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{{trope}}
[[File:vgcats02 7174.jpg|link=VG Cats|frame|[[The Legend of Zelda CDI Games|Mah boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!]]]]
{{quote|''"When [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer."''|'''[[John Milton]]''' (attributed)}}
So you have a character who has achieved some incredibly difficult or elusive victory that they've been working towards for just about forever. Now that it's finally over and all their efforts have paid off, they've got it made, right?
Not if '''Victory Is Boring'''. If the character is a villain, now that they actually went ahead and pulled off their plan to [[Take Over the World]], they have to actually run it. And [[Desk Jockey|fill out all the required paperwork]]. In triplicate. Man, those days when the heroes would [[General Failure|foil your latest plot every single week]] only to [[Villain Exit Stage Left|let you slip away at the last minute]] were so much more entertaining than this! (Wait, is that why the heroes did it in the first place?!!)
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Before we get into any examples, we should note that every [[Video Game]] will eventually fall into this trope. No matter what, some players will beat everything, get the [[Infinity+1 Sword]], [[One Hundred Percent Completion]], etc. and ''[[Downer Ending|even they will still quit eventually]]''. So please, limit it to in-universe examples. See [[A Winner Is You]] for games with unsatisfying endings. Compare [[It's Easy, So It Sucks]], for when a game is boring even before reaching victory due to its lack of difficulty.
Yet more proof that [[Status Quo Is God]] and that [[Failure Is the Only Option]], for everyone. May invoke [[Wanting Is Better Than Having]]. Compare with [[Pyrrhic Victory]], [[Pyrrhic Villainy]], [[Was It Really Worth It?]] and [[Lonely
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In the anime of ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'', when Il Palazzo finally ''does'' conquer F City, his urge to conquer is so shocked at being suppressed that it pulls a [[Split Personality Takeover]].
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* After [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Simon]] defeats Lord Genome, the people build a city and the fighters that won the war are now left to run it. Boring. This is averted {{spoiler|the second time around, where Simon chooses to become a wanderer rather than take a leading position in the government.}}
* Done subtly in ''[[One Piece]]'', in regards to the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk. While what he was like when he was younger is a mystery, as an adult he seems to have no secondary goals, and has become bored with nothing to accomplish, and jaded because so few people can give him a challenge. As a result, he tries to pass the time by doing things such as wiping out Don Krieg's fleet and chasing the survivors halfway across the world(though only because they disturbed his nap). Which seems to do nothing at all to alleviate his boredom. When he meets the main crew's swordsman Zoro, who's aiming for his title, he's impressed by the younger man's determination and encourages him to surpass him.
* At the very beginning of ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'', when the mob accountant they have captured asks the duo if they would do him a favor and let him see his family once more, Train immediately says OK, because catching and taking him right to the cops would be too boring.
* Spoofed hard in ''[[Slayers]]''. One episode features a treacherous prince who plots to murder his older brother in order to become first in line to the throne. Lina asks him what he plans to do once he is king. The prince is absolutely dumbfounded by the question, and awkwardly says that "ummm...I was kind of planning to rule and stuff...I guess."
* ''[[Lupin III]]'' did this more than once on those rare occasions when Zenigata actually manages to capture Lupin. Inevitably, Zenigata begins to realize that without Lupin to chase around, his life is empty and boring, as Lupin was the only criminal that truly challenged him. In one story, Lupin sits in jail for an entire year awaiting his execution. Zenigata spends the year getting more and more depressed and dreading the execution day even more than Lupin. When Lupin escapes at the last minute, Zenigata is overjoyed, and the chase resumes.
* In ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', James and Jesse have often claimed (mostly in movies) that they don't want their rivalry with Ash and his friends to end, as they wouldn't have much of a life without it.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* [[Marvel Universe]] ''[[wikipedia:Secret Wars 2|Secret Wars II]]'', issue #3. The Beyonder takes mental control of every living thing on Earth, then gets bored and releases them.
* In the ''Marvel: The End'' series, [[Omnicidal Maniac|Thanos]] succeeds in acquiring the Heart of the Universe and defeats the ''entire'' Celestial Order (Galactus, Infinity, Eternity, Order, Choas etc.) and finally ends all existence in the universe other than himself, but finds his efforts to be utterly pointless. He then discovers that a power other than them [[Gambit Roulette|may have even being manipulating these events to the point that Thanos himself will realise this]], so using the Heart of the Universe, Thanos restores the Universe to the way it was before.
