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Line 1: {{trope}} [[File:Won.jpg\|link=Bob and George\|~~right~~frame]] {{quote\|''"[[Memetic Mutation\|Did he say what I thought he said?]] I '''win?!?'''"''~~\|'''Dr. Ivo Robotnik''', ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''}}~~ \|'''Dr. Ivo Robotnik''', ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''}} {{quote\|''"Yes! Oh, yeah! I did it! I finally did it! I beat my old rival Mario! Yessss!"''~~\|'''Bowser''', ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)\|Paper Mario]]''}}~~ \|'''Bowser''', ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)\|Paper Mario]]''}} That's right. Somehow, the [[Goldfish Poop Gang]] won. Line 10 ⟶ 12: How did this happen? ''Why'' did this happen? The shortest and simplest answer is that they got their act together-- ''[[Let's Get Dangerous\|really together]]''~~-- and~~—and are now a threat. As to "why", the Author wants to shake the heroes and viewers out of their comfort zone by allowing [[The Bad Guy Wins\|the bad guys to win]] [[You Can't Thwart Stage One\|round one]] so the heroes will be forced to get their act together and make their next encounter a truly epic fight. These third string villains undid the [[Villain Decay]] that put them at the bottom of the [[Sorting Algorithm of Villain Threat]] by going through [[Training ~~From~~from Hell]], using some kind of [[Upgrade Artifact]] or [[Artifact of Doom]], or are under the effects of a [[Villain Override]]. Another possibility is that they catch the heroes off guard. Maybe Team [[Harmless Villain]] was [[Not So Harmless]] all along, and have been [[I Am Not Left-Handed\|pretending to be weak]] to lull the heroes into [[Pride\|complacency]] (which warrants the question, why didn't they [[Bond Villain Stupidity\|just kill them on the spot]]?) If neither is the case, it may be that they have both traded places in the ~~story-- if~~story—if the heroes do a [[Face Heel Turn]] and the bad guys make a [[Heel Face Turn]] due to a [[Mirror Morality Machine]], they will "cosmically" [[Redemption Promotion\|get the power boost needed to make sure good comes out on top]], ''they'' are the [[Invincible Hero~~\|Invincible Heroes~~]]es now. Speaking of role reversals, if the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] joins the heroes in an [[Enemy Mine]] situation where they both fight for a good goal, they'll no longer be under the same "[[The Good Guys Always Win\|bad guys always lose]]" onus, and remind us why they were, [[Once Upon a Time]], relevant as they bash the [[Eviler Than Thou]] new threat. Likewise, new characters in the show may be introduced as [[Damsel in Distress\|Distressed Damsels]] being beaten by the Goldfish Poop Gang so that the heroes [[Pursued Protagonist\|can come to their aid.]] It also serves to show us how pathetic they are and feel to lose to ''these'' guys. Afterwards, with some confidence boosting pep talks from the heroes and combat training, they will solo their temporary tormentors and make them [[A Twinkle in the Sky]]. Similarly, a [[Tournament Arc]] allows most [[Quirky Miniboss Squad~~\|Quirky Miniboss Squads~~]]s the chance to win a few matches to remind us they don't completly suck, only to then [[The Worf Effect\|go down to a bigger threat]]. At any rate, you can expect a hero or one of the squad members to finish by asking "So... [[And Then What?\|what now?]]'' See also [[The Bad Guy Wins]] (which is an Ending Trope). Contrast [[Big Bad Wannabe]], which may at times overlap. {{examples}}▼ ▲{{examples}} == Anime and Manga == * Team Rocket, the [[Trope Namer]] from ''[[Pokémon (anime)\|Pokémon]]'', beat the crap out of Ash's Pokémon when they were allowed to run Viridian City's Gym using Giovanni's Pokémon, at least until Ash managed to regain momentum and beat them at their own game. There have been a few other instances where Team Rocket has been successful in battle, but it was because they were [[Redemption Promotion\|trying to do something good for a change]]. Their victories never lasted too long, and they were often sent flying at the end of the episode anyway. Line 29 ⟶ 31: In ''Off the Unbeaten Path'', James won a contest that involved teamwork with one's own Pokémon. He used Mime Jr. and was steadfast in playing by the rules despite Jessie's repeated attempts to encourage him to cheat. So this goes with the "Team Rocket can win if they act like good guys" rule. * ''Nearly'' happened when James turned out to be an expert at a sport that used flying Pokémon. Once again he refused to cheat, and he lost by only the tiniest margin. Interestingly, repeated encounters with Ash and friends has been like [[Training ~~From~~from Hell]] to the team, giving them [[Made of Iron\|superhuman damage resistance]], among other things. Meowth himself commented that a powerful electric cage was nothing compared to Pikachu's electric attacks. They also learn from their mistakes, though in the process usually make new ones. An example would be Charmander's debut episode all the way back at the very start of the original series; they use rubber coated equipment to nullify Pikachu's electric attacks, but didn't bring any ''fireproof'' equipment. * Heck, in some later episodes, Team Rocket actually does some heavy damage to other trainers. In general, Team Rocket manages to win when the plot requires it - Jessie fighting her way to the end of the Princess Festival