History Main / ThoseWereOnlyTheirScouts

* ''Fanfic/EventHorizonStormOfMagic'': Applies to the Company's colonies in relation to the lands they're located in. At one point, Fred boasts to the Small Council that their little colony has a higher GDP and industrial output than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms combined.
* ''FanFic/PurpleDays'': The horrifying truth of the First War for Dawn.
* ''Fanfic/ServantsOfRemnant'': In "Released to Remnant", Artoria Pendragon battles a Goliath Grimm and destroys it after a bit of struggle. While she is catching her breath, a herd of Goliaths approach her, so she decides to escape.

** Played very straight during the Sabaody arc when it takes the full might of the Straw Hats crew to take down Bartolomew Kuma... Before it's revelead that it wasn't actually Kuma himself, but one of 'many' Pacifistas, mechanical clones of Kuma created by the governement to hunt down pirates. [[FromBadToWorse Oh and also, an admiral is here.]]

* Subverted in the climax of ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheAnimalPlanet'', when Doraemon and gang, with their allies on the animal planet, managed to take down the first wave of Nimuge invaders, including shooting down several units from the Nimuge's FlyingSaucer fleet. The Nimuge commander decides to retaliate by bringing out a ''tank'' to wipe out the whole forest, and the ensuing CurbStompBattle quickly goes in favour of the villains... just as scouts suddenly announce the arrival of a far larger saucer unit in the horizon. When all hope seems lost, [[spoiler:the incoming saucer fleet instead proceeds to extinguish the fire in the forest before dropping reinforcements to help combat the Nimuge, saving everyone in the process. Turns out the second saucer fleet comes from the Galactic Federation and is on the ''side of good'', and they've been investigating the Nimuge for years]].

** DoubleSubverted in ''Anime/MacrossII'': the initial Marduk force is ''immediately'' identified as a scouting force, but when the Marduk later attack in force the hundreds of thousands of the first wave are mistaken for the whole force. Both are {{Justified}}: the initial Marduk squadron is initially mistaken for Zentraedi until they get a good look at them, and by Zentraedi standards less than a hundred ships is a scouting party, and by the time the Marduk attack in force they've been identified as ''not'' Zentraedi, and by non-Zentraedi standards hundreds of thousands of ships are an enormous number.

* The intro to the ''Alien Crossfire'' ExpansionPack to ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' shows two Progenitor ships warping into orbit and proceeding to blast each other to bits, with only their {{Escape Pod}}s making it to the planet. The survivors turn out to be equal to the long-established human colonies. The aliens have an additional victory type, requiring them to build a SubspaceAnsible, after which a ''massive'' armada warps into orbit and starts to descend. Understandably, the game ends at that point.

* In the episode "Savage Time", the WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague appears in World War II. The immortal villain Vandal Savage had sent to himself information from the future, that allowed to build an armored vehicle, tall as a building, indestructible and filled with weapons. Normal tanks have no chance against it. Even the Justice League has a hard time destroying it. When several more show up, the League retreats with the rest of the army.

* In the first episode of ''Anime/RoninWarriors'', the heroes work together and managed to beat the enemy only to learn it was a foot soldier in the [[EvilOverlord evil overlord's]] army.

* ''Anime/{{Beyblade}}'': The Blade Breakers are taking on the All-Starz in America. Tyson and Ray easily take down two gimmicky bladers. Then Max's mom reveals that those two bladers were some of their weakest, and the purpose of the battle was to gather data.

* ''ComicBook/UltronUnlimited'' After destroying a whole country, Ultron fights against all of the Avengers (except those he had captured). After a long fight, they manage to destroy Ultron-7. Then, suddenly, Ultron-8 shows up. Iron Man is not sure if they can repeat all the fight again... which disappoints Ultron-23. 23? [[TemptingFate How many of them are there?]] That's a very good question, says Ultron-647.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': We have seen how deadly the Heather Douglas clone can be. What about an army of them?

** In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', New York is invaded by several aliens, and a flying creature that seems immune to missiles, laser beams, repulsor beams, it's all useless. Nobody can stop that thing... except a lone guy [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk who is always angry]]. The creature is destroyed, but Loki simply summons more like them from the portal. And even those are still a fraction of the army on the other side of the portal.

