History Main / VictoriousLoser

* The Doolittle Raid didn't achieve any of its strategic objectives and not all planes could be recovered. However it scared the crap out of the Japanese. This fear lead to Admiral Yamamoto being pressured to take Midway island quickly and secure Japan's defensive perimeter. This battle would end with all of Yamamoto's carrier's being destroyed and the Japanese war machine being stopped in its tracks.

Contrast PyrrhicVictory. Compare SilentScapegoat.

%%ZCE * Misawa the {{Ronin}} in ''Film/AfterTheRain'' is the embodiment of this trope.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]] VS [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Discord]] end this way. [[spoiler:Even though Bill won the fight by crushing Discord's soul, the draconequus still got one over on the demonic triangle by [[SealedEvilInACan trapping both of them to the Nightmare Realm]], thereby [[HeroicSacrifice stopping Weirdmageddon in Equestria and saving Fluttershy and the others]]. While Bill attempts to subvert Discord's sacrifice by [[DealWithTheDevil making a deal]] with [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer]], nobody buys into it since Wiz, Boomstick and everyone watching are well aware of [[GrandTheftMe what that entails]] (which Wiz unwittingly demonstrated in the pre-fight rundown). What's more, as Discord is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of chaos and disharmony, he'll just come back [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil as long as his namesake exists]], meaning [[DisneyDeath his death is unlikely to stick]]. In short, [[MeaninglessVillainVictory Bill won the fight, but Discord succeeded where it truly mattered]].]]

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Bill Cipher]] VS [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Discord]] end this way. [[spoiler:Even though Bill won the fight by crushing Discord's soul, the draconequus still got one over on the demonic triangle by [[SealedEvilInACan transporting both of them to the Nightmare Realm]], thereby [[HeroicSacrifice stopping Weirdmageddon in Equestria and saving Fluttershy and the others]]. While Bill attempts to subvert Discord's sacrifice by [[DealWithTheDevil making a deal]] with [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer]], nobody buys into it since Wiz, Boomstick and everyone watching are well aware of [[GrandTheftMe what that entails]] (which Wiz unwittingly demonstrated in the pre-fight rundown). What's more, as Discord is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of chaos and disharmony, he'll just come back [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil as long as his namesake exists]], meaning [[DisneyDeath his death is unlikely to stick]]. In short, [[MeaninglessVillainVictory Bill won the fight, but Discord succeeded where it truly mattered]].]]

* This is how things end for the Resistance in ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/TheLastJedi''. Yes, they lost their base, their entire fleet, countless lives, the majority of their pilots, and [[spoiler: their most powerful ally in Luke Skywalker]] at the hands of the First Order. Yes, an organization that was once spread across three capital ships can now comfortably fit on the ''Falcon''. But they inflicted heavy losses on the First Order as well, most importantly their two most dangerous Star Destroyers, [[spoiler: an experienced stormtrooper captain, and even Snoke himself]]. [[spoiler: Luke publically embarrassed Kylo Ren and prevented the new Supreme Leader from finishing off the Resistance once and for all, likely causing him to lose a great deal of respect among his nominal subordinates and sowing dissent in their ranks]]. And most importantly, as the coda shows, the story of their heroism is [[YouCannotKillAnIdea spreading across the galaxy, inspiring countless people to rise up against oppression, and start to believe again that the First Order can be beaten.]]

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'': Tom Sawyer when he voluntarily [[TakingTheHeat takes the blame]] for a misdeed Becky Thatcher comitted and got the most savage flaying Mr. Dobbins had ever administered.

* In one of the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' books (Literature/HowILearnedToFly), Jack Johnson gains the ability to fly by reading a how-to book and creating a flying potion. He hopes to use this ability to finally beat his rival, Wilson, at something. Unfortunately, Wilson finds the book as well and challenges him to a race. Rather than use his flight to win, Jack pretends he lost the ability to fly. Wilson wins the race handily, but becomes a celebrity, and is closely followed by both the paparazzi and the government. Meanwhile, everyone else loses interest in Jack, so he's left alone and can fly unharassed at night, which is really all he wanted anyway. For bonus points, he gets the girl they both wanted, while his rival has to move out of town to dodge the paparazzi and can't even have that.

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* Inverted in ''Film/SevenSamurai'' for the samurai who may have won the battle and their reason for going to the village but don't gain anything for themselves. As Kambei points out the townspeople are prospering and planting while singing and nothing but cold graves or hunger and the road await the samurai. Saved from being a DownerEnding by Kambei's wise outlook and the [[RatedMForManly amazing heroism]] of [[TheMagnificentSevenSamurai the seven.]]

* When Manga/{{Naruto}} had to fight ArrogantKungFuGuy JerkAss Neji and was uncharacteristically depressed, feeling he didn't have a chance, FanOfUnderdog Hinata managed to give him his confidence back by telling him that what inspired her most about him was his ability to laugh in the face of his worst failures and keep on going. Her biggest compliment for him was that, to her, he was "a proud loser".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' [[spoiler:has Lightning [=McQueen=] stop just before the finish line on the final lap in the tiebreaker race at the end of the film after Chick Hicks wrecked Strip Weathers. While Hicks wins the race due to Lightning's reaction, the former is booed upon receiving the Piston Cup and passed over as the Dinoco sponsor car. Lightning, on the other hand, pushes Strips across the finish line before he himself crosses and is offered the spot of Dinoco's sponsor, which he and Hicks were both aiming for.]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler: ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'' shows that Hicks got his own talk show which he often uses as an outlet to attack Lightning, meaning even after losing any popularity, he didn't learn a thing.]]