* In [[Cross Gen]]'s ''Mystic'', the villainous Magus succeeds in casting an immensely powerful spell that turns all his citizens into mindlessly obedient undead master soldiers. With no rebellions or riots to quash, he becomes comically bored.
* The 'Crime Syndicate' of [[DC Comics]] has become the defacto rulers of their own Earth. It's so boring they start their own rebellions against themselves just for the fun of smashing them down. 'Thankfully', the Qwardians get their mad on and decided to kill everything and everyone.
* In a [[DuckTales (1987)]] comic, Flintheart Glomgold once manages to take over Duckburg while Scrooge is away fighting Magica DeSpell. When Scrooge returns, he sends Glomgold through a [[Paranoia Gambit]] that eventually results in him giving up his ownership of the city so that he can start anew.
** Another comic (but not [[DuckTales (1987)]]) has Magica venting over her inability to steal Scrooge's [[Number One Dime]]. When her familiar asks if she really needed Scrooge's dime for her Midas Touch amulet, Magica realizes that ''no, she doesn't.'' She still has the ''other'' dime Scrooge gave her in her first appearance, when she was collecting the dimes touched by the world's richest. (She originally wanted Scrooge's Number One for extra power.) Making the amulet, Magica gains the Midas Touch and becomes supremely wealthy - but is still upset because she never did beat Scrooge. Even flaunting her new fortune doesn't work, as Scrooge is just happy to know she won't bother him anymore. When she destroys his money bin by turning it to gold (making it too soft to contain his cash), he logically decides to ''sell the gold'' to pay for a new one, and then some. This is the last straw, and Magica destroys her amulet before Scrooge could do just that.
* A few [[Alternate History]] stories have [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]] villain Kang The Conqueror actually succeed in his quest to take over the Twenty(first) Century. He quickly finds that administration is not his forte.
* The ''[[Transformers]]'' fan comic ''[http://www.lilformers.com/ Lil'Formers]'' illustrates this [http://www.lilformers.com/index.php/2008/03/24/lil-formers-91-all-hail-megatron/ here].
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* In the [[Archie Comics]] ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' there is a dimension where Knuckles the Echidna went mad with power and, in an attempt to "bring order to chaos" as he phrased it, he began to conquer the entire planet. He vanquished all enemies, hero (Sonic, Shadow, Tails, etc.) and villain (Eggman, Ixis Naugus, Snively) alike, making sure to take their souls to form the core of his army for extra insurance. However, upon ruling it, he became extremely bored, and allowed a few Freedom Fighters to exist - despite knowing their location already - so as to keep himself entertained. Eventually, derp Knuckles, better known as Enerjak, decided to look for other worlds to conquer three decades after this all had transpired, and in turn sealed his fate.
** A similar thing occurred after {{spoiler|the first}} Robotnik was finally defeated. Mobius is free, Mobotropolis is reclaimed, everyone is happy...except Sonic, who's completely overwhelmed by the tense political climate, the [[Fantastic Racism|overwhelming hatred]] of the Robians, and of course, the lack of a single enemy to fight. He goes so far as to wish Robotnik was back, so he'd know what he was fighting. Fortunately, Naugus showed up soon after{{spoiler|, followed by the second Robotnik}}.
* "I don't want to ''stop'' crime, I just want to ''fight'' it!" So declares [[The Tick (comic)|the Tick]], in issue #6.
== [[Film]] ==
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* In ''[[Rocky Balboa]]'', Dixon agrees to fight the aging Rocky because no current boxer can touch him.
** The fans also seem to agree with this trope. Dixon dominates his opponents so easily he's become the [[Boring Invincible Hero]], and people are quickly losing interest in watching him.
* Bart and the Waco Kid leave Rock Ridge at the end of ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' because after saving the down and defeating <s>Hedy</s> Hedley LaMar, the place got boring. And he told them so.
== [[Literature]] ==
* [[Conan the Barbarian]] experiences this after becoming King of Aquilonia. He eventually leaves for high adventure on the Western Sea.
** The movie did a brief variation of this, where his band of thieves' successes had left them worn out and complacent.
* Similarly, this is the impetus for the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''[[The Last Hero]]'': Cohen the Barbarian is bored stiff as the Emperor of the Agatean Empire. He decides that being Emperor is no fun...but more than that, neither is getting old, or living past the age of barbarian hero. He and his Silver Horde (of seven other veteran barbarian warriors, all septegenerians at the youngest) go out to destroy the gods for allowing this to happen.
