History DarkestHour / AnimeAndManga

** Before said episode, there've also been plenty of other such moments in several previous episodes, with examples being that moment in "Flower Power" when Meta Knight is getting overpowered by the carnivorous Pukey flower (with his sword Galaxia even being flung into the ceiling by one of its flytrap heads), Tuff is being constricted and about to get eaten again and Tiff, Lololo, & Lalala are looking on at the situation in shock and Kirby is still asleep from the sleeping sickness induced upon him by the Noddy he ate in the beginning of the episode, and it looks like there's no one to save them and nothing anyone can do about it until Tuff starts using his strength to edge himself close enough to pluck a petal from the Pukey, as well as that moment in "A Half-Baked Battle" where Kirby finds himself unable to fight back against Belly Buster due to refusing to eat any of its pies for how terrible they taste and eventually getting swallowed along with King Dedede and Escargoon after which they would've been digested for sure if not for Dedede's idea to have Kirby turn into Bomb Kirby and blast everyone out of it with his bombs. But perhaps the biggest and most tearjerking example of such a moment is that one in "Monster Management" when Kirby's relentlessly getting the crap beaten out of him by one of Night Mare Enterprises' most powerful Demon Beasts, Masher, and Meta Knight gets smacked real hard by it right into a wall and becomes too injured to help him any further. Kirby is eventually forced into a battle of two against one against both it and Knuckle Joe that isn't going so well for him either, ultimately being forced near a wall with both of them looming over him with Tiff pleading for this beatdown to stop with tears in her eyes. The end result would've been a DownerEnding for that episode and the entire series as a whole if Knuckle Joe actually finished him off instead of telling Kirby to suck up his attack and not revealed himself to be a monster hunter who was actually going after Masher itself. Thankfully, it gets better after all of those such moments.

* The end of Hong Gildong arc in ''Manhwa/ShinAngyoOnshi''. The main character [[spoiler: willingly traps himself in a LotusEaterMachine which he considered a FateWorseThanDeath]] betting on OneInAMillionChance of breaking free versus certain death otherwise. His main companion [[spoiler: is deceived into working for the BigBad]]. AntiVillain antagonists of the arc [[spoiler: are mostly dead.]] The main character's former old friend [[spoiler: remains undead in the thrall to the BigBad, and is revealed to be unable to die or to break free unless his body is completely obliterated]]. The city that the protagonists protected in the arc [[spoiler: is taken over by the BigBad]]. The BigBad decides to stop fooling around and get to the businness of [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the world]], revealing his vast true power and his array of superhuman henchmen. Few good guys still standing are being manipulated by him.
** It gets ''So. Much. Worse'' in the final battle. After a gruesome battle where Munsu loses his right arm just to redeem Sando, Aji Tae appears, and decides to make a little show of power... obliterating his stronghold and most of the battlefield in one go, killing most of the characters in there, including his henchmen. Then, almost dead from blood loss and the cost of using the mandrake getting to him, Munsu still doesn't have any other idea against Aji Tae rather than claiming that he is Aji Tae's origin (And thus, his death could affect Aji Tae). Aji Tae thus decides to make a point blowing up Munsu's eye and other arm, and showing he considered that option, and that's why he used another EldritchAbomination as insurance to avoid the worst case scenario. DesperationAttack only mean getting instakilled, and it looks like Munsu just succumbed...
*** [[spoiler:And then Munsu decides to have the very best death ever and show the bastard who's boss.]]

* ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'': Gensei has managed to knock out Misaki and read her mind, gaining the code that he needs to unlock his full power. Mitori manages to kill Kuroko and can devote her attention to controlling Mikoto again. Touma and Gunha are losing against Mikoto, who is only growing more powerful with time.

