History Main / Anticlimax

* ''LightNovel/BofuriIDontWantToGetHurtSoIllMaxOutMyDefense'':

* In Season 3 of ''Series/TheBoys'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Homelander]] finally shows up for his dramatic showdown with Soldier Boy, and gets smacked around in a 1v3 with him, [[EmpoweredBadassNormal Butcher, and Hughie]]. Right when the three have him pinned down and Soldier Boy's charging a blast that could've potentially killed everyone in the room, Homelander gets a [[HeroicSecondWind Villainous Second Wind]] and [[DirtyCoward uses it to overpower them all & escape]].]]

* Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'' revealed [[TheOmniscientCouncilOf Vaugeness The Council]] as TheManBehindTheMan to the brainwashing scheme, and they were considered a big threat, due to their immense resources and MechaMooks. Then, two of them are taken out unceremoniously after only a handful of episodes [[note]] Kerrigan ends up in a coma after opening the pyramid incorrectly and Fateous Mann dies because of [[IdiotBall an incredibly stupid reason]] due to rushing into said pyramid after Finnwich rigged it to explode. [[/note]] and since [[NoNameGiven "His Eminence"]] is basically OrcusOnHisThrone (and doesn't even appear not in shadow until the last few episodes), that leaves just [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Cassandra]] and The Serpent to do the group's heavy lifting. Then, the Serpent defects, and Cassandra turns on her boss, only to be defeated in virtually a few seconds in a manner that's PlayedForLaughs. These dangerous villains, who could make people disappear and were supposed to be a legitimate threat, end up being defeated due to a combination of their own hubris and some teens. Talk about disappointing.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': The finale of the Blood Gulch Chronicles, high drama and an exploding bomb on an escaping ship...

* ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenziman'': Since his introduction, Banriki has been build up to be this fearsome, powerful warrior who is more than a match for the heroes. In the final episode, [[spoiler:Banriki battles Hedrian for like a second and ends up blinded, unable to fight. Come the Denjimen and they one-shot him with the Denji Boomerang.]]

* The [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E21TheseAreTheVoyages finale]] of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', a series which had been building towards the founding of the Federation throughout its run, is really just a Holodeck program being run by Riker in-between scenes of the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E11ThePegasus The Pegasus]]" and splits its focus between Riker's conflict in that episode and a relatively minor sub-plot in the ''Enterprise'' timeframe. Viewers never even get to see the legendary speech that Archer gave which was played up by the characters. Made worse by the fact that this was the ''the'' last episode of a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' television series for the foreseeable future.

* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' essentially [[ZigZaggingTrope plays ping pong with this one]] during the Negi/Rakan fight, which starts off with an apparent anticlimax ([[spoiler:Negi K.O.ing Rakan]]), before having 3 or 4 climactic moments, only to keep going. Ultimately, [[spoiler:Negi's final massive attack fails to knock Rakan out, but drains him enough that they resort to GoodOldFisticuffs before fainting from exhaustion in a tie]]. Whether this is an actual Anti-Climax, a subversion thereof, or some kind of combination is up for debate.

* The Lifemaker in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''. He showed up (flashbacks aside) for less than a dozen chapters, did pretty much nothing but oneshotting Negi and Fate and immobilizing Ala Rubra, literally did nothing else as Class 3-A freed Asuna, on whom his plans hinged, and then he was vanquished away by Negi and Asuna in a single chapter. And his final defeat after that happened '''out of panel''' and only mentioned away in passing in the final chapter.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones:'' At the end of season 5, [[spoiler:Jon Snow was killed by his fellows at the Night's Watch,]] as happens in the books. This caused a media sensation, with everyone wondering whether he was really KilledOffForReal, as in the book it's implied that he will remain alive, but that particular cliffhanger hasn't been resolved yet. If he was killed and brought back to life, that would be truly incredible - there is precedent, but only in very specific circumstances. Early in season 6, it appears he really is dead. But two characters (neither of whom have ever shown any real interest in him so far) are suddenly convinced that this can't hold, and so they revive him! By [[spoiler:chanting a few words and making a few hand movements]]. Okay, but at least there ''is'' a precedent for magic in this series, sure. But how will this character - how will ''any of the characters'' react to someone being brought back from the dead? Well... the character himself just kind of shrugs it off, showing little more than bemusement. As a result he decides this means [[spoiler:he's technically not bound to the Night's Watch anymore, which is really taking the literal meaning of the rules rather than the spirit, and undoing years of character development that his duties there were vitally important in the process]], the other characters decide not to tell anyone, and that's it. Aside from getting a cliffhanger out of it, it might as well have never happened. In season 7, at least, there is some implication that the characters are keeping it a secret, but there's no real reason why they should - if anything, such an incredible feat should ''help'' him convince people he's doing the right thing. In all, despite being built up as a massive and shocking twist, it barely affected the plot at all.

