Darkest Hour: Difference between revisions

* In [[Yu Yu Hakusho]] during the Chapter Black where the whole objective is to prevent a portal to the Demon Word from opening potentially letting in [[Physical God|A and S Class Demons]] that can potentially wipe out the Earth. Also the [[Black and White Morality]] the heroes are so used to gets thrown out the window. Made even worse that even the protagonist of the series [[Can't Catch Up|could not catch up]].

** Sensui's power far exceeds Yusuke's being and S class while Yusuke was a B+ at best. Knowing he has no chance in hell of ever beating Sensui, Yusuke opted for a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] letting Sensui kill him thus boosting the the power levels of Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei up to A class.

* At the end of season one of ''[[Tower of God]]'', this happens for both Baam and his team in different ways. {{spoiler|Baam is betrayed by Rachel, debasing everything he worked for until now, because all he wanted was to be with her, which also destroyed a large part of his trusting nature, and for the team… well, the one that held it together died. Rak and Androssi didn't even bother to show up for the announcement of death, but they all decided to help Rachel achieving her goals to cherish Baam's memory.}}

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Its [[Darkest Hour]] happened in episode 92, but the Mazinger vs Great General of Darkness expanded upon it and turned it even more tragic: The army of Mykene Empire struck, easily razing several big cities (Londo, New York, Moscow...) to ruins. When they raided Tokyo, Kouji flew to fight them... and got the crap beaten out of him. When he returned to the Institute, he found out several Mykene Beasts had smashed the place, destroying Sayaka and Boss's [[Humongous Mecha]]. And Shiro, his little brother, had been hurt when a ceiling collapsed, and he urgently needed a blood transfusion. In spite of he was weak -and he was underage- Kouji DID demand they used his blood. Later, at the night, he was sitting in what was left of his bedroom, observing a picture of his father and his grandfather and crying [[Manly Tears]] as he muttered the Mykene Beasts would return, and he could not win, but he would fight even though he knew he was going to die (unbeknownst to him, sayaka was observing him, shedding tears as she heard him talking).

* By the last episode of ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'', Pacifica has sustained a mortal wound, Prince Forsythe has given ''himself'' a mortal wound, Shannon and Zefiris have been dragged off by the surviving Peacemakers, and for good measure, the Royal Forces start blasting the place. It ends well.

* ''[[Macross Frontier]]'''s [[Darkest Hour]] begins around episode 20, with the president being assassinated, a Vajra infestation on the main ship causing wholesale civilian slaughter, the death of Michel as he defended his love, and the departure of Ranka Lee. Better yet, [[It Gets Worse]] - much worse ... but [[Earn Your Happy Ending|ends well]].

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', the [[Darkest Hour]] for Lelouch comes in R2 episode 19. He doesn't take the news of Nunnally's death well. Unfortunately, by episode's end, with the Black Knights betraying him and Rolo dying to save him, [[It Got Worse]], and he has passed the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. This leads to some [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|regrettable]] [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|decisions]].

** Well after stopping his parents' [[Assimilation Plot]], he starts up his [[Thanatos Gambit]] for world peace. What is he regretting other than being a [[Cosmic Plaything]]?

** In the anime, Rosette is kidnapped by Aion and brainwashed to take part in his plans. Chrono manages to free Joshua from the horns, but they've damaged his mind so much he barely remembers anyone, and in the process Chrono is frozen in time. Thing spiral out of control from there, and don't get better until Chrono's final fight with Aion, and even then, the rest of the series is grim up until the [[Tear Jerker|ending.]]

* In ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', the [[Darkest Hour]] is when the Raven turns the townspeople into crows and captures Mytho when Princess Tutu can't remove her pendant from her neck (which is Mytho's last heart shard). Ahiru becomes so depressed that she believes the only way she can help everyone is ''by killing herself''. Fakir stops her by convincing her that he will always be with her and they can save Mytho together. The Darkest Hour comes to an end when Ahiru finds the courage to give Mytho the pendant and return to being a duck.