** It gets even worse during the Culling Game. [[After the heroes achieve a number of victories that allow them to accomplish their objectives and come within inches of releasing Gojo from the Prison Realm, the moment is soured by the reveal that Tsumiki never woke up: the whole time she's been possessed by a reincarnated sorcerer named Yorozu, who throws everything into disarray by adding a new rule permitting free travel between colonies. Before anyone can make sense of the situation, Sukuna seizes the moment to [[ChekhovsGun invoke his Binding Vow with Yuji]] and forcibly take over control of his body for an entire minute, which he uses to transfer his soul into Megumi's body. Finally, Hana is left critically injured in the ensuing fight, after which Sukuna escapes to duel [[AbhorrentAdmirer Yorozu]] and kill her, effectively granting him complete control over Megumi's body [[DespairEventHorizon as he loses the will to resist now that his sister is undeniably dead]].]]

** And then, things get worse during the Shibuya Incident arc. [[spoiler:In the span of a single night, Gojo gets sealed by the Disaster Curses, most of Shibuya is decimated by the battle, most of the people imprisoned inside the veil are killed in the crossfire, and then there is Yuji who undergoes a full TraumaCongaLine: his loss against Choso allows for Jogo to feed him ten of Sukuna's fingers, letting him take full control for a while as Yuji is helpless to stop Sukuna's rampage; he sees one of his mentors in Nanami and [[UncertainDoom possibly]] one of his closest friends Nobara die before his eyes; he is helpless to stop Geto/Kenjaku from using Mahito's Idle Transfiguration to set up the Culling Game by akawening cursed energy in civilians, including Megumi's step-sister; Jujutsu society [[TheScapegoat uses him as a scapegoat]] for the whole debacle and sends [[TheAce Yuta Okkotsu]] to personally execute him; and finally, most of the sorcerers dispatched are either injured (Megumi, Maki, Toge, Kusakabe, Todo) or dead (Naobito, Nanami and possibly Nobara).]]

* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' has Chapter 27 [[spoiler: which is one of the most darkest chapters in the manga. When Yuuji tries to persuade Junpei to join the Jujutsu Specialty High School of Tokyo, suddenly Mahito appears and contorts Junpei's body for shits and giggles. When Yuuji tries to ask Sukuna to revive Junpei, Sukuna's response to the incident is mocking Yuuji and laughing sadistically with Mahito, which results in Yuuji having his Heroic BSoD and making his priority to kill Mahito his raison d'etre.]]
** And then, things got worse during the Shibuya Incident arc. [[spoiler: In the span of a single night, Gojo got sealed by the disaster curses, most of Shibuya was decimated by the battle, most of the people imprisoned inside the veil were killed in the crossfire, and then there is Yuji who went to a full TraumaCongaLine. His lost against Chozo has allowed for Jogo to feed him ten of Sukuna's fingers, letting him take full control for a while, meaning that Yuji is helpless to stop Sukuna's rampage, saw one of his close mentor in Nanami and [[UncertainDoom possibly]] his best friend Nobara die before his eyes, is helpless to stop Geto/Kenjaku to use Mahito's Idle Transformation to turn most people into curses, including Megumi's step-sister and is now considered a threat by Jujutsu society that someone was sent to personally execute him. And finally, most of the sorcerers dispatched are either injured (Megumi, Maki, Toge, Kusakabe, Todo) or dead (Naobito, Nanami and possibly Nobara)]]

** During the Invasion of Pain arc. The village has been leveled, with several important characters and hundreds of nameless villagers killed. Naruto's [[LookWhatICanDoNow new sage power]] has failed and he is pinned to the ground helpless. Worse still, he can find no response to Pain's nihilistic BreakingSpeech. Then [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]] tries to come to his aid, makes an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove and attacks Pain, only to get [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice stabbed]]. [[BerserkButton Naruto's shock and anger]] [[UnstoppableRage overcome his protective seals]] and the power of the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nine-Tailed Fox]] bursts free like it has never done before. As Kyuubi-Naruto is fighting Pain, the scene switches to Yamato (the only person who can rein in the Nine-Tailed Fox when Naruto loses control), who's miles away. He looks down to his tattoo that shows how many tails Naruto has unleashed (if all of them are released, the Nine-Tailed Fox can break free completely), and sees the number changing from 8 to '''9'''...

