History Main / MonumentOfHumiliationAndDefeat

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsInfinities -- A New Hope'' depicts the Sith taking over the Republic and turning the Jedi Temple into Palpatine's residence. Though it was never shown in the films, it's been stated that Palpatine really did do just that after establishing the Empire in both ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' and current canon.

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Compare to OurFounder. MedalOfDishonor is related, but more personal. When the bad guy simply puts his face on an existing monument, it is a RushmoreRefacement. If the bad guy replaces the city's name for a mere number it's AirstripOne. See also HumiliationConga, which is about the villain suffering from any such incident, to the joy of the audience and usually the hero. Subtrope of EvilGloating. [[noreallife]]

* The Saturday 1 April 2000 issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' (''Fantastic Four'' vol. 3 (1998) #28) has both NATO and Doom's villain army fight a simulated battle near Manhattan Island. Both simulations end with Doom's flag flying atop a pile of heroic corpses. One NATO general remarks that this would be Doom's monument.
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsInfinities -- A New Hope'': It depicts the Sith taking over the Republic and turning the Jedi Temple into Palpatine's residence. Though it was never shown in the films, it's been stated that Palpatine really did do just that after establishing the Empire in both ''Legends'' and current Canon.
* ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}''. In UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, a GeneralRipper is obsessed with capturing a French town and having his name engraved on their statue from [=WW1=] as their liberator. So much so he orders his soldiers to take the statue at bayonet point against men with machine guns rather than damage it. He suffers a KarmicDeath when a final SS diehard blows up him and the statue just as he's pointing out where he wants his name engraved.
* In DC Comics' ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'', after conquering the planet Daxam and mind-controlling its inhabitants, ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} forced them to use their superpowers to carve the entire planet into a giant bust of his head.

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' fic ''Fanfic/WhatYouAlreadyKnow: Heroes'' features a metaphorical version of this; after Ba'al is defeated and captured by a Jaffa army led by 'Dan'yar' (Daniel Jackson with powerful psychic abilities), Daniel not only takes Ba'al prisoner, but forces him to walk out in front of his enemies and Jaffa soldiers completely naked barring a red bow tied around his waist, reasoning that public humiliation on this scale will forever destroy the image of Ba'al as a god. The story of this defeat inspires further doubt among the Jaffa who hear it that the Goa'uld as a whole are gods; Bra'tac observes that every Jaffa he has spoken to who was present at the battle laughed at the memory, and his only regret is that he wasn't there to see it himself.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. After Voldemort takes over the Ministry of Magic through his puppet leader, he destroys the old fountain in the atrium (which depicted a witch, a wizard, a centaur, a house elf and a goblin as a symbol of magical cooperation and which demonstrated itself a patronising and more subtly subjugating attitude towards non-humans) and replaces it with a wizard and a witch sitting on thrones made of (or carried by, in the movies) hundreds of suffering Muggles. The words "MAGIC IS MIGHT" are inscribed on it to make its claim clear that wizards are superior to non-magical creatures. (The first time Harry saw the Fountain of Magical Brethren, if it comes to that, he noticed that "co-operation" seemed to involve the non-humans "looking up adoringly" at the witch and wizard.)

* In the sequel series to ''Literature/FearLoathingAndGumboOnTheCampaignTrailSeventyTwo'', after PresidentEvil [[spoiler:Donald Rumsfeld]] is deposed and the even ''more'' [[EvilerThanThou corrupt and tyrannical]] [[spoiler: Christian Values Party]] takes over, they engage in quite a bit of MonumentalDamage. They level the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Memorials, replacing the latter with a 600-foot-tall edifice of [[spoiler:Jesus Christ]], depicting him with long flowing hair, a giant sword reaching another 200 feet in the air, and a stone bible in his outstretched hand.
* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/Timeline191'', the United States has the Statue of Remembrance, who wields a sword and shield, instead of the Art/StatueOfLiberty with her torch and tablet. In this case, it's self-inflicted: the United States lost UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and a subsequent war in the 1880s to the Confederates (who are allies with France), so they received the statue from Germany and it serves as an intentional reminder of the humiliation the country suffered in defeat and their desire to one day get vengeance on the Southerners.
* ''Literature/TheTwoHeadedEagle'' by Creator/JohnBiggins. Otto Prohaska isn't pleased to return to his home town on leave during World War One to find the statue of "Old Austria", a silly but undeniably attractive statue of a naked maiden holding a broadsword, has been melted down to make artillery shells and its place taken by a gross wooden column to "Greater Germany" topped with a bust of Field Marshall von Hindenberg.
* ''Literature/HeavenOfficialsBlessingTianGuanCiFu:'' Poor Xie Lian was so reviled by (what remained of) his kingdom after he was kicked out of Heaven that they made thousands of kneeling statues of him, which people spat on as they walked by. Eight hundred years later, Qi Rong still uses one as a footrest. Unsurprisingly, [[LoveInterest Hua Cheng]] is ''not pleased'' by this practice.