* Takes place during each and every arc of [[Dragonball Z]], the Frieza and Cell Sagas in particular being filled to the brim with them.

* There's one at the end of each ''[[Slayers]]'' season.

* The result of a [[Gambit Roulette]] orchestrated by the main villain, Tamaki's [[Evil Matriarch]] grandmother, in an attempt to separate him and Haruhi in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''.

* Episode 12 of ''[[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt]]''. Stocking's ascended to Heaven, Panty's lost her powers, and the [[Big Bad]] abducted Brief to unlock the Ghost sealed away. [[It Gets Better]]. Then [[Gainax Ending|it gets...weird.]]

* The Water Seven and Sabaody arcs in ''[[One Piece]]'', both storylines in which the Straw Hat Pirates have come close to annihilation.

* The end of Hong Gildong arc in ''[[Shin Angyo Onshi]]''. The main character {{spoiler|willingly traps himself in a [[Lotus Eater Machine]] which he considered a [[Fate Worse Than Death]]}} betting on [[One in A Million Chance]] of breaking free versus certain death otherwise. His main companion {{spoiler|is deceived into working for the [[Big Bad]]}}. [[Anti-Villain]] antagonists of the arc {{spoiler|are mostly dead.}} The main character's former old friend {{spoiler|remains undead in the thrall to the [[Big Bad]], and is revealed to be unable to die or to break free unless his body is completely obliterated}}. The city that the protagonists protected in the arc {{spoiler|is taken over by the [[Big Bad]]}}. The [[Big Bad]] decides to stop fooling around and get to the businness of [[Take Over the World|taking over the world]], revealing his vast true power and his array of superhuman henchmen. Few good guys still standing are being manipulated by him.

* By episode 11 of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'', Homura is the only magical girl left alive and is fighting a losing battle against Walpurgisnacht even after unloading a small army's worth of firepower on it. After repeating the same six weeks who knows how many times, she finally gives up hope... {{spoiler|cue [[Wishplosion]] courtesy of her beloved Madoka.}}

* ''[[The End of Evangelion]]'' carries this trope to its logical extreme. It's pretty dark.

* ''[[SD Gundam Force]]'': Most of Neotopia's population is [[Taken for Granite|turned to stone]], Commander Sazabi has stolen Captain's soul drive, and is preparing to rule over the world with it.

* The approaching end of the Fullbringer arc in ''[[Bleach]]''. All of Ichigo's Nakama are either fighting against him due to the [[Big Bad]]'s [[More Than Mind Control]] or are critically injured, the guy who he thought was a friend turns out to be working with the big bad the entire time, the powers he worked to attain throughout the arc are taken from him, and after getting stabbed through the heart he finds his father behind him, seemingly the one who did it.

* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Sango and Miroku waiting for the Wind Tunnel to absorb them while their despair consumes the light within the Shikon no Tama leaving it in darkness.

** Sesshoumaru's darkest hour occurs when he finally learns the truth about Tenseiga's origins and the real reason why he was given Meidou Zangetsuha, resulting in him believing that his father had been [[The Unfavorite|training Inuyasha to kill him.]] His [[Heroic BSOD]] is so blatent that even ''Myouga'' is desperate to help him. He's left so shaken that when [[Big Bad|Naraku]] attacks his group he doesn't even try to rescue them; Inuyasha ends up saving them while he watches from a distance. Nothing in the manga - not even Kagura's death or Rin's second death - has ever made him despair the way thinking his father hated him did.

 

 

* In ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', the four return triumphantly with the third piece of the Vasyn, only to find the first two pieces missing and almost everything taken from the house. Tracking down their stuff, they end up in [[Ghost City|the ruined city of Ehndris]], where they learn that Brox found a spell to restore monsters to Baravada—something they did not want to have happen. {{spoiler|They're betrayed by their best Baravadan friend;}} John and Paul are kidnapped and put under the control of the baddies, while George and Ringo are neutralized and can do nothing to help. The Fans are nowhere to be found. And the topper is that Ringo is startled into teleporting hundreds of miles away, leaving George alone, surrounded by bloodthirsty revolutionaries, and [[Brought Down to Normal|utterly powerless]].

