History Main / OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]], White Diamond has won, effortlessly mind controlling all the main cast minus Steven and Connie, neither of which have any way of posing any threat to her existence. White refuses to listen to anything Steven says and pulls out his gem to forcibly bring Pink Diamond back, which is heavily implied will be fatal to Steven past a few minutes. Instead of Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz reforming, though, the gem manifests another Steven and after a single moment of anger, this experience humbles the otherwise completely self-absorbed White Diamond so thoroughly she lets everyone she mind controlled free and decides to stop being tyrannical in the span of a few minutes when she had been set in her ways for tens of thousands of years. The base is deeply divided on whether this was an appropriate thematic ending to the series or the biggest AssPull and WriterCopOut possible.

* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse: The New Adventures'' combines this with MediumAwareness in the episode "Mighty's Wedlock Whimsy" (prefaced immediately as a cautionary tale). Mighty Mouse is getting married to Pearl Pureheart, only he's getting cold feet when taking his vows. As he stammers "I...I...I...," the scene suddenly changes to a live action shot of the pencil drawing of Mighty Mouse on an animator's table. The animator can't go through with it.

* The ''ComicBook/XMen'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' has to give Comicbook/JeanGrey a split personality (before the {{Retcon}}), or else there would be no way to stop it. The writers of the {{Retcon}} were basing it on clues in the original storyline. Jean ''did'' say something about the Phoenix being part of the cosmos and needing to be sent back where it belongs.

* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' Slade came BackFromTheDead, with fire powers and immortality that let him [[CurbStompBattle manhandle all the Titans without breaking a sweat]]. And he was ''nothing'' compared to the BigBad Trigon, who [[WorldWreckingWave turned the entire planet into a fiery hellscape]] within ''seconds'' of [[TheLegionsOfHell entering our world]]. It's only through a handful of plot contrivances that the Titans even ''survive'' until the finale, and they only win in the end by ComicBook/{{Raven}} [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe suddenly becoming the most powerful being in the universe]]. This is somewhat foreshadowed by Raven [[spoiler: being the Demonic Invader's daughter and heir all along, with the SuperpoweredEvilSide you might expect]].

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', by virtue of making the human remains of the people the Homunculi were originally intended to resurrect their KryptoniteFactor, invokes this for every single antagonist on two different levels. First, while every homunculus could ''theoretically'' be the product of anyone from anywhere in the world (or at least, anywhere in the country), the protagonists have to be able to defeat them in the end, so all of them are conveniently either closely related to or directly produced by a main character. And second, the homunculi tend to be confronted pretty close to their human remains, or have them conveniently introduced to a scene via obvious contrivance.

* That's how ''Manga/ShamanKing'' ended. By the look of it, the heroes are completely screwed. Due to ExecutiveMeddling, the series was [[CutShort canceled]], and fans were left with NoEnding, or worse, a presumed DownerEnding. The author has since released the ending, which [[spoiler:still has [[BadGuyWins Hao win]]- the heroes just change his mind]].

* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' plays with this trope when the main character, by now a powerful and feared ghoul, towards the end of the series encounters Arima, a CCG investigator considered the strongest of all, who's built a reputation as being essentially undefeatable. It seems this trope will come into play. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't.]] [[CurbStompBattle He loses.]] '''[[UncertainDoom Badly.]]''']]
** [[spoiler: This trope actually does come into play, eventually, but not as part of the ''Tokyo Ghoul manga''. Only when ''Tokyo Ghoul:re'' is released does everybody see the main character back in action. So the author sort of does save him: Our hero is revived by the power of sequels!]]

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' is no stranger to this, especially during the Creator/GeorgePerez [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Post-Crisis reboot]] that put more emphasis on magic and mythology. Perez's first ComicBook/{{Circe}} storyline stands as an especially shining example, with Circe more-or-less curbstomping all the good guys until she gets her clock cleaned by a ''literal'' god, namely [[spoiler:Hermes]].