** The Totto Land arc is yet another, especially for Sanji. Sanji is in an ArrangedMarriage with one of Big Mom's daughters, and his own family is blackmailing him by threatening to kill his adoptive father Zeff if he doesn't go along with it. Luffy and Nami have gotten captured and are on death row in the dungeon, Pedro is locked in a battle against Tamago, Brook is trapped in the treasure room with Big Mom herself, Carrot and Chopper are trapped and lost in a mirror world, and on top of that, [[spoiler: his would-be wife Pudding turns out to be a manipulative sociopath who fully intends to kill Sanji during the wedding ceremony while her family kills the rest of the Vinsmokes as well for their cloning technology. The kicker is that the name of the chapter this is revealed in is called [[HopeSpot Hope]], and ends with the solemn narrative words "Not a single ray of hope, left in this world."]]

** The darkest hour for Guts and company has arrived in the form of the end of the Fantasia arc. After all of their journey to Elfhelm in order to restore Casca's pre-Eclipse sanity, [[spoiler:Guts and company are met with Griffith, who had taken the form of the Moonlight Boy as his only means of feeling again. Guts goes berserk all over again, but is unable to land so much as a scratch upon the powerful Godhand, who proceeds to make off with Casca right before his very eyes. Danaan and the Elves leave the island and the world entire since Griffith has destroyed the protection of the island, meaning that Puck and Ivalera are the only Elves left in the world. And Guts [[DespairEventHorizon is in the full throes of despair]]]].

** When a fight breaks out in the Water Town sewers, the party holes themselves in a room with only one exit as a horde of goblins led by a [[EliteMook Goblin Champion]] tries to kill them. Things go well at first as the party manages to hold the line, until the Goblin Champion sends Goblin Slayer flying after catching him by surprise by using a goblin as a MeatShield. Goblin Slayer ends up with several broken bones and coughing blood; given that he serves as a LivingEmotionalCrutch for Priestess, the sight of his mangled body is enough to break her concentration and causes her Protection miracle to come undone, allowing the goblins to overwhelm the party. To make matters worse, the Goblin Champion goes straight for Priestess and bites her shoulder off, leaving her to scream in agony as the rest of the party is powerless to help her. Things take a turn for the better when Goblin Slayer, [[{{determinator}} against all odds]], [[HeroicSecondWind forces himself back to his feet]] long enough to [[EyeScream punch the Goblin Champion's eye off]] and [[MookHorrorShow terrify the goblins into running away]], but then, after he makes sure that Priestess is safe, he finally collapses from his wounds.

** [[DownerBeginning The first episode alone]] has the party of rookie adventurers Priestess joined on her first day slaughtered during their first job. Warrior is killed and hacked to pieces, Wizard is poisoned and Fighter is gangraped after a futile attempt to buy Priestess enough time to run off with Wizard. Priestess doesn't get particularly far before Wizard starts succumbing to the poison, and her Heal miracle can't fix the damage. Adding to that, a couple of goblins catch up to her and get ready to have their sick fun with both Priestess and a dying Wizard. Just as Priestess gives up all hope, however, [[BigDamnHeroes Goblin Slayer enters the plot]].

** The Elric brothers' first meeting with Father and the aftermath. 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 last part of the manga ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' develops with the city of London being attacked and destroyed by Nazi Vampires, with Alucard far away in a ship, and the Hellsing manor almost destroyed and under attack by more Nazi Vampires. The Vatican organizes the Ninth Crusade to deal with this threat, but Maxwell, who is DrunkWithPower at this point, is ''not'' interested in helping the people of London and orders his crusaders to kill them all for being Protestants. The situation doesn't get better until Alucard arrives (which actually makes things ''worse'').

** The Band of the Hawk's darkest hour comes after the completion of their Griffith rescue operation, which was the first victory for the Hawks since their downfall upon [[spoiler: Griffith's imprisonment]], but a PyrrhicVictory at that, since Griffith [[spoiler: now disfigured and crippled beyond repair after a year of torture]] can never wield a sword again and the Hawks can never return to their status without his leadership. Most of the Hawks are confused and emotionally distraught, especially Guts, Casca, and most of all Griffith himself. He goes through a DespairEventHorizon as a result, but during it, he finds a glimmer of hope for himself; unfortunately, it's a '''[[FromBadToWorse VERY BAD ONE]]''' for everyone else involved, as it involves [[spoiler:activating the Crimson Behelit and consigning everyone he ever led to be eaten by demons so Griffith can become the fifth member of the God Hand, Femto]]. It's made that much worse for watchers of the anime, where all of the above happens... [[LeftHanging and then the series ends]].