* In "The Battle of Epping Forest" by Music/{{Genesis}}, there ''is'' an epic battle between rival gangs, but at the end of it [[spoiler:everybody's dead except the rival bosses, so they just toss a coin to settle it]]. PlayedForLaughs, more or less.

** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' has [=BelialVamdemon/MaloMyotismon=] defeated by [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath the children simply preaching their dreams and goals]] instead of an epic battle with both universes at stake despite the fact that [=BelialVamdemon/MaloMyotismon=] should be at his strongest.

*** The Chimera Ant arc builds up the King as the ultimate life form, far stonger than any human. Chairman Netero is still determined to face him, and their battle does indeed prove to be the stuff of legends. [[spoiler: Netero's full power isn't enough to kill Mereum, but he came to the fight with a bomb in his body set to go off once his heart stopped. Meruem survives the explosion by feeding on his guards, which makes him even stronger. Things seem to be at their darkest, but it turns out the poison/radiation from the bomb is slowly killing Meruem anyway. He it at least able to die with his rival and friend Komugi by his side.]]
*** During the Election arc, multiple notorious hunters engage in a game of manipulations in order to determine the outcome of the election. Ultimately, [[spoiler: Pariston wins, only to immediately resign, passing the position on to Cheadle.]]

* The Aincrad arc in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' is based on the premise of a death game, but aside from few early casualties no one of importance dies, and the final boss battle [[spoiler:is over in blink of an eye and the big bad is forgiven without suffering any consequences]]. Besides [[spoiler:dying.]]

** [[spoiler: Hody Jones]]. Justified by two factors: first, [[spoiler: the crew just came from two years of intense training in order to face the New World,]] and second, he basically was a SmallNameBigEgo without much experience.

** The Zou arc features this in a way that manages to be both anticlimactic ''and'' epic. [[spoiler:Jack the Drought, one of Emperor Kaido's top men, with the highest bounty revealed to that point in the series (one billion Berries), shown to be an incredibly powerful and insanely ruthless warrior that fought for days without slowing down, with a fleet of ships and monsters under his command... gets taken out in one shot. How is that epic? Because the one who does it is Zunisha, an elephant several miles tall, to protect the citizens who dwell in the city on his back, just with a single sweep of its trunk that took out the entire rest of the fleet as collateral damage. Ending an entire threat in a literal minute is rather an anticlimax, but when it's a nation-sized creature doing so it's still quite amazing]].

* ''Series/HoleyMoley'' did this for humor, spending all of season 2 hyping up the final championship hole, The Tomb of Nefer Tee-Tee, as an epic masterpiece, only for the hosts to be taken aback when it's revealed to be... a more or less standard hole with an Egyptian theme that's doesn't really have anything to set it apart from any other hole except for being the final one.

* This happens pretty frequently in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', especially toward the end of arcs. Kubo will normally set up a lot of battles to give whatever of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters are still standing something to do. Once the final battle is over, the resolution of the fights set up during this time oftentimes taking place off screen, some of them even going so far as to not even reveal who won.

* ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenjiman'': Since his introduction, Banriki has been build up to be this fearsome, powerful warrior who is more than a match for the heroes. In the final episode, [[spoiler:Banriki battles Hedrian for like a second and ends up blinded, unable to fight. Come the Denjimen and they one-shot him with the Denji Boomerang.]]

* ''WebAnimation/AstroLOLogy'': The episode "Color Me Mad", which is about Cancer getting karate training, ends with Cancer receiving her red belt and then declining to fight Taurus for her black belt. As it turns out, she just wanted the red belt to go with her pinafore.

* Bèbelle from ''Literature/{{Malevil}}''. For all the talk of how [[KnifeNut dangerous]] and [[CreepyCrossdresser frightening]] he is, he gets taken down with a single shot in the night.

* The final episode of ''Anime/DotHackSign'' ends with the player-character heroes facing up to a HumongousMecha-type monster, and it looks as if there's going to be a big climactic fight scene. Instead, [[spoiler:the uber-hacker Helba just switches off the server and deletes the game]]. There was a real world ending that kinda makes up for it, though. The whole thing was a lead-up/prologue for the ''.hack'' games from one person's perspective (that person being Tsukasa). Considering the fact that [[spoiler:Skeith, the monster, can't be defeated without subverting the physics of the game world with Data Drain]], it would have been even ''more'' anticlimactic and a DownerEnding for everyone to die.