin with. The price of victory? Never knowing your greatest achievements ever were.

* In Chapter 6 of ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'', {{spoiler|you [[You Are Too Late|fail to recover the Pure Heart before The Void consumes the Sammer Kingdom]]. Afterwards, you return to where Sammer Kingdom ''used'' to be (now called the "[[White Void Room|World of Nothing]]," and fight a boss to recover the Pure Heart. But even though you get a nearly full "You Got A Pure Heart" victory animation, the Pure Heart has been turned to stone by the destruction of the world it rested in, rendering it useless. The only thing missing from the animation is all your Pixls lining up to do their dance, most likely because even ''[[Cloudcuckoolander|they]]'' know it's only a [[Pyrrhic Victory]].}}

* The Battle of Parsir in ''[[Mitsumete Knight (Video Game)|Mitsumete Knight]]''. Sure, Dolphan won the fight in the end... But at the cost of ''one third'' of its army, due to enemy General [[The Strategist|Meehilbis]]'.

* The canon ending to ''[[Blaze Union]]''. The incompetent government has been overthrown, Gulcasa is able to completely ignore the corrupt court by becoming the world's most empathetic and competent dictator, and the people's lives can finally return to normal. Over the course of achieving this, [[Broken Pedestal|the employer Gulcasa trusted]] and his [[Living Emotional Crutch]] died, his mother bullied him into killing her for the sake of reclaiming his true power, and his childhood friend and mentor tried to kill him out of fear that he might become a monster someday, leaving him a complete emotional wreck.<br /><br />[[Yggdra Union|Three years later]], just when his people's lives and his own mental state have stabilized, his attempt to [[Well Intentioned Extremist|rescue the rest of the world]] goes as wrong as it possibly can, and he is forced to watch everyone he ever loved sacrifice themselves for him as his country is ravaged by invaders, ending in his own death. Thank God for that [[Yggdra Unison|gaiden]] where [[Earn Your Happy Ending|you can fix this]].

* The ending of ''[[Arc the Lad (Video Game)|Arc The Lad 2]]''. Let's have Elc explain it, shall we?

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Elc''': It makes me wonder what we were fighting for. Arc died, and for what? So we could inherit this desolate and hopeless future? We didn't stop the world from ending, we survived it. And, now we are left with nothing.}}}}

* ''[[Mortal Kombat 9 (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat 9]]'' quickly escalates into a [[Wham! Episode]] about 1/2 of the way through Story Mode and then divebombs into this trope for the [[Grand Finale]]. {{spoiler|Raiden, after grieving over how [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|his attempts to prevent Armageddon]] have yielded no positive effects (in fact, they arguably made them ''worse''), finally realizes that the words of his future self ("He must win.") refers to [[Sheathe Your Sword|letting]] Shao Kahn ''[[The Bad Guy Wins|win]]'' the Outworld tournament and merge Earthrealm with Outworld, so that the Elder Gods can punish him for his treachery. Raiden, however, has practically crossed the [[Despair Event Horizon]] due to the [[Senseless Sacrifice|futility of everyone's sacrifices]]. [[Anyone Can Die|The only heroes left]] (out of Raiden, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, Jax Briggs, [[Cyborg|[Cyber]]] Sub-Zero, Smoke, Kitana, Jade, Nightwolf, Kurtis Stryker, and Kabal)? ''[[Kill 'Em All|Raiden, Sonya, and Cage]]''. Even worse, the [[Sequel Hook]] with Quan Chi and Shinnok ([[The Dragon]] and [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Mortal Kombat 4 (Video Game)|Mortal Kombat 4]]'') shows that Shao Kahn's defeat has left a ''major'' villain vacuum.}}

* The backstory and supplemental material of ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'' explains that the Aperture Science researchers who built [[Master Computer|GLaDOS]] found out a little too late that her idea of "supervising the functioning of the Enrichment Center" involved, as a first step, [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|murdering all of them]] with a deadly neurotoxin. Just prior to dying, the scientists managed to install a [[Morality Chip|Morality Core]] to restrain her homicidal impulses, but it was far too late for any of them.

* You can use this against Legate Lanius, commander of Caesar's Legion in the final confrontation of ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]''. With a high-enough speech skill, you can convince him that even after winning the battle for Hoover Dam, he would not be able to take on the rest of the NCR due to either a lack of forces or an inability to properly sustain his army. Being a [[Genius Bruiser]] with [[Hidden Depths]], this is enough to convince him to retreat.