* How the climax of ''Film/MagnificentWarriors'' ends; the Kaal militia, despite being outnumbered and armed with crude weapons, managed to take down a larger and stronger Japanese army armed with cannons and trucks [[RockBeatsLaser using guerilla tactics, bows and arrows, and assorted crude weapons]]. The Japanese commander who's the SoleSurvivor of the first unit then reveals there's a ''second'' invasion force on the way, far larger than the first and have ''tanks'' in them. Ultimately the Kaal citizens simply [[FailureGambit burns their whole town to the ground while allowing the Commander to return to his army and report that they destroyed themselves and the first invading force in a kamikaze attack]].

* ''ComicBook/AdjectivelessXMen:'' Done with the introductory arc of the Children of the Vault, when they attack the X-Mansion. Their leader, Sangre, points out how stupid it would be to send ''all'' their forces to obliterate what they see as a minor nuisance. The handful the X-Men are facing are just scouts. [[spoiler:The bulk of the Children are hiding out in Ecuador.]]

** The Burning Legion, while dangerous, has been driven off multiple times by the forces of Azeroth, even killing most of its highest ranking commanders. The ''Legion'' expansion aptly demonstrates how little that matters. Not only has Azeroth only ever faced a tiny fraction of the Legion's forces, but none of those commanders were permanently killed. And now Azeroth is apparently the ''last'' world left to be conquered so the Burning Legion is focusing all of its forces on them.

--->'''Illidan''': Our eyes... deceive us. The army that marches on Azeroth is but a whisper of the Legion's true strength. Beyond this army is another... and another... and another... Even if we defeat them here, it will mean nothing. We are doomed... unless we find another way to fight them. And I will find that way.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': After Nero defeats the demon Bael, Bael boasts that he is just the first of many and his brothers will avenge him. Nero looks up at a portal to Hell and sees an army of demons that look just like Bael approaching from the other side. Nero closes the portal in time and Bael's brothers are later killed, and the portal destroyed, by Dante.

* At the start of the ''War of the Underworld'' arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Alice, an Integrity Knight, repels a Dark Territory invasion in her home village of Rulid, but is painfully aware that this is only a fraction of the massive invasion force that is about to attack the human realm.

* ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'', owing to being a {{Frankenslation}} of ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' and two other series, inherits the Zentraedi example, but the original material in the unfinished Sentinel series provides one of the most chilling examples during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLzlwR2z4yE the Invid's attack on Tirol's capital]], where the fixed defenses and the Bioroid manage to stalemate a horde... Of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Invid Scouts]], before they're reinforced by ''[[ZergRush six hundred]]'' [[EliteMooks Shock Troopers]]. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], this entire force are ''all'' the vanguard sent in to probe the defenses, the actual first wave hasn't arrived yet.

** During the ClassTrip to Widow's Crypt, Arthur discovers the slaughtered remains of a team of soldiers [[spoiler: led by the Lance [[GreenThumb Alea Triscan]], who as a Lance is supposed to be among the strongest mages in Dicathen. Before she dies, Alea imparts onto Arthur a vision of what killed her and her team, that of a black-horned demon. As Arthur finds out once the war starts, this demon is a Vritra Retainer named Uto, meaning he is only among the lower end of the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. Despite this placement on the hierarchy, when he and Arthur do clash, he is able to stymie Arthur (who at this point has trained with the Asuras for years and has now succeeded Alea as a Lance) and his draconic bond Sylvie and even manages to shatter the Asuran-made sword Arthur has been wielding since his youth. The only reason Arthur and Sylvie make it out of the encounter alive is because Uto is finished off by the Scythe Seris Vritra (the Scythes are higher up in the hierarchy than the Retainers), who has taken an interest in Arthur to let him live]].

-->'''Arthur''': [[spoiler:Taci]] was just the beginning, Bairon. [[spoiler:The gods themselves]] are our enemies now. And...whatever you all think, I can't fight them all alone.

