Darkest Hour: Difference between revisions

** 3 A Class fighters against an S Class was still a very one sided [[Curb Stomp Battle]] in favor of Sensui. It took two [[Deus Ex Machina]] just to beat him.

* 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.}}

** ''[[Great Mazinger]]'': In the anime it happened in the last episode: the Mykene bombarded the Fortress of Science, Kouji and Tetsuya were forced to fight separately, Tetsuya was defeated {{spoiler|and nearly got killed}} and Prof. Kenzo Kabuto {{spoiler|died.}} And in the [[Gosaku Ota]] episodes it was worse AND [[It Got Worse]].

** ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'': In the finale of the first season, [[The Hero]] was defeated and forced into hiding with his [[Humongous Mecha]], his [[The Lancer|lancer]] was shot down, his [[Love Interest]] was dying, the base was taken by one of the [[Co-Dragons]] of [[Big Bad]], and the Professor was tortured.

* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', the episode "That Day, Riot Force Six". It ends with most of their forces injured, both the Ground Forces HQ and [[All Your Base Are Belong to Us|Riot Force Six HQ]] destroyed, and [[Super Prototype|Ginga]] and [[Mysterious Waif|Vivio]] captured.

* 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.

** 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]]?

* This takes place in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' after a disastrous battle with Aion leaves the [[True Companions]] broken.

** In the manga, Rosette is nearly killed when Chrono goes into an [[Unstoppable Rage]]. Chrono realizes what he's doing in time to save her life, but Aion uses it as his chance to incapacitate him. Azmaria is then kidnapped, Aion leaves the rest badly injured, and Chrono is so distraught that he [[Heroic BSOD|forces himself]] into an [[Angst Coma]] so he won't take any more of Rosette's lifespan. It ends once Rosette and Chrono decide to follow Aion to his base of operations.

** 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.]]

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

* ''[[Naruto]]'': During the Pain Invasion. The village has been pretty much leveled, with several important characters and hundreds of nameless villagers killed. Naruto's [[Look What I Can Do Now!|sudden badassery]] has failed and he is pinned to the ground helpless. Worse still, he can find no good response to Pain's nihilistic [[Hannibal Lecture]]. Then Hinata tries to come to his aid, makes an [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] and attacks Pain, only to get [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|stabbed]]. Naruto's shock and anger overcome his protective seals and the power of the [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Nine-Tailed FOX]] bursts free like it has never done before...

** Another one is the Elric brothers' first meeting with Father and the aftermath. Basically, they've found out the horrible secret of their country and they're led to believe there's nothing they can do to stop it. One of the chapters in this arc is even called "Inside the Belly."

* The climax of [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Moon Stars]]. Sailor Moon and the Starlights are pretty much the only Sailor Soldiers left. This is on top of the dark shadow of Tuxedo Mask's disappearance that's been hanging around for half the season. The [[Hope Spot]] is a dream as well, and really not that close to the end.

** As if that wasn't enough, the final showdown between Ala Alba and Kosmo Entelechia has gone wrong. Horribly, ''horribly'' wrong. Negi is incapacitated (bad), so the rest of the team pull off a daring rescue (good). Half the attacking group is turned to stone in the clusterfuck (bad), but at least they've stopped the world-ending ritual and stolen the artifact, rescued the princess and saved the world, right? [[It Got Worse|Uh, no]].

* One for every ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' part:

* ''[[Elf Quest]]'': In the "Kings of the Broken Wheel" arc, Cutter watches helplessly as Rayek abducts Leetah, Skywise, Suntop and Ember 10,000 years into the future.

* The ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comics have had a few points over the years that qualify:

** The destruction of Knothole in issue 175, which includes the first time Eggman's ever managed to [[Curb Stomp Battle|outright]] [[The Bad Guy Wins|defeat Sonic in a fight]].

** About midway through the Iron Dominion Saga, the Iron Queen [[Brainwashed and Crazy|hacks NICOLE]], allowing the Dominion forces to seize control of New Mobotropolis and send the Freedom Fighters running.

 

 

 

== Film ==

** Ironically, just before, Harvey had stated that "Things are always darkest just before the dawn". If he only knew...

* ''[[Firefly|Serenity]]'': The title ship is grounded on Mr. Universe's moon. Book is dead. Wash was killed by the Reavers. They've got one seriously ticked off Operative on their tail and the Reavers are descending upon the ship. Zoe even states outright that [[Kill'Em All|they're not getting out alive]].

* 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]].