tournament, Jessie and James defeating the Eevee Brothers, etc. This occurs even in early ~~episodes-- in~~episodes—in "The Punchy Pokémon", various trainers are participating in a Fighting-type only tournament. Though Ash beats them in the end, the trio very successfully steals a Hitmonlee and thrashes their competition with it through a combination of regular battling and standard cheating. This is pretty notable, since they beat a Hitmonchan raised by a trainer who LEFT HIS FAMILY to train it. In ''The Thief That Keeps on Thieving!'' they actually managed to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQjyJY7iEVg catch the wild Pokémon] that the character of the day was after and send it to their boss. Of course, he sends it back to them and it promptly evolves, giving Jessie a new Yanmega. * Said Yanmega then proceeds to get as close as any Team Rocket Pokémon has to blasting off Ash & co. Line 42 ⟶ 44: * And now they've managed to break into a top-secret research facility and steal data on a meteorite that gives off some kind of ultra-powerful energy that can be used for [[World Domination]]. * In ''[[School Rumble]]'', Tennouji beats Harima once when the latter was in despair after finding out Tenma liked Karasuma. * A borderline example. In ''Otasukeman'', one of the series from the [[Time Bokan]] meta-series, at the end of every episode the chief of the Time Patrol asked the two main groups of the Patrol to pick a choice between two special kinds of training. One group (who really were the heroes of the series, the titular Otasukeman, and always won the battles) always picked the pleasant, relaxing activity, when the other one (who really were the [[Terrible Trio]], the "evil" Ojamaman, and always lost against the Otasukeman) always picked the nasty, gruesome [[Training ~~From~~from Hell]]. In one episode, however, the Terrible Trio chose wisely and won a nice boat trip over a calm river, while the heroes found themselves in a Japanese cemetery filled with angry ghosts. * [[Sonic X]] had this happen once, but not when facing Sonic. Usually Eggman's schemes fail miserably, and his machines and robots are useless, but then he goes up against some Metarex that are attempting to hurt Sonic. Without warning, Boko and Deko, his worst robots, become super strong and beat everyone down, and Bokkun delivers a powerful uppercut kick, clearing a pathway for them all. * At the end of the first arc of ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]'', {{spoiler\|Bagramon easily takes all the Code Crowns and reconfigures the Digital World. Taiki, Akari, Zenjirou, and Shoutmon are blown back to Earth. While they're gone, Kiriha and Nene are forced into hiding, Xros Heart is captured, and the Digital World comes under worse oppression than before.}} Line 54 ⟶ 56: * In ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' story "Smart And Smarter" (Cartoon Network Block Party #59), Mojo Jojo outwits Blossom, with her sisters' blessings! Blossom (who let her ego swell after being admitted to a special school) blows her ice breath which Mojo counters with a heat shield. The trail of melted ice reaches Blossom's foot (which she doesn't see) and she emits static electricity from her hands which in turn fries her to a frazzle. The ending panel has Buttercup shaking hands with Mojo. == Fan ~~Fiction~~Works == * ''Magical Troubleshoting Fighting Federation'', a tournament with a crossover cast of various anime series, actually has Team Rocket win at least once, much to their own shock. Line 98 ⟶ 100: * The page picture comes from ''Plague's Misadventures'', one of the hosted comics in ''[[Bob and George]].'' Sigma, who in this series is pretty much a nuisance [[Harmless Villain]], actually succeeds in bringing down the space colony and bringing about the end of the world when the heroes shoot it down with the giant canon. * The Dimension of Pain demons from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', from their [http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/980428 inception], had been largely [[Harmless Villain~~\|Harmless Villains~~]]s. When Torg wound up in their dimension, he easily withstood their attempts at torture, outwitted them, and escaped. After that they repeatedly tried to recapture him every year, but they could only send one demon at a time, only on Halloween night, and it could only stay until sunrise, and they inevitably failed in humiliating ways, to the point where Torg threw Halloween parties with the demons advertised as the main attraction. Throw in their wacky antics during the "[[B-Side Comics\|Meanwhile In The Dimension of Pain ...]]" strips, and no one really took them seriously. Then "[[Cerebus Syndrome\|That Which Redeems]]" came along, and with the demons finding a way to bypass their previous limitations, suddenly they're conquering entire countries, butchering helpless bystanders, and outnumbering Torg 1000 to 1. Not to mention {{spoiler\|[[Killed Off for Real\|killing off]] Alt-Zoe}}. == Western Animation == Line 123 ⟶ 125: {{quote\|'''Wile E. Coyote:''' [[Talking with Signs\|(Holds up a sign)]] Okay, wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him. Now what do I do?