** There's also references to a ''Discworld'' parallel of Alexander, named Carelinus, who apparently conquered the entire world, save for Fourecks and the Counterweight Continent ([[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]s of Australia and China respectively). Cohen observes that it's no wonder, since one's all dried up, and you can't get a decent beer in the other. The minstrel they've captured (long story) tells Cohen the line "and Carelinus wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer." He explains that seeing Cohen looking down at the Disc ("bin there... bin there too... bin there twice, I think... bin everywhere I can see") reminds him of this. Cohen appreciates the comparison: "Yeah, maybe a bit like him. 'cept without the sissy crying, of course..." At another point, it's inverted to reflect the actual quote (see [[Real Life]] below)--that some scholar told Carelinus that every star out there might be another world, and he cried because he realized he couldn't conquer them all in one lifetime. That becomes Cohen's real grievance—that there's so much to do no one, no matter how dedicated, could get it all done in one life.
** Speaking of ''[[Discworld]]'', Duke Felmet (a [[Macbeth]] [[Expy]]) experienced a variant of this when the people of Lancre ''didn't'' rise up and rebel against him after he killed his brother and seized the throne. ([[The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much|They figured that being assassinated counts as "natural causes" for a King]]). His frustration about the fact is summed up in this quote:
{{quote|You couldn't oppress a people like that any more than you could oppress a mattress.}}
** It's more about boredom than bittersweet victory or whatever, but at the start of ''[[
*** Then, at the start of ''[[Raising Steam]]'', Moist had convinced himself that he was needed at the bank - but Vetinari knew better, and had yet another new project for him.
* ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'': {{spoiler|The protagonists win, but find nothing else interesting for them to do after their victory. They wish for the conflict to happen all over again, causing the entire thing to start over again. [[Foreshadowing|This is the purpose of the title]], as the Ouroboros is a symbol of a snake or dragon eating its own tail, symbolizing cyclicality.}}
* Hero's version: about midway through ''[[Book of Amber|The Chronicles of Amber]]'', Corwin starts realizing that he doesn't have any real interest in holding the throne, and that superficial ambition and spite towards one of his brothers was the only reason he was trying to claim it in the first place. Even before someone else is picked to be King, he announces his intention to abdicate.
* Ulysses in the Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem has this attitude.
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', King Robert suffered badly from this. A conquering king who saw [[The Dulcinea Effect|the girl he fought the war for]] die and was forced into a loveless political marriage afterward, he's grown fat and keeps talking to his old friend Ned of abandoning the throne and becoming a sellsword. The only joy he seems to find is in the occasional tournament... though it's soon pointed out to him that ''no one'' in their right mind is going to strike the king in a melee.
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] complained of this after defeating Moriarty.
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]],'' after they manage to destroy the one ring, the epilogue is all nostalgic about adventure and about never being able to do anything greater than the greatest deed ever done...
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** Ithaca in real life was (thought to be there are about a dozen places claiming to be Ithaca all pretty similar) a small island kingdom with a few shepards and a small city you really can see the crafty genius of the Trojan war getting bored from that.
* [[Time Scout]]: Skeeter's life post [[Heel Face Turn]] is rather disappointing. It comes to a head: You just beat up a knife-wielding thug and handed him to the cops! You just carried the woman he was beating to the hospital, receiving warm congratulations! You just handed a truant kid over to the cops and felt a connection with a formerly antagonistic cop! You just got to stand up to a bigot! You ... just got fired. Now what?
* Taken to the extreme in one of ''The Lost Books of the Odyssey.'' Achilles abandons the Trojan War on Odysseus' suggestion and goes to faraway lands, and defeats the strongest warriors here and there until there is no doubt that he is the strongest man in the entire world. Then, desperate to be rid of him, an emperor gives him the key to heaven, where Achilles ascends, killing demigods and demons until he finally kills [[God]] himself—and is left, sitting on God's throne, wishing he had never been born.
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== [[Music]] ==
* The main characters from [[David Bowie]]'s "Running Gun Blues" and "Saviour Machine". Both are intended to bring peace (the former a soldier, the latter a machine designed to stop war, hunger, disease, etc.), but once their objectives are met, they eventually become bored and partake in the destruction they were meant to stop.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBzqOa9y02I "The World Is Saved"] [[Zig-Zagging Trope|alternates]] between this and elation in its portrayal of the minutes and hours after successfully completing a massive video game along the lines of ''[[Final Fantasy]]''.