* ''[[My Little Avengers]]'': Chapter 14 and roughly the first third of chapter 15 -- [[Big Bad|Loki's]] [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Dark Avengers]] have managed to defeat the Avengers, and a threat on Pinkie Pie's life gets Big Macintosh to surrender Mjolnir and Thor's power to Loki, who proceeds to pervert the [[Power of Friendship]] to strip the other Avengers of their powers as well. The Dark Avengers then assault the royal palace, banishing Luna to the moon and taking a depowered Celestia prisoner, with Loki proclaiming himself the new ruler of Equestria. {{spoiler|Fortunately, Big Mac gets a [[Rousing Speech]] from a ponified [[Stan Lee]], and he proceeds to do the same to his teammates, using the ''real'' [[Power of Friendship]] to restore their powers. They then take the fight to Loki, setting the stage for the [[Final Battle]].}}

 

 

* [[The Movie]] version of ''The Odyssey'' has one where ''all'' of Odysseus' men drown in a shipwreck and he washes ashore to Calypso's island where she makes him her sex slave for ''seven years''. [[Homer]]'s original is told [[Anachronic Order]], so it's harder to pinpoint there.

* In ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'', when the Faun has forsaken Ofelia and her mother has died, leaving her all alone with her [[Complete Monster|supremely evil stepfather]].

** The second film has the part when the river of slime comes up to the surface, covering the museum and generally causing havoc (also counts as a ''literal'' [[Darkest Hour]], as the influence of the slime causes an eclipse which plunges the city into darkness).

* This occurs during the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' when [[Eyepatch of Power|Dr. Serizawa]] is torn between using the Oxygen Destroyer or keeping it a secret. It's not until he's shown the tragedy caused by Godzilla's rampage that he finally decides to use it...but only once.

* ''The Darkest Hour'' looks pretty bleak, what with cities crumbling and weird energy tentacles turning humans into ash. The perfect Christmas film!

* ''[[My Little Pony]]: [[The Movie]]'': Dream Valley is already buried, and the [[Blob Monster|Smo]][[The Juggernaut|oze]] is advancing on Paradise Estate, the little ponies' last refuge. The adults don't know for sure if Megan and the others made it to Flutter Valley, and that this could be the end. [[Tear Jerker|They tell the children to close their eyes, so that if it is indeed the end they at least won't have to see it]].

* ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'' has two: one for the film as a whole, and one for the [[Final Battle]] (which was so big, [[Joss Whedon]] had to plot it out like a film in its own right).

** The first time comes when {{spoiler|the Helicarrier is barely functioning after [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] Hawkeye's attack and the Hulk's rampage; Thor is gone, Banner is gone, Iron Man's armour is a hair's breath from completely crapping out, Black Widow is inches from a [[Heroic BSOD]], Agent Coulson is dead, Loki has escaped, and S.H.I.E.L.D. '''still''' has no idea where the Tesseract is.}}

 

== Live Action TV ==

** ''Logopolis'', the final story of the Fourth Doctor (the longest running Doctor on television to date). <s>Most of the universe</s> ''One tenth'' of the universe, to be specific (which is still a hell of a lot), has already gotten destroyed, the situation has gotten so dire that the Doctor's future self had to bail him out, and the Master finally decides to take the remaining universe hostage.