* Shows up in both ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' movies: Twice in the first actually. the first is when the Busters are eating Chinese takeout and Ray says that the business has just run out of money with that meal. That is exactly when the Sedgewick Hotel calls desperately for their services to which Janine at the front desk goes, "We got one!" as the enterprise is saved. The second one was when [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] Walter Peck has the containment unit was shut down, thereby causing the firehouse to explode and releasing all the ghosts that the title characters had caught to wreak havoc upon the city while Peck has the unmitigated gall to arrest the Ghostbusters for doing something that he alone is responsible for.

* 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.

* During the animated ''[[Transformers]]'' movie. They even call it by name.

* ''[[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.}}

 

 

** In ''Chamber of Secrets'', the school is under intense lockdown, devoid of hope, and Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy have banished the people who would be of most help.

** In ''Prisoner of Azkaban'', Harry has failed in his rescue, a vile man has escaped into the ether, and everyone believes he has been magically confused into believing utter lies.

** In ''Order of the Phoenix'', [[Harry Potter/Characters|Umbridge]] is swiftly [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|taking over and souring everything]] great and good about Hogwarts. This ends when the trio find a way to fight back.

** In ''Half-Blood Prince'', The Cave.

*** To say nothing of the final battle against Voldemort and the revelation of Harry's destiny.

* [[Older Than Dirt]]: The death of [[The Hero]]'s [[Dead Sidekick|best friend, Enkidu,]] in ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' triggers the first [[Heroic BSOD]].

* Katie MacAlister's ''Aisling Gray'' series ends book three at such a low point that it took this troper at least a year to pick up book four.

* In [[James Swallow]]'s [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Blood Angels]] novel ''Deus Sanguinius'', Rafen first, under psychic attacks, nearly [[Despair Event Horizon|commits suicide]]. Fighting against the attacks, and a vision, free him from the compulsion but make his duty clear to him: he tries to blow up the city where his fellow Blood Angels are breaking with their Chapter. It fails, they pursue him. It ends only when they catch him in a factory, and it explodes.

* The ending of ''[[Sword of Truth|Soul of the Fire]]'' sees Kahlan hanging to life by a fragile thread and having lost the child she was carrying, Richard believing that the Imperial Order is impossible to defeat, and a general lack of ''anything'' good having come from the events of the book, with Richard, Kahlan, and Cara quietly leaving in utter defeat.

* In [[Andre Norton]]'s ''Jargoon Pard'', Kethan is [[Switched At Birth]] for a woman's daughter, because [[Heir Club for Men|only a son can inherit]]. At the climax, this is revealed to the woman and his parents; they reveal that actually, they knew it for a long time, practically from infancy, and still consider her their daughter. Kethan nearly despairs, because his purported mother no longer wants him, because she can no longer use him. After the fight, however, his parents eagerly lay claim both to their biological son and the daughter they raised.

** In ''The War Games'', the Doctor pragmatically summons his people, the Time Lords, knowing that he will then have to face their judgement and even the ever-optimistic Second Doctor knows he cannot run from them any more. By the end of the story, the Time Lords have separated the Doctor from his companions and he faces trial by his own people. This ended up the Second Doctor's tenure and finished off the black and white era of the program.

** ''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}}.

** 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.

** Starting at the middle of season 4… Ooooh boy. The Fleet finds Earth after years of searching, but the whole planet is a radioactive wasteland. The friendly cylons have been all but decimated, with only one sheep surviving. Galactica herself is wounded and falls apart with old age. People fall prey to suicidal and auto-destructive behaviors, a situation that culminates in a bloody mutiny. The one child that symbolizes humanity's future is kidnapped by the bad cylons… and ''it keeps getting worse'' until the beginning of the [[Series Finale]].

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has the episode ''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Hour of the Wolf]]'', where [[The Hero]] is dead after his [[Heroic Sacrifice]], but didn't even manage to kill [[The Dragon|Morden]]. Garibaldi has been captured by someone, the Vorlons are done with what little diplomacy they did before, the League is taking their cues from [[Dying Like Animals]], Londo sees his premonition of Shadow ships over Centauri Prime become true and Emperor Cartagia is planning on turning the Centauri homeworld into [[Omnicidal Maniac|a giant funeral pyre]] to light his way to [[A God Am I|godhood]]. The Vorlons and the Shadows haven't started shooting yet, but they've thrown out the rules of engagement so it's [[It Gets Worse|only a matter of time]].

* The two-part opener of ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' series four is called "The Darkest Hour." Furthermore, the tagline for the season as displayed on the posters is: "The darkest hour is just before the dawn." It's also a line of dialogue in the first episode, as said by Prince Arthur.