== [[Mythology]] ==
* Probably the most ancient example: ''[[Beowulf]]'' as an old king rides out against a dragon, even knowing he can't survive. Forget the motive given to him by [[Beowulf (film)|the 3D movie]] - in the original Anglo-Saxon poem it is simply the desire to die fighting.
** There's a bit of logic here: according to Norse beliefs, if you died of old age, you'd be denied entrance to Valhalla, in which only heroes who die in battle are welcome.
* A lot of ancient Greek heroes seem to have this. Most of the time, it translates into hubris. Bellerophon, for example, wasn't satisfied with getting everything he wanted, defeating every monster he fought, and being hero-worshipped and having a freakin' flying horse. Nope. He decided he wanted to be a god. That didn't end well for him.
** With others, like Achilles, it's not so much Victory is Boring as Having the Perfect Life is Boring. They could refrain from heroics or fighting and be the happiest man in the world, but it would mean that their name would not go down in history. And Greek heroes [[Glory Seeker|would rather die than let that happen]].
** Then there's Zeus, king of the gods himself. He has to resort to trickery to get his sister Hera to marry him; then after their wedding, he quickly tires of her nagging dislike of him and goes out to trick a gazillion mortal girls into sleeping with him.
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* The second episode of "Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People" follows this trope.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Maiev Shadowsong has spent most of the last 10 000 years either acting as [[Anti-Hero|Illidan]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Stormrage]]'s jailor or chasing him. When she finally defeats him with the aid of the players, Illidan says that "The Huntress is nothing without the hunt." Maiev regretfully agrees.
* The beginning of the ''[[Faces of Evil]]'' has Link saying "Gee, it sure is boring around here!" to which the King gives us the <s> famous</s> infamous line, "[[
* The train of logic behind Lord Dominion's actions in ''[[Freedom Force]].'' He's already conquered every other dimension, and rather than just steamroll over the [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet]], he decides to give evil humans [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|Energy X]] and let them tear the planet apart for his own amusement.
* The eighth gym leader in ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'', Volkner, has an apathetic attitude to you challenging him because he's won every challenge he's every had. You snap him out of it when you beat him and he breaks into laughter.
** Red from ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'' may be in this state. What was he actually doing at Mt. Silver in the first place? Probably, after he [[Pokémon Red and Blue|destroyed Team Rocket, defeated Blue, become the Pokémon Champion and caught ''Mewtwo'']], he just had nothing to do. Normal life just didn't satisfy him anymore, so he just left the outside world, living secretly at Mt. Silver without anybody (well, except probably the people at local Pokémon Center) knowing... Until Gold/Kris/Lyra came and defeated him. Where did he go then? He's never referenced in any of the other Pokémon games (reasonable since [[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|Gen III]] because he had his own journey back then and he was at Mt. Silver during [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|Gen IV]]), not even in Gen V. Where did he go after that? Maybe he saw himself as a kid in you... and started his great journey all over again... just like [[Pokémon (anime)|Ash Ketchum]], but with a 3-year-break.
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] is prone to this. For instance, in ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'', he plans to take another vacation after his quest ends and ends up running off at the end of the game.
* This is adverted in the new ''[[Infamous (video game series)|inFAMOUS2]]'' game, where they designed it to were the players can make their own levels for others to play. Making the missions never end.
* Every game in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' after ''[[Ocarina of Time]]'' has Link start another journey after or during the credits.
* Conquer the world in [[Civilization]], decide to continue the game... and realize that with all the enemies defeated, there is actually very little to do anymore.
* This is [[Badass Grandpa|Yoshihiro]] [[Blood Knight|Shimazu]]'s entire reason for joining the 'losing' side in every ''Warriors'' game he's in. He finds being on the side of the stronger guy and having victory be all but assured boring, and would rather go against long odds. Especially prominent in [[Warriors Orochi]] 3 where he defects from Orochi's army by basically invoking the trope on the spot.
