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Third Time's the Charm: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
A [[Sub-Trope]] of the [[Rule of Three]], this trope extends to confrontations in a particular work. When invoking this trope, a protagonist will, over the course of the story, confront a particular villain or antagonist roughly three times in succession. The first two times the protagonist makes an attempt at defeating him however, [[You Can't Thwart Stage One|he will lose]], or at the very least have severe implications that had the battle gone on longer, he would have lost.
Sometimes this particular trope can provide good motive for [[Character Development]] but at the same time may fall into the trap of [[Bond Villain Stupidity|the antagonist leaving him alive for little adequately explained reason]] if the method of the hero's survival from the defeat isn't portrayed the right way. Often, these first two losses will be quick and [[Curb Stomp Battle|supremely one sided]], though this may not always be the case, particularly with [[Boring Invincible Hero|those certain characters]] where such losses are always due to cheating or some other unfair circumstances.
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However, then comes the third confrontation, which sometimes takes place after a few or even several [[Training From Hell|little boosts to make the match more even]], and now the [[I Am Not Left-Handed|gloves are off]]. This time, for sure, the hero will finally be able to defeat his foe, [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|no matter how much damage he takes in the process]]. And then by the end of their third confrontation, this time for sure, the hero will stand triumphant.
This trope is often invoked in order to stress to the audience just how difficult it is to overcome this particular obstacle without dragging it on to the point of madness. The magic sweet spot for this formula, [[Rule of Three|as is almost natural]], appears to be over the course of three confrontations. Sometimes this trope can also be invoked in the same battle, if [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya|the hero all but loses yet still manages to get up on sheer willpower]] twice over the course of the fight, though generally it almost always happens over the course of three separate battles.
Mainly occurs when the [[Rule of Three]] is invoked in the protagonist's confrontations with an antagonist.
{{examples}}
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* Shin Asuka's initial confrontations against Kira in ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' play out like this. The first time Kira effortlessly disables him in one slash, the second Shinn freaks him out by dodging a few of his attacks (Kira had up until that point flawlessly one shotted everyone who crossed his path thus far) before Athrun takes over, although it was clear Shinn would have still lost, and finally in their third battle Shinn has prepared extensively and exploiting a flaw in Kira's fighting style, takes him down although Kira survives. They actually fight a few more times after this but always to a draw as Shinn's new machine is unable to exploit the earlier flaw but he's still grown in skill to the point where Kira can't get a hit on him.
* Happens twice in ''[[Bakuman｡]]'', with the main characters' attempts to get a popular manga that will allow Mashiro's fiancee Azuki to get a lead role. Their first series gets canceled and they quit their second under the condition that if they can't get something serialized by the time their contract ends, they can no longer write for Jump. They have three chances to do so, and fail the first two, but their final manga, Perfect Crime Party, manages to get serialized {{spoiler|but this gets subverted when it turns out that PCP won't be able to get a sponsor for an anime}}.
* [[Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation|Muhyo]] has three separate encounters with Enchu. In the first at the MLS, Enchu leaves after Muhyo sentences the ghosts he sent. In the second {{spoiler|at the Arcanum}}, he escapes with {{spoiler|Rio, before her traitor's mark can be removed}}. In the third, Muhyo {{spoiler|is able to bring Enchu to his senses and convince him to drive out Teeki from his body}}.
* Between [[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha As|As]] and [[Striker S]], it took Fate three tries to pass her Enforcer exam. It is implied that some of her difficulty came from taking the test during the period in which Nanoha was recovering from her wounds (thus causing Fate emotional distress), and it is pointed out that as the pass rate is 15%, and Chrono also failed the test once, this is still fairly good, especially considering Fate passed "with flying colors" the third time.
* In [[Mai-Otome]], Arika and Nina have three battles after Nina's [[Face Heel Turn]]. The first two end with no clear winner, bu Arika is victorious in the third.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* It is common for bosses in video games to take three hits to kill. (e.g. Big Boo from SMW, many Legend of Zelda bosses etc.)
* One of the G.U.I.L.T. strains is fought like this in [[Trauma Center]].
* {{spoiler|Kratos}} in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' is fought three times. The first two times, winning is optional, but Lloyd suspects he was holding back in those fights. The third is a [[Duel Boss]], which Lloyd must win.
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