** Possibly the darkest hour in not just the show's history, but in the whole of fiction occurs in ''The Pandorica Opens'' when {{spoiler|it is revealed that the apparently [[Back From the Dead]] Rory is actually [[Tomato in the Mirror|an Auton duplicate]] with the original's memories created as part of a huge trap for the Doctor by an alliance of all his enemies, who kills Amy just as she remembers him. The Doctor is shut in the Pandorica, an inescapable prison, despite his pleas for them to listen to his warnings of the impending destruction of space and time. It's in vain, because the TARDIS explodes with River inside of it, creating the cracks that set the season in motion in the first place and causing [[Apocalypse How|every star in every universe to explode at every moment in history]], [[Ret-Gone|making it as if reality never existed]] in the first place.}} It all gets better in the finale though.

** "A Good Man Goes To War", where the Doctor rose so high, and saw everything taken away, when {{spoiler|Melody is taken away from under his nose, so she can be raised to kill him}}.

{{quote|Sarah: I just wanted to tell you that I believe you. I believe everything that you told me about us. But the truth is, Chuck, I don't feel it. Everything that you told me about us and our story, I just ... I don't feel it.}}

** For some viewers, depending on how you interpret the last few moments of the series, that doesn't actually get better.

* In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'', the episode "Best of Both Worlds" marks a "darkest hour" for the crew and for the series which was facing cancellation. At the end of Season Three, Enterprise is damaged, the Borg have decimated the forces massed at Wolf 359, and they have captured Captain Picard assimilating his knowledge and their one trick shot with the main deflector dish fails and damages the ship. Riker is forced to take command of the ship and appoint his rival Lt Commander Shelby to be his first officer, as the Borg move to assimilate Earth. That's about as bad as it gets on TNG.

* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' has quite a few involving the Dominion. The two most likely candidates occur when the station is abandoned at the end of season 5, and is not recaptured until 6 episodes into the next season, and "In The Pale Moonlight", when it appears that Senator Vreenak has discovered the falsified evidence Sisko and Garak had made to get the Romulans to join the war.

* [[Crapsack World|Things rarely]] [[It Got Worse|get better]] in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]''. That said, two points in the series count as Darkest Hours:

** In the first episodes of season 3, the ''New Caprica'' arc. Most of the insurgency's leaders are held prisoner on the planet. The free ones, Saul, Anders and Galen are increasingly desperate, with Galen getting careless after Cally is arrested and Saul unhinged after being tortured. Starbuck is missing, held prisoner by Leoben and subjected to [[Mind Rape]] with no way to reach her husband or allies. On the Fleet, the two Battlestars are undermanned and have no viable means of penetrating the planetary defence. William and Lee are in increasing disagreement on what to do, feeling hopeless and unable to help the people they love.

== Music ==

* ''Our Solemn Hour'' by [[Within Temptation]].

* "End of All Hope" by Nightwish

* In choral settings of the Christian Mass, the music often lands in a minor key and slows down in the section of the Credo when Christ is crucified. When, in the next sentence, he is resurrected, the music perks right up into a major key and the tempo moves briskly along.

== Real Life ==

* [[The Black Death]], so far the most horrific plague mankind ever had to face. In a span of three-four years, the population of Europe was reduced of ''one third''. The general perception was that the Apocalypse was coming.

* [[The Other Wiki]] attributes Winston Churchill as the [[Trope Namer]] for this phrase, having used it in speeches for the period of [[World War II]] where France had just fallen to the Nazis, they had turned against Soviet Union to the east and were launching [[The Blitz]] against Britain.

{{quote|[[Stiff Upper Lip|"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves,]] that if the [[The British Empire|British Empire]] and [[The Commonwealth|its Commonwealth]] last for a thousand years, [[Famed in Story|men will still say]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|'This was their finest hour.'"]]}}

 

 

** During the second arc with Queen Elencia. Ludvec kidnaps Lucia, the Greil Mercenaries and Bastian are nowhere to be found, your main army with the most competent warriors are sidetracked and delayed by an enemy ploy and Ludvec surronds your last stronghold with a massive army of traitors and usurpers.

** In the Third Chapter, thanks to Skrimir's idiocy, Naesala's treachery and [[Magnificent Bastard|Begnion's bastardry]], the Gallian forces are trapped in enemy territory with the world's superpower on one side and Daein, which holds quite a few old friends, closing in on the other. They are forced to stage a full scale retreat losing the territory they gained and some of it they started with.