* Two in ''[[Man of La Mancha]]'': One is for Aldonza, after being gang-raped by the muleteers. Then Don Quixote himself [[Heroic BSOD|suffers this after]] the Knight of the Mirrors breaks his spirit.

* [[Spring Awakening|Melchior comes home to find his]] love interest and their unborn child have been killed by a failed abortion, making it all his fault, and he's reminded that best friend committed suicide, and it's ''also his fault'', indirectly. And this is not helped in the original German play, when {{spoiler|the ghosts of his friends actually appear to ''try to make him commit suicide and join them.'' Some friends.}}

* ''[[1776]]'': "Gentlemen, we are about to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper." While history teachers forevermore would trumpet the signing of the Declaration as the birth of the United States of America, at the time the Founding Fathers knew that that "skiff made of paper" would have been a far safer bet - they faced another decade of war with a third of the Colonies on their side in a ragtag militia facing the might of the British Imperial Navy and knew they faced years of hardship and a charge of treason should they fail. [[John Adams]] might have been able to "see the rays of ravishing light and glory... through the gloom," but he also knew what they faced. There was very little joy in Independence Hall that day.

* The third act of ''Vanities'', where the characters' friendship is strained to the breaking point. Worse, [[Downer Ending|this was the original non-musical play's finale]].

 

** 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.

* ''[[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.}}

** Oh, and that Gate? It gets destroyed during the battle. And while that may mean that the villains can't harness its powers, it now means that there's a gaping hole in reality ''and'' the seal containing the Snarl has been significantly weakened. Oh, and while Vaarsuvius may have come to his/her senses, he/she still owes his/her soul to the IFCC, who still seem interested in using him/her as a pawn. On the bright side, however, O-Chul's capture allowed him to befriend [[Minion with an F In Evil|the Monster in the Darkness]], and seems to have started it down the path to a [[Heel Face Turn]], so some good came of this mess.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'': In [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-09-27 the ninth part of the Sister II arc] Nanase futilely tries to talk to Abraham to convince him to spare Ellen's life but he cuts her fairy doll avatar down. This hurts her unimaginably as she can feel everything but she creates another avatar and tries again. Abraham thinks he is fighting puppets controlled by the elf he defeated earlier and refuses to even acknowledge what she is trying to tell him believing it to be trickery. Instead, he cuts the avatars down as fast as Nanase can create them each time causing her physical pain but she keeps trying over and over again. All this while every mortal being in the area who could possibly help her has either been put into a deep sleep by Abraham or is unaware of her plight.

 

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]] - The Movie'': The city's being destroyed by mutated monkeys, the entire city of Townsville hates them, and Mojo Jojo is holding their father hostage.

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has two potential candidates. One is the [[Wham! Episode|"Crossroads of Destiny"]] where Zuko does not complete his [[Heel Face Turn]], Azula backshoots Aang with lightning, nearly killing him, and the previously impenetrable Earth Kingdom Capital Ba Sing Se falls to the Fire Nation. Another is the [[Hope Spot|"Day of the Black Sun"]] where Sokka [[Gondor Calls for Aid|tries to lead an invasion]] of the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse. Instead, we learn that Azula knew about the invasion all along and the Fire Nation was ready. The end result was that the invasion failed, virtually all the troops were sent to prison, and the few remaining children had to hide out in the Western Air Temple.

* Every season of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' has one of these occur during the season finale.

** Season 1: The Teen Titans are infected with nanobots that will kill them upon Slade's command. To save their lives, Robin swears to serve Slade as his apprentice.

* The concept of the "Darkest Hour" is a major part of [[Transformers]] philosophy, signifying a threat that seems to blot out all hope in the universe. The way to avert it is to bring all Transformers together against whatever threatens them - thus the phrase "Till All Are One". The animated movie is ''the'' example of this, but it recurs throughout different continuities.

* ''[[Re Boot]]'': The city is completely ruined, only the principal office has any power, and it's impossible to repair the city. The remaining population is holed up in the principal office and doesn't have the supplies to last very long. And to make matters worse a game has landed which will crash the entire system when the User wins. The only way out of this mess is to invoke a [[Deus Ex Machina]] and pray for the User to intervene as the system crashes and everything fades to black. A couple of key strokes from the User and everything is fixed, including bringing back the dead.

** In the season finale, the Changeling Queen Chrysalis manages to defeat both the Mane Six ''and'' Princess Celestia, and take over Canterlot in a preparation for her horde to conquer Equestria. She's only defeated when {{spoiler|Cadence uses [[The Power of Love]] to supercharge Shining Armor's shield spell, which banishes the changelings from the city [[Pokémon (anime)|Team Rocket style]].}}

* The Doomsday Project from [[Sonic Sat AM]].