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': [[spoiler:The real [[PredecessorVillain Madara Uchiha]]]]. His powers can only be described as [[spoiler: basically every power that Naruto, Sasuke, Pain, and Hashirama ever had, all turned up several notches]]. By his own admission, Kishimoto [[WritersBlock had no idea]] how to make him lose at that point. The heroes even get a NextTierPowerUp handed to them in the middle of the fight, and it ''still'' wasn't enough to stop the guy. He was able to accomplish his master plan and [[spoiler: trap everyone but Team 7 in a permanent dream]]. Almost immediately after, [[spoiler: he gets abruptly killed off and supplanted as BigBad by [[GreaterScopeVillain Kaguya Otsutsuki]]. While Kaguya is [[PhysicalGod even more powerful than Madara]], she gets defeated relatively quickly due to having [[UnskilledButStrong little fighting experience]], repeatedly getting caught off guard by even the most simplistic tactics. It's a neat trick for somebody with 360-degree X-ray vision to manage to get ambushed repeatedly.]]
** It was least established that [[spoiler:as Kaguya is an escaped SealedEvilInACan, the heroes only needed to put her back in the can. Conveniently, the powerup Naruto and Sasuke got during the Madara fight turns out to be the key to doing so.]]

* The finale of the ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' manga. At one point, the main villain Priscilla got so overpowered, that active readers at the time were sure that nothing but an ass pull could save the day. They did not know how right they were. [[spoiler:In the end, the main protagonist, Claire, awakens, a process that gives a Claymore an enormous boost in strength and agility, but makes them lose their humanity and become a demon. Except that she ''awakens into'' Teresa of the Faint Smile reborn, a warrior considered to be the strongest Claymore there ever was, who then proceeds to ''awaken as well'' and turn Priscilla literally into dust in a matter of panels.]]
** [[spoiler:There was a very very early ChekhovsGun, however. Whereas every other claymore in existence was fused with Yoma remains, Claire was instead fused with ''Teresa's'' remains, which is why Clair was referred to as one-quarter Yoma.]]

* The ''Anime/PrettyCure'' movies have been guilty of running into this ever since the ''Yes! 5'' film introduced Miracle Lights to the audience as a form of AudienceParticipation, where by lighting up the Lights and cheering for the Cures, they can do whatever is needed to save the day and turn the odds back in the Cures' favor. Outside of the movie theater context, however, and it's obvious just how often the writers like putting the Cures in unwinnable situations just to justify the Miracle Lights' existence and usage, the most particularly noteworthy example being in the ''Suite'' and ''Smile'' movies where [[DisneyDeath the main leader of their respective team dies only to be revived not even a minute later in a new form because of the Miracle Lights]]. It should be noted that the Miracle Lights and its alternative were largely abandoned following the ''Healin' Good'' movie, though more out of practicality due to COVID-19 guidelines rather than as a creative decision.

* An example of "Only the ''Original'' Author can Save Them Now": mirroring the final attack to the final boss in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/125344 An Earthbound Journey]]'' the one who ends up doing the final prayer and help winning the final battle for the heroes is [[spoiler:the show's original creator Creator/LaurenFaust]].

* You cannot defeat Giygas. Seriously, the final battle of ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' is {{Unwinnable|ByDesign}} by any normal, in-game means. You have to [[spoiler:invoke Paula's [[RandomEffectSpell Pray]] ability, which before now has only had certain randomized and often dangerous effects. She calls on many of the characters you've seen so far in the game, but even [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower their support]] is not enough to defeat Giygas. Only after she calls out in desperation for ''anyone'' to help does [[BreakingTheFourthWall the player]] finally pray for Giygas to die, effectively saving the party with the sheer force of wanting to win the damn game]].