** The last and biggest occurs when members of the dragon tribe side with Micaiah and Daein. This means that literally the world is at war and that Yune, [[Dark Is Not Evil|Goddess of Chaos ]] is going to awaken. By sheer luck, the heros manage to find out the secret to awakening her peacefully just in time. Unfortunately, this also awakens Ashera, [[Light Is Not Good|the Goddess of Order]] who proceeds to turn every single person, warrior, peasant, or little child, into stone.

* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' has this just after you confront Queen Zeal in the Ocean Palace. {{spoiler|[[Eldritch Abomination|Lavos]] woke up, knocked out the entire party with one attack, [[Killed Off for Real|obliterated Crono]], and destroyed Zeal. Schala teleported the party out with her magic, but she was caught in the Ocean Palace as it collapsed. The Epoch is gone, the time gate out of 12,000 BC is still sealed (and without Schala, there's no hope of breaking the seal), and Dalton and his troops are declaring sovereignty over what's left of the world. Just to add to that, the closest thing the party has to an ally is the person they've spent the first part of the game trying to kill}}.

* In ''[[Chrono Cross]]'', after the visit to [[Disc One Final Dungeon|Fort Dragonia]]. {{spoiler|Lynx pulls a [[Grand Theft Me]] on Serge, turns his party against him, stabs Kid when she figures out what's going on, and throws Serge into a dimensional void. Even after Harle helps Serge out, he's still stuck in Home World, separated from all his friends, stuck in Lynx's body, while Dark Serge is doing god-knows-what in Another World.}}

* ''[[Cave Story]]'', after the Iron Head fight. [[You Can't Thwart Stage One|You've failed to stop The Doctor from acquiring the red flowers]], and your last-ditch effort to take him down with the entire island also failed. Mimiga Village is completely empty, all its citizens taken by the Doctor (and its theme music switches to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8-oEHDTpPY something appropriately creepy]), and the Egg Chamber was ravaged by an explosion. King and Toroko are dead, and Curly Brace is either dead in the Core Chamber or damaged and God-knows-where. Your only ally (or allies) who hasn't been killed or taken prisoner says there's nothing left to do but flee, [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|and it's possible to take him up on the offer]].

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' has the microwave tunnel scene. As you [[Press X to Not Die|continue to hammer the triangle button]], the screen is split between Snake moving down the hallway, falling to his knees as his equipment explodes, having to ''crawl'' to the end, while the top portion shows his allies about to lose their respective battles. Raiden gets surrounded and stabbed by FROGs, Johnny and Meryl run out of ammo as an endless wave of enemies continues to charge them, and Metal Gear RAY mounts the battleship and prepares to fire on the bridge. This continues into the next scene and [[It Got Worse|gets even worse]], with Snake being overwhelmed by Mini-GEKKO and screaming Otacon's name as Otacon practically has a breakdown when it looks like he's not going to be able to upload the virus in time. All played to an absolutely heartrending soundtrack. Things looked pretty bleak before, but that sequence has players nearly breaking the controller from bashing the button so hard, praying that everything will turn out okay.

* ''[[MediEvil 2|Medi Evil 2]]'' has this at the end of the Whitechapel level.

* In the [[Spyro the Dragon]] game ''Dawn of the Dragon'', the climax has a type three one of these. Ignitus performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], Malefor takes over Cynder's mind and turns her on Spyro, this causes Spyro to go over the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. A [[Hope Spot]] occurs when Spyro saves Cynder with the [[Power of Love]], but is quickly crushed when, while battling Malefor, the Great Destroyer finishes its path, beginning the planet's destruction and forcing the two heroes to battle Malefor as they plummet to the planet's core. They after a long brutal battle they overcome Malefor, causing him to be sealed away and Spyro saves the planet, almost killing them both in the process.