** The Band of the Hawk's darkest hour comes after the completion of their Griffith rescue operation, which was the first victory for the Hawks since their downfall upon [[spoiler: Griffith's imprisonment]], but a PyrrhicVictory at that, since Griffith [[spoiler: now disfigured and crippled beyond repair after a year of torture]] can never wield a sword again and the Hawks can never return to their status without his leadership. Most of the Hawks are confused and emotionally distraught, especially Guts, Casca, and most of all Griffith himself. He goes through a DespairEventHorizon as a result, but during it, he finds a glimmer of hope for himself; unfortunately, it's a '''[[FromBadToWorse VERY BAD ONE]]''' for everyone else involved, as it involves [[spoiler:activating the Crimson Behelit and consigning everyone he ever led to be eaten by demons so Griffith can become the fifth member of the God Hand, Femto]] during the event known as the Eclipse. It's made that much worse for watchers of the anime, where all of the above happens... [[LeftHanging and then the series ends]].

** The Band of the Hawk's darkest hour comes after the completion of their Griffith rescue operation, which was the first victory for the Hawks since their downfall upon [[spoiler: Griffith's imprisonment]], but a PyrrhicVictory at that, since Griffith [[spoiler: now disfigured and crippled beyond repair after a year of torture]] can never wield a sword again and the Hawks can never return to their status without his leadership. Most of the Hawks are confused and emotionally distraught, especially Guts, Casca, and most of all Griffith himself. He goes through a DespairEventHorizon as a result, but during it, he finds a glimmer of hope for himself; unfortunately, it's a '''[[FromBadToWorse VERY BAD ONE]]''' for everyone else involved. It's made that much worse for watchers of the anime, where all of the above happens... [[LeftHanging and then the series ends]].

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'''s Darkest Hour occurs in the 11th volume when Opfus had 75% of her powers drained from her. Then they're trapped in an alternate dimension surrounded by grim reapers. They were able to destroy the statues and were already about to get out of that place when Opfus gets kidnapped by a newly-rebuilt Shalba Beelzebub, and Ise has to rescue her. [[spoiler: The volume ends with Ise getting hit with a [[AchillesHeel dragon-eater Samael blood coated]] on an arrow, leaving him to die in that place. That's not all however; Hades starts a war on the Underworld, Azazel's been accused of cooperating with terrorists even though he's the one who wanted peace in the first place, and every single member of the Occult Research Club suffering a HeroicBSOD.]]

* ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' near the end of season two; the SealedEvilInACan turns out to be the demon kingdom's CrystalDragonJesus and possesses the protagonist, TheSmartGuy performed a FaceHeelTurn prior to that and has been planning it for centuries, and the practically invincible army is not only invading the rest of the world but also starting to come over to Earth.

* By the last episode of ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', 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.
* In ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', the final series has a freaking ''god'' invade the mortal realm. This from a series where TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed, it happens in the anime a full ''ten episodes'' before the show ends.

%%* There's one at the end of each ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}}'' season.
* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Episode 24, Kirito reaches makes his way to the top of the World Tree to save Asuna, but unfortunately, Sugou, playing as Oberon spams his GameMaster status and confines Kirtio and Asuna into an area outside the game and he uses a gravity spell that was still in development and, at present, is overpowered. He then chains up Asuna and as Kirito tries to stand up to Sugou/Oberon, Oberon kicks Kirito back onto the ground and stabs him with Kirito's own sword. Sugou then starts to turn down Kirito's pain inhibitors, planning to continue lowering it until it affected his Kirito's body in the real world (which starts when it drops bellow level 3). Sugou then proceeds to [[ShamefulStrip rip Asuna's top off]], and sexually assault her in front of Kirito with the latter unable to stop him. In his near-death experience, Kirito begins to give in to despair as he is left powerless to stop Sugou, and is ready to give up and face reality. [[spoiler: Fortunately, [[EveryoneHasStandards Akihiko Kayaba's digital spirit]] approaches Kirito and gives him a HeroicSecondWind, and lends him his system administrator status, which helps Kirito turn the situation around and take down Sugou]].