* The season 3 finale of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has Ruby suddenly [[spoiler:discover that she inherited an incredible secret power from her mother]], which allows her to immobilize the [[spoiler:Grimm dragon central to Cinder's plan]] with the only foreshadowing for this being a vague, throwaway line way back in the first episode of season 1 that could have meant anything. Subverted in that [[spoiler:even with both the Dragon and Cinder taken out of commission, it barely saved anything. RWBY's broken, Pyrrha's dead, Beacon is effectively no more, and Cinder still got what she wanted in the first place]]. DoubleSubversion when we find that in the next volume, [[spoiler:Cinder's taken out of commission because of that power and thus, Ruby's journey is slightly easier. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Slightly]]]].

* Phibrizo from ''[[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Slayers Next]]'': The credibility point was broken about at the point where he [[spoiler:killed all of Lina's friends without much effort at all, then backpedaled, said he only killed their bodies, and then threatened to destroy their souls as well. And then we got the very literal DeusExMachina..]].

** In ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart2'', Chrysalis' AntiMagic throne has rendered Starlight's group completely powerless and they have no means of fighting back, leading to all of them getting captured. What ultimately saves them? [[spoiler: The last-minute HeelRaceTurn of Chrysalis' swarm.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella has slipped away from Alice and Jasper, meaning that they have no idea where she is and no way to get to her in time even if they did. She is trapped in a ballet studio with a murderous vampire, with no means of defending herself or escaping. He breaks her leg, throws her around, and bites her... and then Edward and his family show up in time to kill the vampire and suck the venom out of Bella.

* In ''Literature/[[Twilight2005 Twilight]]'', Bella has slipped away from Alice and Jasper, meaning that they have no idea where she is and no way to get to her in time even if they did. She is trapped in a ballet studio with a murderous vampire, with no means of defending herself or escaping. He breaks her leg, throws her around, and bites her... and then Edward and his family show up in time to kill the vampire and suck the venom out of Bella.

* The ''Anime/PrettyCure'' movies have been guilty of running into this ever since the ''Yes! 5'' film introduced Miracle Lights to the audience as a form of AudienceParticipation, where by lighting up the Lights and cheering for the Cures, they can do whatever is needed to save the day and turn the odds back in the Cures' favor. Outside of the movie theater context, however, and it's obvious just how often the writers like putting the Cures in unwinnable situations just to justify the Miracle Lights' existence and usage, the most particularly noteworthy example being in the ''Suite'' movie where [[DisneyDeath Cure Melody dies only to be revived not even a minute later in a new form because of the Miracle Lights]]. It should be noted that the Miracle Lights and its alternative were largely abandoned following the ''Healin' Good'' movie, though more out of practicality due to COVID-19 guidelines rather than as a creative decision.

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella has slipped away from Alice and Jasper, meaning that they have no idea where she is and no way to get to her in time even if they did. She is trapped in a ballet studio with a murderous vampire, with no means of defending herself or escaping. He breaks her leg, throws her around, and bites her... and then Edward and his family show up in time to kill the vampire and suck the venom out of Bella.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': [[spoiler:The real [[PredecessorVillain Madara Uchiha]]]]. His powers can only be described as [[spoiler: basically every power that Naruto, Sasuke, Pain, and Hashirama ever had, all turned up several notches]]. By his own admission, Kishimoto [[WritersBlock had no idea]] how to make him lose at that point. He was able to accomplish his master plan and [[spoiler: trap everyone but Team 7 in a permanent dream]]. Almost immediately after, [[spoiler: he gets abruptly killed off and supplanted as BigBad by [[GreaterScopeVillain Kaguya Otsutsuki]]. While Kaguya is [[PhysicalGod even more powerful than Madara]], she gets defeated relatively quickly due to having [[UnskilledButStrong little fighting experience]], repeatedly getting caught off guard by even the most simplistic tactics. It's a neat trick for somebody with 360-degree X-ray vision to manage to get ambushed repeatedly.]]

** [[BigBad Kars]] in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Part 2]] becomes completely immortal and all Joseph can do is run. Luckily, Kars just so happens to get caught in a volcanic explosion that launches him into outer space. Joseph is just as surprised by that turn of events but pretends [[AllAccordingToPlan it was planned]].

* ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' has this problem with the heroes stuck in space. The heroes are trapped on the outside of a powerful barrier covering the Earth. The only person who can break through it is the new ComicBook/{{Quasar}}, but she's put into a ConvenientComa early on. Other heroes attempt to break through it - [[ComicBook/Captain MarvelMarvelComics Spectrum]], who has the power to transform into any form of energy in the electromagnetic spectrum; [[ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel Blue Marvel]], who can manipulate matter and anti-matter; and ComicBook/StarBrand, whose power is the same as the one from ComicBook/TheNewUniverse, which is "do anything you want" -- and they ''still'' can't break through it. Even worse, ComicBook/{{Galactus}} refuses to help (due to being in a weakened state prior), and the ComicBook/SilverSurfer has decided to be a no-show for some strange reason.

** Somewhat the attitude some fans had about the practically god-like Ori. In fairness, though, the writers have found reasonably believable ways for the Ori to be battled -- but the eventual resolution in ''Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth'' was nevertheless a DeusExMachina, involving an impossibly convenient and previously unmentioned piece of LostTechnology. Presumably, if it had played out over the course of a season instead of crammed into a single film, there would have been more believable build-up.

* Creator/RussellTDavies did a good job resurrecting ''Series/DoctorWho'' after its long hiatus, but he was not very good at writing a satisfying finale to the series broadcast while he was executive producer. He was very bad in that particular area, in fact, so the finale of each Davies series suffered from this trope. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Unlimited armies of Daleks and Cybermen?]] Easy, use something that [[KeystoneArmy takes them all out]] at once. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords The Master rules the Earth?]] [[FanNickname Tinkerbell Jesus]] [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve to the rescue.]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Another army of Daleks with the power to DESTROY! REALITY! ITSELF!?]] Donna develops [[LeetSpeak 1337]] Time Lord hacking skills and... they explode, somehow. [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The Master has turned everyone on Earth into copies of himself?]] [[spoiler:The Time Lord President Rassilon [[EvilerThanThou fixes it with a flick of his wrist.]]]] This has led to the term "[[{{Pun}} Davies Ex Machina]]" being coined by fans.
** Invoked, inverted, subverted, played with, tap-danced on, and turned sideways in the fifth series finale: with [[spoiler: Amy dead, Rory an Auton, the Doctor locked in the Pandorica, the TARDIS exploding with River inside it, and every star and every planet winking out of existence; everything is hopeless until the Doctor suddenly appears out of thin air and gives Rory the solution to everything. It promptly turns out to be a paradox operating under a StableTimeLoop that breaks all kinds of rules and which the Doctor is only doing because the entire universe is about to be destroyed anyway and the multiple layers of paradoxes cause all kinds of major difficulties for the characters throughout the episode]].

** [[GreaterScopeVillain Acnologia]] proves completely invulnerable to everything thrown at him ''before'' [[spoiler:he reveals that he can eat magic]]. The only thing left for the story to do is [[spoiler:hastily reintroduce a character thought to have been long dead along with a convenient black hole to shove him into]]... and even ''that'' doesn't work, in fact making Acnologia ''even stronger''. Said power-up forces Acnologia to [[spoiler:split between a now mindless Dragon body and a more vulnerable spirit form]], just to give the protagonists a fighting chance, [[spoiler:with the mindless Dragon acting on instinct and allowing the heroes on the outside to lure it into a trap while his spirit form fighting all the remaining Dragon Slayers can't actually kill them despite his claims otherwise because he needs to keep them alive long enough to forcibly extract their magic to stabilize his condition, which he was in the process of doing when Natsu managed to free the other Slayers from their prisons and lead the attack against him]].