* Kano's ending in ''[[Mortal Kombat 11]]'' shows him gaining control of the Hourglass, giving the notorious outlaw a near limitless ability to rewrite reality as he sees fit. At first he has a pie-in-the-sky attitude, and changes history to gain ''everything'' his degenerate and perverted heart desires, the cutscene showing both Sonya and Cassie [[Go-Go Enslavement| fighting in bikinis]] just to please him. But eventually, he finds that ''always'' winning so easily just isn't fun as he assumed it would be. So he rewrites reality again, making things pretty much as they were before; he notes that while he doesn't win ''all'' the time anymore, when he does - having earned it - it's far more satisfying.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* On multiple occasions, segments of "Ask [[Axe Cop]]" end with the complete destruction of all the bad guys. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130602212649/http://axecop.com/index.php/acask/read/ask_axe_cop_10/ Axe Cop finds this] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130429195537/http://axecop.com/index.php/acask/read/ask_axe_cop_24/ incredibly boring].
* After acquiring [[Reality Warper]] powers that allows him to curb stomp just about anyone, Jack Noir from ''[[Homestuck]]'' [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005452 feels this way]. He also realizes he needs to dial down his [[Omnicidal Maniac]] nature or else he'll be left alone in creation with no one to kill.
* [[Mad Scientist]] Klaus Wulfenbach of [[Girl Genius]] took over part of the world by necessity, as it was falling apart after the disappearance of the previous rulers. While he'd much rather spend his time in the lab, he's resigned to a life of politics and attempting to remain in control as the only way to keep the country functioning.
* This is the reason for the main arc's launch in [[Kid Radd]]—the player of the main character's game has beaten it and put it to rest.
* The [[Platypus Comix]] story "Raiders of the Lost Arc" had a reincarnated [[Joan of Arc]] fight [[Osama Bin Laden]] in the Middle East. After she defeated him, all the terrorists of the world surrendered, which in turn led to the disbandment of the US Army. The comic ends with Joan apparently unable to find anything to do with her free time other than mundane chores.
== Web Originals ==
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* The ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "[[Captain Obvious|Phineas and Ferb Get Busted]]" has [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Candace actually getting Mom to see the boys' antics]], which results in them being sent to a hellish reform school. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Candace realizes how much she truly loves and misses her brothers]], and embarks on a mission to rescue them. (In the end, though, {{spoiler|the episode turns out to be [[All Just a Dream]]. [[Or Was It a Dream?]]}})
* Mojo Jojo from the ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]'' in the 10th anniversary special ''Powerpuff Girls Rule'' actually managed to achieve victory after getting the Key of the World (you read right). But get this, rather than rule with evil intent he makes it a better place much to the surprise of his long-standing nemesis. However as he thought over his achievement he realizes it too boring and promptly goes back to his usual villainy.
* This is the entire gag in the Huntsman segment of ''[[Freakazoid!]].'' Crime always seems to be in a lull, so Hunstman finds out that being a superhero is boring when there's nothing around to beat up. Instead he does mundane things with his time like visit his brother or go to the aquarium. Extra comedic effect when contrasted with the intro to the segment, which is much more action-packed (and longer) than the actual segment itself.
* An episode of ''[[The Fairly
* In the episode "Hereafter" in the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' series, Vandal Savage (an immortal, fast-healing superintelligent human conquerer and former caveman) is enduring the solitude and loneliness of having destroyed humanity in stoic fashion when Superman is transported forward in time by Toyman. Upon Superman's arrival he receives his former enemy with friendship and sends Superman back into the past to stop him, having decided that his former plans for domination were meaningless.
** In "A Better World", the [[Evil Counterpart|Justice Lords]], they are rather bored, sitting in the watchtower, since they have conquered the world, and the best crime they have to fight is the occasional college protest.
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* Subverted in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'': when Discord breaks the friendship between the main cast and finally demoralises Twilight Sparkle enough to have her give up, at first it looks like he's not having any fun without opposition, but then he instantly cheers up and goes back to raining chaos on the land.
* In the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "The Man Who Killed Batman", Joker is clearly unconvinced of his nemesis' demise and goes about robbing a diamond store to force Batman to come thwart him. After a standoff several hours long, he grudgingly admits his greatest foe is gone and that [[Antagonist in Mourning|crime is no more fun without him.]] He orders his gang to take nothing and leaves empty handed.
* In the animated adaptation of ''[[Attack of the Killer Tomatoes]]'', [[Mad Scientist| Dr. Gangreen]] and his vegetable minions [[Team Rocket Wins| actually manage]] to [[Take Over the World]] for a few episodes. Unfortunately for them, they really have no idea what to do next.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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[[Category:Universal Tropes]]
[[Category:Plots]]
[[Category:Victory
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