Showy Invincible Hero: Difference between revisions
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This would likely mean an [[Invincible Hero]] if any suspense was played up, so the show doesn't play up the suspense. With this trope, whether the heroes win or lose is not the point. It's them looking awesome when they do it. It's [[Rule of Cool|all about the spectacle]] with these shows. Of course, beware the metaphorical [[God Mode Sue]] line.
Contrast [[Failure Hero]], compare [[Escapist Character]], [[Comically Invincible Hero]], [[The Ace]].
{{examples}}
== Multiple ==
* Pretty much anyone summoned or assembled by [[All Your Colors Combined]]. [[Captain Planet]], any number of Power Rangers-like "Assemble the robots!" moves. Presumably, the only reason not to summon them immediately is to avoid forming an [[Invincible Hero]] by familiarity.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Just about half of every [[Super Robot]] show ever made.
* ''[[Akagi]]'' fits. Due to the way it's narrated and the fact that it's a [[Prequel]] to another story, [[Ten]], where Akagi already is a legend, you are ''supposed'' to know that Akagi always wins. The story is about ''how'' he became a legend. And looking badass while doing it.
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** After getting his [[Mid-Season Upgrade]], the battles become much more samey.
* Dante from the ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' anime pretty much waltzes through every fight in the series. Somewhat justified as the series is supposed to focus on Dante's day-to-day jobs so he never goes up against any major threats {{spoiler|until the last episodes.}}
* You never wonder whether or not
* ''[[Grenadier
* ''[[Dragon Ball
* Dark Schneider from ''[[Bastard!!]]'' is this most of the time.
== Comic Books ==▼
▲== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Most superhero comics are this to some extent, although they might not win every time the higher the stakes the more likely the trope is to come into play,
* [[Superman]], and the Alan Moore-created [[Tom Strong]], count as this. There's no question they'll win, it's just how long it'll take to get them there- and what interesting moral questions the victory will raise.
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* [[The Metabarons]] are all this, starting with Aghnar. They are able to win against impossible odds, to the point of [[Refuge in Audacity]], especially when Aghora slaughters an entire universe in a mirror dimension. The dramatic tension of the series comes largely from the horrible tragedy that continuously befalls the Metabaron clan.
== [[Fan
* The newChaos forces from ''[[The Open Door]]''. As explained by a character, due to the still-rebuilding population on their native universe's Earth, every loss will be felt more severely compared to hostile factions that have reserves, forcing them to go the [[Bigger Stick]] route, combined with a [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] avoiding of universes that have even bigger "sticks". So this is a form of justifying this trope.
* Inverted in ''[[The TSAB -
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''/''[[Smallville]]'' crossover ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4299118/1/Stakes_and_Fenceposts Stakes and Fenceposts]'', even armed with magic, the Buffyverse villains are simply no match for Clark Kent, and he pretty much just destroys them all as a total [[Badass]].
* ''[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/a-darker-path-worm-fanfic.107715/ A Darker Path]'' is a ''[[Worm]]'' fanfic where Taylor gets as her power the Path to Ending, a more specialized but even more powerful within those limits version of Contessa's already broken Path to Victory. There's no doubt in what follows that she will triumph over many, many [[Asshole Victim]]s, but the way she Ends them is so creative and often [[Laser-Guided Karma|Laser-Guided Karmic]] that the story remains a fun read throughout.
== [[Film]] ==
* [[James Bond]], sometimes.
* ''[[Ip Man]]''. Not so much in the
* Cleric John Preston from ''[[Equilibrium]]''.
* ''[[The Expendables]]''.
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* ''[[The Bourne Series]]'': Jason Bourne. The thrill of those movies isn't from whether or not he'll succeed, but ''how''. Case in point, any action hero can fight off a surprise attacker, but only Jason Bourne can do it with [[Improvised Weapon|a pencil]].
== [[Live
* ''[[Super Sentai]]'' and its counterpart ''[[Power Rangers]]''. It's never a question what will happen in battle, but how impressive the [[Humongous Mecha|megazord]] will be and how big of an [[Stuff Blowing Up|explosion]] will follow.
* ''[[Columbo]]'': The title character is one. Once you know what the show is like, you know he's got the criminal anyway. The fun is watching him nail the bad guys bit by bit.
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* ''[[Monk]]'' may sometimes doubt his own ability to solve the case, but we never do. The interest lies in watching him solve the cleverest crimes on the basis of what seem to be [[Eureka Moment|the thinnest inspirations]], and on anticipating the moment when he'll finally [[The Summation|explain everything]] and catch the killer (who is almost always a [[Jerkass|horribly smug jackass]]) red-handed.<ref>This only applies to solving cases. Practically everything else is a huge challenge for him. The fun doesn't just come from watching him do what he's ''good'' at.</ref>
* ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'': John Steed and Emma Peel never lose. They're not even challenged very frequently by the diabolical masterminds who oppose them. But that doesn't matter—what matters is that they both look ''incredibly cool'' while they're doing...well, ''anything''.
* This is most of the appeal of watching ''[[MacGyver]]''. If the title character's in a strait jacket and handcuffs while poachers are about to release some kind of nerve gas into the air supply of a zoo, the question is never, "is he going to fail?" Rather, it's "[[MacGyvering|How's he going to use a paper clip, his pants, four Tic-Tacs,]] [[Crazy Awesome|a blender that doesn't work,]] [[Overly Long Gag|a teaspoon's worth of peanut butter, a blender that ''does'' work, and a handful of wet dirt]] to jimmy himself loose, disable the pumps, and beat the bad guys before time runs out?"
* The original ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' was a team of Showy Invincible Heroes. Sure, there might be a hiccup or two along the way, but you know the I.M.