** In Season 4, Kings Landing is shown to have a statue of King Joffrey holding a crossbow and standing on [[spoiler: a dead direwolf, House Stark's symbolic animal]], symbolizing victory [[spoiler: over the Starks (as well as a reference to the circumstances of Robb Stark's death at the Red Wedding)]]. It's also a hilarious example of the kind of arrogant MilesGloriosus the boy-king is that he would be depicted personally, when he had absolutely nothing to do with [[spoiler:the massacre]],[[note]][[DragonInChief his grandfather]] having been the true orchestrator[[/note]] or any victory his family had orchestrated beforehand, really... and then there was his dwarf reenactment of the War of the Five Kings.

* Season 3 of ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'' shows the Nazis initiating a plan to purge American history. This includes melting down the Liberty Bell into a giant swastika and [[spoiler:blowing up the Statue of Liberty, which is replaced the following season by a massive statue celebrating the Nazi Aryan ideal]].
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': In "Wish You Were Here", Emma is sent to an alternate timeline where she was never the Savior and lives in the Enchanted Forest. Regina follow her there, and at one point sees a (rather vain glorious) statue of Snow White and Prince Charming with a plaque stating "On this site Snow White and Prince Charming heroically defeated the Evil Queen". Her reaction is an equal parts amused and annoyed "Seriously?".
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. In "The Defector", Commander Tomalak threatens this as the fate of the ''Enterprise''.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In one episode, an astronaut terrorizes a civilization of microscopic aliens into making a 1-1 statue of him. [[spoiler:Eventually, they kill him in response to his iron-booted tyranny and pull the statue down]].

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* Technically, all crosses in Christian religion are in ''defiance'' of this trope; the Romans nailed Jesus to the cross as a living (and soon-to-be-dying) monument to the defeat of Judaism, [[MakeAnExampleOfThem and a warning to anyone who would continue following him]]. Instead, Jesus came back from the dead, the people of the world won the privilege of being redeemable thanks to his sacrifice, and the cross is praised in reverence to the miracle that God granted his son.[[note]]Of course, if you consider the cross our eternal failure for standing by and watching Jesus bleed to death, or in reverence of the Romans who made the cross in the first place...[[/note]]
* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Perseus]] is known for slaying the dreaded Gorgon Medusa, cursed by Athena with snakes for hair and hideous ugliness that would turn men to stone. Later adaptations of this myth have Medusa's lair littered with statues: the remains of those who came before Perseus... and failed.

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'':
** Masyaf, the former Assassin stronghold and home to the first game's protagonist Altaïr, had decayed so much that Templars, the Assassins' sworn enemies, took over what was once the main headquarters of the most important branch of the brotherhood.

* In ''Videogame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', the town of Fyrestone was renamed Jackville by Hyperion CEO Handsome Jack, after he conquered it as his way of reminding the Crimson Raiders of their failures.
* In the last act of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', [[spoiler:the people of Kirkwall build a statue of Hawke beheading the Arishok.]]

* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' has The Gorthaur, a massive monument of Sauron towering over chained slaves, as an element of a gate between Udun and the Nurnen coast. [[spoiler:Talion and Hirgon blow it up to lure out The Hammer of Sauron.]]
* A back-and-forth example in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': when TheEmpire invades the planet of Balmorra, one of the largest bomb craters is turned into a [[LaResistance resistance]] camp named "Outpost Victory". The Empire's forces later capture the base in a bloody battle and rename it "Camp Conquest" as a reminder. [[spoiler: When the Republic takes back the planet, they change those signs back.]]
* In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'':
** The majority of London (Big Ben being one of the few exceptions) has been demolished and replaced with monuments to the Nazis' victory, surrounded by "quarantine blocks": Disease-ridden ghettos that house (imprison) the lower class without power or running water. To top it off, the furious, brutal resistance movement has been destroyed completely by a giant mech, the London Monitor.
** In ''The Old Blood'' [=DLC=], a newspaper clipping tells about how the D-Day landings were a failure, the Nazis driving the Allied armies away with minimal casualties. The Nazis decided to build a giant museum dedicated to their defense, and [[EvilGloating to rub extra salt in the wound]], used Allied [=POWs=] taken in the failed landing as [[MadeASlave slave labour to construct it]].

* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has a subtle example. The [[VichyEarth ADVENT Administration]] has placed numerous monuments and statues in its shining [[GildedCage city centers]], honoring the "Elders" and commemorating what they insist was a BenevolentAlienInvasion to free humanity from the chaos and disease of the "old world." One recurring element is [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_xcom_2_art_1_2.png a statue]] of a Sectoid helping a human off the ground... [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation or is the alien leaving the human behind?]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan visits an AlternateHistory where Walter Mondale won the 1984 presidential election and was such a weak president that, within ''days'' of taking office, [[RussiaTakesOverTheWorld he handed America over to the Soviet Union]]. One of the statues in Langley Falls portrays Mondale kissing the feet of Soviet Premier Brezhnev.

-->'''Bart:''' Dad, you never win in a fight against animals. Remember your war with the worms?
-->'''Homer:''' That was not a defeat, that was a phased withdrawal.
-->'''Bart:''' Then why did they make you build that statue? ''(points at statue of Homer bowing before a worm, titled "Worms are better than me")''
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' episode "To The Moon, Baboon", the Kongs decide to make a time capsule that they'll launch to the moon. Cranky's contribution is a clip show highlighting all of King K. Rool's evil plans- namely, the parts where everything went pear-shaped.
-->'''Diddy:''' ''(Laughing)'' Good one, Cranky! Future generations will come to know him as King K. Lown!
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', the Mewmans have a floating eyeball float around. It's purpose is to remind the monsters of the Great Monster Massacre, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which was a massacre]] of unarmed monsters by heavily armed Mewman soldiers.

* ''ComicBook/StarWarsInfinities -- A New Hope'': It depicts the Sith taking over the Republic and turning the Jedi Temple into Palpatine's residence.

* The Saturday 1 April 2000 issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' (''Fantastic Four''' vol. 3 (1998) #28) has both NATO and Doom's villain army fight a simulated battle near Manhattan Island. Both simulations end with Doom's flag flying atop a pile of heroic corpses. One NATO general remarks that this would be Doom's monument.

* The Saturday 1 April 2000 issue of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' has both NATO and Doom's villain army fight a simulated battle near Manhattan Island. Both simulations end with Doom's flag flying atop a pile of heroic corpses. One NATO general remarks that this would be Doom's monument.