*** [[SerialEscalation Then it gets even worse]]. [[spoiler: Madara became the Ten-Tails jinchuriki and finally activated Infinite Tsukiyomi; after this, the Sage of Six Path's mother is revived and has Black Zetsu use Madara as her vessel, becoming the true final villain.]]

** [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime]]: Dante and the Homunculi kidnap and immobilize Alphonse, place him in a giant transmutation circle, and plan to use him as a Philosophers Stone, so Dante can pull a GrandTheftMe on Rose. [[spoiler: Then Edward gets killed by Envy while trying to save them]].

** The battle against Madara Uchiha manages to top this. [[spoiler:Madara effortlessly absorbs all nine tailed beasts at once, killing Bee and knocking out Naruto, and then he stabs Sasuke in the heart. Naruto's condition rapidly deteriorates into cardiac arrest and is utterly unresponsive to any of Sakura's medical jutsu, forcing her to resort to CPR. The alliance has already been devastated by several attacks from the Ten Tails and the Zetsus. Sasuke is bleeding out with no one able to help him, and he may already be dead.]]

*** [[SerialEscalation Then it gets even worse]]. [[spoiler: Madara became the Ten Tails' jinchuriki and finally activated Infinite Tsukiyomi; after this, the Sage of Six Path's mother is revived and has Black Zetsu take out Madara, becoming the true final villain.]]

** Near the end of the Arrancar Arc, it seems hopeless for Soul Society to win against the Arrancar after [[BigBad Aizen]] sent Wonderweiss and Hooleer to Fake Karakura Town. Kyoraku and Ukitake lost their battle against Stark, and Wonderweiss and Hooleer free the trapped Barragan, Halibel, Aizen, Gin, and Tosen. It seems like Soul Society has lost this battle, [[HopeSpot until the Visored show up.]]

** Yhwach and his PraetorianGuard defeat Squad Zero, considered the ultimate shinigami force, with ease. Afterwards, he manipulates Ichigo (through his Quincy blood) into finishing the Soul King off, which starts the collapse of the three worlds. [[spoiler: Ukitake]] releases the minor god who kept him alive since he was a child in an attempt to slow down the crisis, but it proves to be a vain sacrifice when Yhwach absorbs said god. A good measure of how bad the situation is, is the fact that [[spoiler: Kyouraku has to release ''Aizen'' from his prison, seeking aid]], and that [[HeelFaceTurn the lower level SternRitter join forces with the shinigami against Yhwach]].

** The darkest hour for Guts and company has arrived in the form of the end of the Fantasia arc. After all of their journey to Elfhelm in order to restore Casca's pre-Eclipse sanity, [[spoiler:Guts and company are met with Griffith, who had taken the form of the Moonlight Boy as his only means of feeling again. Guts goes berserk all over again, but is unable to land so much as a scratch upon the powerful Godhand, who proceeds to make off with Casca right before his very eyes. Danaan and the Elves leave the island and the world entire since Griffith has destroyed the protection of the island, meaning that Puck and Ivalera are the only Elves left in the world. And Guts is in the full throes of despair]].

** Yhwach and his PraetorianGuard defeat Squad Zero, considered the ultimate shinigami force, with ease. Afterwards, he manipulates Ichigo (through his Quincy blood) into finishing the Soul King off, which starts the collapse of the three worlds. Ukitake releases the minor god who kept him alive since he was a child in an attempt to slowdown the crisis, but it proves to be a vain sacrifice when Yhwach absorbs said god. A good measure of how bad the situation is, is the fact that [[spoiler: Kyouraku has to release ''Aizen'' from his prison, seeking aid]], and that [[HeelFaceTurn the lower level SternRitter join forces with the shinigami against Yhwach]].

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''