Victory Is Boring: Difference between revisions

* [[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.

** 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.}}

* ''[[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.

 

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[[Category:Universal Tropes]]

[[Category:Plots]]