}} Also, in [[Cartoon Network]]'s ''[[I Shouldn't Be Alive]]'' [http://vimeo.com/11486841 short on the Coyote], after spending almost a whole year attempting to attack and capture the Road Runner, he finally has him within his grasp (he simply laid out some bird seed and leapt at him while he was eating), only to discover that his finger muscles were too weak to do anything to him. A bumper on ''The Road Runner Show'' (CBS, ~~1966-68~~1966–68; ABC, ~~1971-72~~1971–72) had the coyote diverting the Road Runner's attention by drawing a portrait of the two, the coyote in the drawing with a rifle in hand. The coyote grabs the Road Runner's neck only to have the coyote drawing blast him in the ass with the rifle. Also Elmer Fudd defeated Bugs at his own game in ''Rabbit Rampage'' (a semi remake of ''[[Duck Amuck]]'') as well as in ''Hare Brush'' (albeit due to something of a personality exchange, with an insane Elmer "turning" into Bugs). He also finally "killed da wabbit" in ''What's Opera Doc'' ([[My God, What Have I Done?\|though didn't really find victory all that satisfying]]). In the original nine-minute long version of ''Duck Dodgers and The Return of the 24th and a Half Century'' Marvin the Martian seemingly achieves his goal of detonating the earth. With Dodgers distracted from his duties and earth's destruction almost certain, Marvin is left with no choice but to ensure the viewers "it's only a cartoon". Oddly this was cut from the shortened theatrical version of the short, though since it ends with Dodgers still having not stopped Marvin, the implication is still there. ** Even following his Flanderization into a [[Butt Monkey]], Daffy seemed to score more victories than most other fall-guys in the series, {{spoiler\|1=knocking out Taz in a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] in ''Ducking The Devil'', being the first foe to defeat Speedy Gonzales in ''Mucho Locos'' to name a few. Counting an [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RIvO74ZC5c obscure Tang endorsement from ''The Bugs Bunny Show''] and [[Cartoon Network]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7lR1Fzw48 Big Game from 2001], he has also defeated Bugs twice as well.}} Also, perhaps due to being created by fans of the shorts and the character, some later features tend to [[Throw the Dog a Bone\|throw Daffy a bone]] a few times as well. * Almost happens in ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''. When the normally incompetent [[Goldfish Poop Gang\|Scratch and Grounder]] are converted into [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot\|ninja robots]], they almost manage to kill [[Sonic the Hedgehog\|Sonic]] and Tails, if it wasn't for Sonic and Tails escaping via sheer luck. * The ''[[Super Mario World (animation)\|Super Mario World]]'' episode has Bowser actually make off with the money he made selling his mutant food to the cavepeople (or at least two bags of it), with Mario and Peach making no effort to stop him ([[Villain Exit Stage Left\|not that they ever tried before, though]]). Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that his restaurant actually was a legal business, even though he was using it to turn the cavepeople into his [[Mook~~\|Mooks~~]]s. He also kept the money when he sold televisions to the cavepeople. In the cartoons, [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check\|someone cut Bowser a check]] and he's been abusing it ever since. In ''The [[Super Mario Bros Super Show]]'' episode "Flatbush Koopa," Bowser is attacking Brooklyn, and Mario succeeds in trapping him back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Only he realizes too late that he's trapped there too, and the episode ends with Bowser blasting away at Mario and the gang, who are running away. Line 141 ⟶ 143: ** We get a twofer when a time travel episode had her future self come back and bust them, causing a bad future where Dr. Doofenshmirtz rules. [[Reset Button\|Of course, it gets fixed.]] * ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'' episode 25, "Retreat": [[The Starscream\|Starscream]] pulls a [[Determinator]] on the Autobots, managing to steal the Omega Lock and the three Cyber Planet Keys found thus far. This after ''successfully'' betraying Megatron. He goes on to [[Make My Monster Grow\|supersize himself]] and become a major threat on his own until towards the end, and his showdown with Galvatron. * [[Defied Trope\|Defied]] in ''[[~~Re Boot~~ReBoot]]''. In Season 3 Hack & Slash ''would have'' succeeded in executing Cyris, but Slash refused to go through with it. It turns out Slash never wanted to win in the first place, counting on (now-absent) Bob to prevent him & Hack from doing anything ''too'' bad. * In the [[Mega Man (animation)\|Ruby-Spears Megaman cartoon]], while his primary goal wasn't achieved, Wily made off with the money from robbing the citizens in "Crime of the Century" and the money from selling a shrunken Washington D.C. in "The Incredible Shrinking Megaman". If you want to get technical, he also got all the money from selling Fun World tickets. * In ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' episode "Argorrible Attack", the Urpneys actually succeed in giving the majority of the Land of Dreams nightmares ([[Poke the Poodle\|a small time victory]], but exactly what Zordrak wanted). The heroes try to give Viltheed good dreams in revenge, and it actually proves somewhat ineffective. Though granted after that they decide to just [[Curb Stomp Battle\|beat the crap out of all of them]] instead. Line 159 ⟶ 161: [[Category:Narrative Devices]] [[Category:This Index Is Not an Example]] [[Category:~~Team Rocket Wins~~{{PAGENAME}}]]