* While the first ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' painted the cannon Light Side ending as a fairly straightforward victory of the Republic against the Sith, (only made slightly bittersweet for the PC with {{spoiler|Malak's regret before his death, and especially Bastila's possible death}}). As a part of its massive [[Deconstructor Fleet]], [[Darker and Edgier|the sequel]] went into more detail of the effect of the loss of so many resources, leaders, and most of the Jedi on the tired Republic, painting the Jedi Civil War as one of these.

* ''[[Modern Warfare]]''. Full Stop. The American campaign of the first game sees you struggle against [[Glorious Leader|Khalid]] [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|Al-Asad]] and his Quaracian army, which has overthrown and executed the lawful president [[Middle -Eastern Coalition|stands poised to dominate the Middle East, and potentially the entire Muslim world.]] After a series of costly running battles and abortive attempts to end the war, you {{spoiler|succeed in dismantling Al-Asad's war machine and forcing him to flee into exile.}} The cost? {{spoiler|He drops a nuke on you and the entire American expeditionary force, leaving you with a very bitter [[Our Hero Is Dead]] conclusion to the campaign.}}

* In the prologue of ''[[Drow TalesDrowtales]]'', the Sharen won the war against the Nidraa'chal, but the cost was horrible for their clan and their city. In fact, {{spoiler|it is an inversion: the Nidraa'chal were not destroyed, and they are the actual winners of this war, with only a few less, and had in fact infiltrated the clan from the inside and were founded by several of the clan's own royal daughters.}}

* In [[Tales of the Questor]], Quentyn kills the dragon--exceptdragon—except his arm is broken, he must [[Mercy Kill|spare the mortally-wounded Ember any further suffering]], {{spoiler|and it was the wrong dragon}}.

* The end of the ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|Dr McNinja]]'' saga "Doc Gets Rad" has {{spoiler|the doc trap Sparlelord in a infinite time-loop, preventing him from conquering the world. Of course, by doing this, he eliminated the one threat that could have permanently defeated King Radical, which Radical is more than happy to rub in Doc's face.}}

* In ''[[Tech Infantry]]'', pretty much every battle in the story is one of these, if not an outright defeat. The first Jurvain invasion of Rios is destroyed, at the cost of a jump gate, then a rebel attack is driven off with such heavy cost in Council Loyalist ships that when a second Jurvain invasion comes in, there's effectively nothing to stop them. The rebel fleet attacks the Federation capital in Avalon, and is again driven off at the cost of such heavy Federation casualties that future offensive operations against anyone are pretty much impossible. And the Vin Shriak is defeated, at the cost of so weakening the Federation that they are powerless to resist a subsequent invasion by the Eastern Bloc and their alien allies.

* The titular character of ''[[DoctorDr. HorriblesHorrible's Sing -Along Blog]]'' gets, in his own words, everything he ever wanted: respect as a villain, entrance into the elite Evil League of Evil, and the defeat of his nemesis. However, it costs him {{spoiler|the life of the only woman he's ever loved before he's even been able to tell her how he feels.}}

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Katara comes across a elderly waterbender named Hama who teaches her on how to improve her Waterbending skills, albeit through questionable methods. Her last lesson is Waterbending's ultimate technique, Bloodbending, where under a full moon the Waterbender can take complete control of his opponent. Katara, of course, is horrified at such a practice and vows not to use it. But when Hama takes control of Aang and Sokka and nearly kills them, Katara has no choice but to use the technique to stop her. Hama laughs at this while she's being carted off by the officials, as she suceeded in making Katara use the technique much to Katara's dismay.

* In one of the original ''[[Looney Toons|Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century]]'' shortsshort, Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian are fighting over planet X. At one point, they start drawing bigger and bigger guns in an attempt to destroy the other and end up blowing the planet up, leaving a few minor scraps so small that it literally wasn't big enough for the both of them. At this point, Dodgers shoves Marvin off the planet and starts gloating about his victory, while the camera pans down to reveal the [[Eager Young Space Cadet]] is hanging on to a few roots, saying "Big Deal".

[[Category:No Real Life Examples Please{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Pyrrhic Victory and Defeat]]