Graceful Loser: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

* When [[Big Bad|Raoh]] of ''[[Fist of the North Star]],'' broken-and-defeated by Kenshiro, [[Final First Hug|holds the younger warrior's face for the first and final time like a big brother]]:

'''Kenshiro:''' Big brother... }}

* Not a series-ending example, but during Shannon and Chris' confrontation in episode 4 of ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'', Chris gracefully surrenders after Shannon [[Flash Step|Flash Steps]] behind him and holds a sword to his throat. He agrees to return Winia to the heroes, and to no longer attack them directly. This also marks the beginning of Winia and Chris' [[Odd Friendship]].

** Also, (and potentially a better example) Japanese swordsman and Karate expert Nakamura. He recognizes that Huo could have killed him with Huo's final blow but deliberately held back rather than do so. Between that and Nakamura's suspicions that foul play had occurred, he stops the referee from proclaiming him the victor over Huo, forfeits, and leads the audience in cheering on Huo.

* Amber Von Tussle in ''[[Hairspray]]'', but not her mother, alas.

'''Velma Von Tussle:''' You did not lose! You can not have lost because [[Engineered Public Confession|I switched the damn tallies!]] }}

** Amber then proceeds to walk away from her mother, then strike a conversation and dance with a black dancer.

* As in the book, Cardinal Richelieu in ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' very calmly accepts that he's been beaten (even if it is only a minor inconvenience rather than a disaster for him,) and invites the musketeers to work for him instead.

* [[Big Bad|Loki]] in ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]''. Conclusively broken and beaten, surrounded by all of the Avengers, ALL angry as hell:

* Subverted in ''[[Diggstown]]'', where the hero and the villain are both con-men who have done everything in their power to rig a series of boxing matches in their favor. When the hero's fighter finally wins under blatantly shady circumstances, the villain stands up and says, "You beat me fair and square!" However, soon afterwards he begins ranting and threatening while his son tries to get him to admit defeat.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[The Queen's Thief|The King Of Attolia]]'', the king has just outmaneuvered a scheming noble:

* In the Warrior trilogy set in the ''[[BattleTech]]'' universe, Duke Frederick Steiner certainly qualifies. Confronted with the evidence of his involvement in a plot to topple his cousin Katrina and establish himself as Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth (involving an assassination attempt that he did ''not'' know about and would not have condoned), he acknowledges his defeat, accepts a suicide mission on the condition that the troops he takes along not be thrown away merely for their association with him, and indeed does not return. {{spoiler|He does survive, but effectively vanishes for over twenty years before appearing again in a somewhat more heroic role...in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, and under a different name.}}

** Also, the Clans will, at the point of a defeat, withdraw, even if they have the strength to stay.

* The vampire Faethor Ferenczy of the ''[[Necroscope]]'' series had ''two'' such moments: first, when suffering amidst the ruins of his burning house, he decided to accept a quick death at the hands of a rescuer- even paying him with a gold medallion- rather than fighting desperately to escape. The second moment was after his death, when he was excluded from the other souls of the dead [[Fantastic Racism|for being a vampire]], and this time, he got to explain himself:

** ... up until Sequelitis made him an enemy again in Necroscope: Deadspawn when {{spoiler|he manages to vampirise hero Harry Keogh and tries a [[Grand Theft Me]] on him before being cast into oblivion}}.

* [[Hand of Thrawn|Supreme Commander Pellaeon]], the head of the tiny [[Vestigial Empire|Imperial Remnant]], came to the conclusion that the Empire would only survive to rise again if he made peace with the New Republic, so he sends a trusted underling as an envoy to meet with the general he respects most. A Moff's consternation at this and someone finding a corrupt version of the Caamaas Document kick off the events of the Hand of Thrawn duology.

*** Of course, it was a good idea to choose to fight them anyway because [[Video Game Stealing|of the equipment you could get.]]

* Harry McDowell of ''[[Gungrave]]'', once his final creation is destroyed, admits defeat and allows Beyond The Grave to avenge his own murder (by killing Harry). For bonus points, [[Coup De Grace Cutscene|the player gets to pull the trigger]].

(A single shot of Grave's [[Hand Cannon|Cerberus]] is heard.) }}

** The final boss of the second game accepts his defeat calmly, even giving the heroes an antidote for Mika's seed infection before he dies.

** {{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.''

** {{spoiler|Acro}} would qualify. When you finally present irrefutable evidence that he was the (accidental) murderer of ringmaster Russel Berry, he simply congratulates you for seeing through him, figuring it out and calmly explains why he did what he did. He even congratulates Franziska for her part in exposing him. The last bit, though, sells it:

** Completely averted, however, by the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth]]'', {{spoiler|Quercus Alba}}. He constantly denies your claims unless you've completely proven them. This, however, makes finally taking him down all the more satisfying as you've ensured that he no longer has any wriggle room and must face punishment for his crimes.

 

** Also, Oberon.

* In the last episode of ''[[The Transformers (animation)|The Transformers]]'' season 3 (The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2), Galvatron's madness is cured and he becomes this. Of course, in the next (truncated) season, he comes back crazier than ever.

* In ''[[Hot Wheels Battle Force 5]]'', {{spoiler|Kalus takes the Vandal's final defeat fairly well. They may have lost all their Sentient technology, but he's reunited his planet under his rule, defeated the Red Sentients attacking his world, and finally gets his hands on [[The Starscream|Grimian]] and seems content with that.}}

* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/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.