* ''[[Doctor Who
** Of course, given the sort of things his enemies tend to get up to, the ripple effect, if not the plan itself, would probably change history such that the universe would end (or {{spoiler|never have existed}} as of the Season 5 finale).
** While he rarely loses and his companions rarely die, some seasons ''do'' leave the survival of any and all people introduced in the current episode up for grabs. In other seasons, not so much. It's [[Depending on the Writer]].
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* This was pretty much the entire point of Bill Goldberg's character, especially in his [[WCW]] run. He built up a win streak of almost 200 wins straight, and the entire appeal of that streak was in seeing who he could beat next and how quickly he could do it.
* [[John Cena]] tends to float into this territory sometimes; often times it's just the [[Boring Invincible Hero]], but when he DOES start selling properly (usually in an I Quit or Last Man Standing match) and goes into full-on [[Determinator]] mode, it can be downright scary how much legitimate punishment he can absorb before finally getting the upper hand back and even the smarks start wanting to watch him get back up. Easy enough to say it's all part of the script, but then you remember he usually returns from an legitimate injury in between a third and a quarter of the time he logically should...
== [[Radio]] ==
* The ''[[Lone Ranger]]'' and any superhero radio adaptations
▲* The ''[[Lone Ranger]]'' and any superhero radio adaptations. Making this [[Older Than Television]]
* ''[[Exalted]]'' is the king of this trope in tabletop gaming, where the heroes are expected to be very showy (up to and including getting bonus dice on their actions if they're showy enough when they do them), and largely invincible. The trope does not hold with respect to major antagonists. Many of them outclass player characters as much as the latter outclass common [[Mook]]s.▼
* The ''Smallville'' RPG takes this to an interesting place by making all PCs, and even most NPCs, impossible to kill (well, unless the Player chooses to have them die for dramatic reasons) so that all the drama is carried by character interactions, and the interest by how they go about building and destroying beliefs and relationships.▼
▲== Video Games ==
* Increasingly games with high action quotas include rules for PCs escaping death:▼
** Some games, like ''Fantasy Craft'', emphasize a difference between every day action scenes and dramatic ones, and let you escape death so long as it's against mooks or other less dramatic obstacles, albeit at a cost.▼
** In other games it will appear as a special ability (as in ''[[Spirit of the Century]]'') or even as an optional rule.▼
** And, in some games, like ''[[Lady Blackbird]]'', it is simply assumed that heroes this cool in a game this swashbuckly are destined to come back, so the Dead Consequence is merely "Presumed Dead".▼
*** In all variations, the amusing, exciting, or just bizarre explanations of how the characters come back help make them even more awesome.▼
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Many TAS [[Speed Run]]s.
* The battles in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' (and maybe other installments in the series as well) can be like this. Most of them are easy, but oh so flashy if you want that. The final battle against "Safer Sephiroth" is an [[Inversion]] in that the villain is going to lose for sure, almost certainly on your first try, but he's so showy he still manages to come across as godlike. The more-final duel between Cloud and Sephiroth is also an example, as it is
* Dante of ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' is practically the personification of this... [[Cutscene Power to the Max|in the cutscenes anyways]].
** Ingame, you can make the cutscenes look ''tame'' by comparison.
* [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] and [[The Legend of Zelda|Link]] are Nintendo's main examples of this trope.
* Master Chief of ''[[Halo]]'' fame seems to fit this trope well.
* Modern era ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games like ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'', ''[[Sonic Colors]]'', and ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' turn Sonic into this, seeing as how much of the fun comes from running through the levels almost nonstop and looking awesome doing so.
==
▲* ''[[Exalted]]'' is the king of this trope in tabletop gaming, where the heroes are expected to be very showy (up to and including getting bonus dice on their actions if they're showy enough when they do them), and largely invincible. The trope does not hold with respect to major antagonists. Many of them outclass player characters as much as the latter outclass common [[Mook]]s.
▲* The Smallville RPG takes this to an interesting place by making all PCs, and even most NPCs, impossible to kill (well, unless the Player chooses to have them die for dramatic reasons) so that all the drama is carried by character interactions, and the interest by how they go about building and destroying beliefs and relationships.
▲* Increasingly games with high action quotas include rules for PCs escaping death:
▲** Some games, like Fantasy Craft, emphasize a difference between every day action scenes and dramatic ones, and let you escape death so long as it's against mooks or other less dramatic obstacles, albeit at a cost.
▲** In other games it will appear as a special ability (as in [[Spirit of the Century]]) or even as an optional rule.
▲** And, in some games, like [[Lady Blackbird]], it is simply assumed that heroes this cool in a game this swashbuckly are destined to come back, so the Dead Consequence is merely "Presumed Dead".
▲*** In all variations, the amusing, exciting, or just bizarre explanations of how the characters come back help make them even more awesome.
* ''[[The Salvation War]]'' trilogy is explicitly about Humanity (as in, the people of Earth starting from January 2008) versus both Heaven and Hell, and it becomes quite obvious before long<ref>From [http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=117613 the thread] that eventually led to the trilogy, even.</ref> who's winning... but the ride is full of ''awesome'', win and even heroic tragedy in a setting that at times seems to laugh at the idea thereof... well, up until Book 3: ''Lords of War'', at which point it's "the morning after." What, you thought {{spoiler|Humanity becoming the masters of Heaven, Hell, and Earth}} would be consequence-free?
* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' has Tex devolving into this in the later seasons. She was always the best of the characters but her skills have been hyped to the level where there is not one single competent threat she can face. Combined with her Jerkass personality it's hard to see why the series creators want the audience to be rooting for her.
** Subverted in that {{spoiler|she ultimately always loses and/or dies in the end. The memory she's based upon is of Alison losing and dying, so it's hardcoded into the original Tex A.I. and Epsilon Tex to always fail in the end.}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Spectacle]]
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