Humans love winning, and then [[UnsportsmanlikeGloating gloating about it]]. Whenever we win we need to rub our victory in the loser's face and call him out. From the Crusades[[note]]turning mosques into churches and vice-versa[[/note]] to the Nazis,[[note]][[UsefulNotes/AdolphHitler Hitler]] made it a point to sign France's surrender on the same railroad car the Germans did in the First World War, and then took it back to Germany as a trophy, then blew it up just to make sure France couldn't get it back when Germany was about to lose the war[[/note]] the Spanish[[note]]after the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar Civil War]], [[UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco Franco]] built a mausoleum for himself, an abbey and a graveyard with the labour work of the republican soldiers[[/note]] and the Conquistadors[[note]]after the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Fall of Tenochtitlan]], the conquerors built churches on top of the temples with the very same stones they were built with[[/note]] and even the ''Olympic Games'';[[note]]after the student protests of 1968, president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz opened up the Olympic Games in Mexico City in the stadium of the university many students came from[[/note]] history is full of people who just ''had'' to do it. So you got a story where the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins has won]]. His armies swarm the entire country and LaResistance is forced to retreat, flee or go into hiding. That's pretty bad, but the bad guy has yet one last thing to do: ensure his rule. So he makes something to honour his victory: he sends his people to make him a giant statue of Our Glorious Leader over the remains of the rebel base, [[{{Egopolis}} renames the former rebel city stronghold in his name]], sets a yearly military Victory Parade on V-Day, or all of them (and/or many many more). His purpose is both to exalt his ego and gloat to ensure no one dares question his authority by taking a former symbol of LaResistance and using it against them. If there are still members of LaResistance hiding around somewhere, the monuments serve to mock them and remind them of their defeat, lower their morale and prevent them from rising against the Leader again. Forcing the defeated enemies to KneelBeforeZod is often part of it as well. Usually invoked in {{Dystopia}}n worlds.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', after the Equalists take down The United Republic's government, Aang's statue is made to wear a giant version of Amon's mask.

** The crossroads on the road to Minas Morgul was originally guarded by the statue of a former king. By the time Frodo and Sam pass that way, the statue's original head has been replaced with a rock painted as a grinning cyclops, presumably intended to represent Sauron, and the body of the statue is covered with foul orc scribbling. The Army of the West on its way to the Black Gate, makes a point to restore the statue's old head and cleanse the stone to affirm Gondor's reclamation of its ancient lands.

** Aegon also built the Sept of Remembrance to commemorate his alliance with the Faith. Aegon's son Maegor the Cruel infamously burned down the sept years later when the Faith rebelled. He had built the Dragonpit in its place.

** Aegon's son Maegor the Cruel infamously burned down the Sept of Remembrance. In its place, he had built the Dragonpit.

** Aegon the Conqueror made the Iron Throne [[ThroneMadeOfX out of the swords of the men who surrendered to him]]. It's supposed to exalt his power, but there's a twist: it's also supposed to be impossible to sit in comfortably, forcing the king always to be alert.

Humans love winning, and then [[UnsportsmanlikeGloating gloating about it]]. Whenever we win we need to rub our victory in the loser's face and call him out. From the Crusades[[note]]turning mosques into churches and vice-versa[[/note]] to the Nazis,[[note]][]UsefulNotes/AdolphHitler Hitler]] made it a point to sign France's surrender on the same railroad car the Germans did in the First World War, and then took it back to Germany as a trophy, then blew it up just to make sure France couldn't get it back when Germany was about to lose the war[[/note]] the Spanish[[note]]after the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar Civil War]], [[UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco Franco]] built a mausoleum for himself, an abbey and a graveyard with the labour work of the republican soldiers[[/note]] and the Conquistadors[[note]]after the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishConquestOfTheAztecEmpire Fall of Tenochtitlan]], the conquerors built churches on top of the temples with the very same stones they were built with[[/note]] and even the ''Olympic Games'';[[note]]after the student protests of 1968, president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz opened up the Olympic Games in Mexico City in the stadium of the university many students came from[[/note]] history is full of people who just ''had'' to do it. So you got a story where the BigBad [[TheBadGuyWins has won]]. His armies swarm the entire country and LaResistance is forced to retreat, flee or go into hiding. That's pretty bad, but the bad guy has yet one last thing to do: ensure his rule. So he makes something to honour his victory: he sends his people to make him a giant statue of Our Glorious Leader over the remains of the rebel base, [[{{Egopolis}} renames the former rebel city stronghold in his name]], sets a yearly military Victory Parade on V-Day, or all of them (and/or many many more). His purpose is both to exalt his ego and gloat to ensure no one dares question his authority by taking a former symbol of LaResistance and using it against them. If there are still members of LaResistance hiding around somewhere, the monuments serve to mock them and remind them of their defeat, lower their morale and prevent them from rising against the Leader again. Forcing the defeated enemies to KneelBeforeZod is often part of it as well. Usually invoked in {{Dystopia}}n worlds.