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' had this in full force, with the series establishing it early on how advanced and beyond the galactic civilizations the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] are. In the first game it took an entire fleet of warships to take down '''one''' Reaper, and the second game ends with a [[OhCrap shot of thousands approaching the galaxy.]] In the third game [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Admiral Hackett]] outright tells the PlayerCharacter that the Reapers can't be defeated conventionally. True to form, surprise! A DeusExMachina is introduced early in the game and is the only way to win -- or, depending on your point of view, a DiabolusExMachina is introduced that lets you choose which way you want to lose.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' does it with the [[BigBad Sith Emperor]] in the ''[[SequelHook Rise of the Emperor]]'' plotline. He's an immortal EldritchAbomination whose resurrection and [[PlanetEater planet devouring]] plans occur no matter what actions players take. The heroes are informed he's far weaker than his previous incarnation, but that only amounts to eating planets one at a time, instead of dozens at once. The player only survives from being a snack by fleeing the planet beforehand. Subverted in the ''Fallen Empire'' expansion immediately after where he's [[DroppedABridgeOnHim quickly killed off in the beginning]], but [[HijackedByGanon just as quickly revealed to be]] NotQuiteDead.

* The author of ''Marauder Shields'' saves the day via [[DeusExMachina the titular character]] after the author decided that [[PlayerCharacter the main character]] [[Franchise/MassEffect of the series]] [[DiabolusExMachina was indoctrinated.]]

* ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' has this problem with ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and the heroes stuck in space. The heroes are trapped on the outside of a powerful barrier covering the Earth. The only person who can break through it is the new ComicBook/{{Quasar}}, but she's put into a ConvenientComa early on. Other heroes attempt to break through it - [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Spectrum]], who has the power to transform into any form of energy in the electromagnetic spectrum; [[ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel Blue Marvel]], who can manipulate matter and anti-matter; and ComicBook/StarBrand, whose power is the same as the one from ComicBook/TheNewUniverse, which is "do anything you want" -- and they ''still'' can't break through it. Even worse, ComicBook/{{Galactus}} refuses to help (due to being in a weakened state prior), and the ComicBook/SilverSurfer has decided to be a no-show for some strange reason.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': [[spoiler:The real [[PredecessorVillain Madara Uchiha]]]]. His powers can only be described as [[spoiler: basically every power that Naruto, Sasuke, Pain, and Hashirama ever had, all turned UpToEleven]]. By his own admission, Kishimoto [[WritersBlock had no idea]] how to make him lose at that point. He was able to accomplish his master plan and [[spoiler: trap everyone but Team 7 in a permanent dream]]. Almost immediately after, [[spoiler: he gets abruptly killed off and supplanted as BigBad by [[GreaterScopeVillain Kaguya Otsutsuki]]. While Kaguya is [[PhysicalGod even more powerful than Madara]], she gets defeated relatively quickly due to having [[UnskilledButStrong little fighting experience]], repeatedly getting caught off guard by even the most simplistic tactics. It's a neat trick for somebody with 360-degree X-ray vision to manage to get ambushed repeatedly.]]

* The Fate scenario of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has a badly wounded Shirou and Saber facing down Berserker, a mythological hero who comes back to life the first twelve times he is killed, and cannot be killed twice in the same fashion. Shirou is on his last legs, Rin is trapped and badly wounded, and Berserker still has five lives left after having lost six to Archer and one to Rin, and Saber is badly wounded and without enough mana to perform her signature [[spoiler:[[WaveMotionSword Excalibur]]]] attack. Berserker charges... and Shirou forces himself able to magically create a copy of the magic sword he had been dreaming about throughout the route, recalling Archer's cryptic advice and parting words. The sword, which has up to this point only existed as an image in a dream, turns out to be able to take seven of Berserker's lives in one powerful WaveMotionSword attack when Saber jumps in to help him use it [[spoiler:as it is a copy of her lost Noble Phantasm, Caliburn]]. Granted, it ''had'' been established that Berserker could lose multiple lives to a sufficiently powerful attack [[spoiler:and Excalibur could have done the job itself if Saber had enough mana to pull it off]] and Shirou's ability to recreate the sword had been teased at throughout the route before that point, but it comes off as ''very'' convenient regardless.