* In ''[[Super Paper Mario]],'' [[Wuxia|Sammer's Kingdom]] gets destroyed by the Void, you're forced to fight your own [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] brother, then find that the [[Plot Coupon|Pure Heart]] that was located in the world that just got obliterated has been stripped of its power, no one has any idea of how to fix it... and then [[The Dragon]] shows up in between chapters to ''off your entire party'' in one go.

* [[Homeworld]] has a Darkest Hour of its own. It's not during the third level, but the last, where you have finally found your Homeworld. Unfortunately you've got several enemy fleets between you and it, out for your blood and Fleet Command is not responding...

* ''Super [[Metroid]]''. A giant Metroid appears. You can't kill it with any of your weapons. [[It Got Worse|It latches onto you, and rains your health faster than you being submerged in the acid in Ridley's lair with the Power Suit and nothing more. No weapons can repel that monster.]] When you're in your very last HP point, {{spoiler|it stops, gets off and starts vocalizing. Do you recognize those squeaks? It's Baby! It then flies off, leaving a clear way to a recharge station.}}

* The beginning of the final day of ''[[Ace Attorney|Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice for All]]'', case 2-4. {{spoiler|Maya's been kidnapped by a professional assassin, who wants him to get an acquittal for the client-of-the-week in exchange for Maya's life. Phoenix then has to spend the first day breaking one of the biggest [[The Woobie|woobies]] in the series to achieve his goal, only to find out that his client is [[Complete Monster|guilty-as-all-hell.]] On top of that, just when the player thinks they found out where Maya is being kept, the assassin slipped right out of the police's grasp, leaving them back to square one on where to find her, the player is given a [[You Bastard]] moment by said woobie, and now Phoenix has to decide between proving his client guilty or saving Maya's life. All while the client is standing there and mocking you.}}

* This was both literally and figuratively the case in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' before the player character escapes the northern undead prison. The First Flame is dying, and when it does all light and fire shall go out with it. As a result much of the world is suffering through endless nights. The world has also be devastated by a curse of undeath called the Dark Sign and many, many civilizations have collapsed as a result.

 

== Webcomics ==

* ''[[Homestuck]]'' Act Five Act Two: [[Munchkin|Vriska]] kills [[Wheelchair Woobie|Tavros]]. [[Royal Brat|Eridan]] has a [[Face Heel Turn]], blinds [[Mad Oracle|Sollux]], murders [[Rebellious Princess|Feferi]] and [[Team Mom|Kanaya]] ([[Our Vampires Are Different|she gets better]]), and dooms the troll species to extinction by destroying the Matriorb. Then [[Monster Clown|Gamzee]] runs out of sopor pie, sobers up and goes [[Ax Crazy]], killing [[Genius Bruiser|Equius]] and [[Catgirl|Nepeta]]. There is also that little matter of [[Hero-Killer|Jack]] [[Big Bad|Noir]], who has so far killed [[Crazy Awesome|Bro]], [[Spirit Advisor|Davesprite]] ([[Not Quite Dead|also gets better]]), [[The Hero|John]] ([[Physical God|also gets better]]), [[Black Magician Girl|Rose]] ([[Kiss of Life|also gets better]]), [[The Lancer|the actual Dave]] ([[Kiss of Life|also gets better)]], [[Timey-Wimey Ball|an alternate Dave]] ([[Running Gag|does not get better]]), the dreamselves of every troll, Mom and Dad, wiped out the populations of three entire planets, and [[Earthshattering Kaboom|destroyed all fourteen planets]] of the trolls' Medium. With Gamzee apparently neutralised and Eridan and Vriska killed by Kanaya and Terezi respectively, though, it looks like everyone may finally have the time to work on getting themselves out of this mess.

** The trolls are first introduced right in the ''middle'' of their [[Darkest Hour]]. They finally beat the game, and are just about to claim their reward...when Jack shows up and starts killing everything, forcing the trolls to hide out on an asteroid and pretty much wait for death.