''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'':
** During the ClassTrip to Widow's Crypt, Arthur discovers the slaughtered remains of a team of soldiers [[spoiler: led by the Lance [[GreenThumb Alea Triscan]], who as a Lance is supposed to be among the strongest mages in Dicathen. Before she dies, Alea imparts onto Arthur a vision of what killed her and her team, that of a black-horned demon. As Arthur finds out once the war starts, this demon is a Vritra Retainer named Uto, meaning he is only among the lower end of the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil. Despite this placement on the hierarchy, when he and Arthur do clash, he is able to stymie Arthur and his draconic bond Sylvie (who at this point has trained with the Asuras for years and has now succeeded Alea as a Lance) and even manages to shatter the Asuran-made sword Arthur has been wielding since his youth. The only reason Arthur and Sylvie make it out of the encounter alive is because Uto is finished off by the Scythe Seris Vritra (who as a Scythe are highter up in the hierarchy than the Retainers), who has taken an interest in Arthur to let him live]].

* In the climax of Volume 9 of ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'', [[spoiler:after [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness deeming his alliance with the Dicathian Resistance as a failure]], [[GodIsEvil Kezess]] sends an lone Asura to the Djinn sanctuary they are taking refuge in to exterminate them all. The Asura in question, Taci, is merely a boy by Asuran standards, having trained alongside Arthur during his time in Epheotus and who has volunteered to carry out the deed as a rite of passage. Despite being young for an Asura, he is able to overpower the remaining Lances (who are only able to be there because Aldir - who had been ordered to kill off the Lances separately - disobeyed Kezess by sending them to the sanctuary to intercept Taci), in the process [[EyeScream blinding]] [[GravityMaster Mica]] in her left eye, [[AnArmAndALeg cutting off]] [[AnIcePerson Varay's]] left arm, and forcing [[CastingAShadow Aya]] to overexert her mana core to create illusions strong enough to trick him into thinking he killed them, [[HeroicRROD causing her to die in the process]] (to say nothing of all the other casualties he caused during his rampage). He is only ultimately stopped by Arthur after he returns from Alacrya, and he ends up having to take Taci into the Relictombs just so that their fight won't bring the sanctuary crashing down on everyone. As Arthur somberly notes in the aftermath, if an Asura as lowly as Taci could cause that much devastation, then the war against the Asuras is going to be an extremely difficult one for him and his allies]].
-->'''Arthur Leywin''': [[spoiler:Taci]] was just the beginning, Bairon. [[spoiler:The gods themselves]] are our enemies now. And...whatever you all think, I can't fight them all alone.

* In the climax of Volume 9 of ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'', [[spoiler:after the Dicathian Resistance refuses a set of magical artifacts from him that would enslave them to his will and thus [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness deeming their alliance as a failure]], [[GodIsEvil Kezess]] sends an lone Asura to the Djinn Sanctuary they are taking refuge in to exterminate them all. The Asura in question, Taci, is merely a boy by Asuran standards, having trained alongside Arthur during his time in Epheotus and who has volunteered to carry out the deed as a rite of passage. Despite being young for an Asura, he is able to overpower the remaining Lances (who are only able to be there because Aldir - who had been ordered to kill the Lances off separately - disobeyed Kezess by sending them to the Sanctuary to intercept Taci), in the process [[EyeScream blinding]] [[GravityMaster Mica]] in her left eye, [[AnArmAndALeg cutting off]] [[AnIcePerson Varay's]] left arm, and forcing [[CastingAShadow Aya]] to overexert her mana core to create illusions strong enough to trick him into thinking he killed them, [[HeroicRROD causing her to die in the process]] (to say nothing of all the other casualties he caused during his rampage). He is only ultimately stopped by Arthur after he returns from Alacrya, and he ends up having to take Taci into the Relictombs so that their fight won't bring the Sanctuary crashing down on everyone. As Arthur somberly notes in the aftermath, if an Asura as lowly as Taci could cause that much devastation, then the whole war against the Asuras is going to be an extremely difficult one for him and his allies]].

::After the battle, Gandalf even agrees that defeating Sauron through strength of arms was never an option. But he doesn't despair, because his (and Aragorn's) plan all along was to have Frodo destroy the One Ring, the source of Sauron's power. So all the battles are intended to [[WeNeedADistraction distract Sauron]] long enough for Frodo to complete his quest.
-->"Hardly has our strength sufficed to beat off the first great assault. The next will be greater."