* In ''Fanfic/FriendlyForeignExchangeStudentSpiderMan'', this applies to [[spoiler:Bakugo, [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers even though he's doesn't see it]]. Despite suffering a rather huge PrideBeforeAFall from a CurbStompBattle caused by [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Peter]] in their climactic battle in the finale of the U.A. Sports Festival, all the latter did was proved the harsh words from the explosive teen beforehand to be correct (e.g. [[TheSocialDarwinist Real Heroes never lose and those who do are regarded as no more than trash]]), which causes Peter to suffer a lingering HeroicBSOD for an entire story arc soon after and realizing that [[SecretlySelfish he was never as altruistic]] or "[[AmbiguousDisorder sane]]" as he thought since his "death" in ''Infinity War''.]]

** Subhash Chandra Bose is a highly controversial figure in Indian history, who was initially a popular leader of the Indian National Congress, and someone who wanted to put forth socialist policies to erode India's caste system and introduce gender equality, and he advocated building a national army to militarily liberate India, policies which made him unpopular with the liberal reformist Congress and the likes of Gandhi and Nehru who advocated "non-violent resistance". Frustrated at his inability, Bose turned to seeking foreign support from USSR initially, and then, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan by invoking EnemyMine against the English during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, a policy that went nowhere until his death by plane crash[[note]]Which Indian UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory buffs have long seen as evidence of either British or Congress perfidy though historians insist that he really did die by plane crash[[/note]]. Bose's Azad Hind Fauz (Free India Army) was the first army of Indians, by Indians, with desegregated caste, religious and gender lines (which made him distinctly ''un''like his allies) and while it was a force too small to serve decisively, and was unpopular with the much larger contingent of Indians serving with UsefulNotes/KiplingsFinest, India's army formed after independence resembles Bose's army more than the English.

* This is how things end for the Resistance in ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/TheLastJedi''. Yes, they lost their base, their entire fleet, countless lives, the majority of their pilots, and [[spoiler: their most powerful ally in Luke Skywalker]] at the hands of the First Order. Yes, an organization that was once spread across three capital ships can now comfortably fit on the ''Falcon''. But they inflicted heavy losses on the First Order as well, most importantly their two most dangerous Star Destroyers, [[spoiler: an experienced stormtrooper captain, and even Snoke himself]]. [[spoiler: Luke publically embarrassed Kylo Ren and prevented the new Supreme Leader from finishing off the Resistance once and for all, likely causing him to lose a great deal of respect among his nominal subordinates and sewing dissent in their ranks]]. And most importantly, as the coda shows, the story of their heroism is [[YouCannotKillAnIdea spreading across the galaxy, inspiring countless people to rise up against oppression, and start to believe again that the First Order can be beaten.]]

'''Contains Spoilers!'''

This may be the outcome of the {{Nerd}}y heroes who endured bullies from the JerkJock or AlphaBitch and eventually came out on top.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a scene where Luffy and Zoro are jeered and humiliated for their desire to go to the island in the sky (and for their seemingly undeserved bounties) but the two refuse to fight back. Zoro later tells Nami that if they had fought back they'd have later regretted lowering themselves to their level. Of course when the pirates later [[ThisIsUnforgivable attack their]] [[ItsPersonal new friend...]]

* ''Anime/YugiOhGX'': Shou might've lost his duel against his brother in season two, but he proved he had a stronger grip on the respectful dueling concept than Ryou did in doing so. He proved that unlike his brother, he wasn't willing to abandon the respect concept just for the sake of victory.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a scene where Luffy and Zoro are jeered and humiliated for their desire to go to the island in the sky (and for their seemingly undeserved bounties) but the two refuse to fight back. Zoro later tells Nami that if they had fought back they'd have later regretted lowering themselves to their level. Of course when the pirates later attack their new friend...

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has a scene where Luffy and Zoro are jeered and humiliated for their desire to go to the island in the sky (and for their seemingly undeserved bounties) but the two refuse to fight back. Zoro later tells Nami that if they had fought back they'd have later regretted lowering themselves to their level. Of course when the pirates later [[BerserkButton attack their new friend...]]

* In UsefuLNotes/{{India}}, direct rebellions against UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire often met with failure but they nonetheless provoked major changes and upheavals, ultimately achieving its goal.

** This was actually how UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi's protest strategies and tactics worked. The goal of the protest was not as important as the scale, symbolic meaning and visibility of the movement, and its capacity to provoke DisproportionateRetribution from the English to put it down. Winning wasn't important as much as glorious defeat, and Gandhi measured the success of protests by the jails it filled up, the press it generated and the way it embarrassed the English, rather than its direct efficacy.
* The Suez Crisis had Egypt in this position. Their military was defeated by the French, British and Israelians in the Suez Canal; however, they had gained political goodwill of the world, who saw them as victims of imperialist aggression. Especially prominent were the US and the USSR taking Egypt's side, where President Eisenhower condemned the invasion as a reckless act that could get NATO dragged into a costly war, while Kruschev threatened to deploy nukes in the Middle East. This also turned Nasser into a hero for Third World nations overnight.

This is the character who we'd like to call a Victorious Loser. He may have lost on the outside, but on the inside, he is victorious, and he knows it. Maybe his personality and conviction remains intact despite going through the conga lines of [[HumiliationConga humiliation]] or [[TraumaCongaLine trauma]], or maybe the losses he suffers have no long-term bearing on his life, and he can go on living the way he does. Perhaps he realizes that the things on the outside don't matter as much as what's inside, or perhaps there is a greater good to be achieved by taking the loss as it is. It's even possible that he fears that achieving victory comes at the cost of his personality or mentality, and he wants to preserve them both, or perhaps [[DoomedMoralVictor despite his death, his philosophies will prevail]], so while he might be on the backfoot (or dead) at first, he will ultimately be the one who has the last laugh, as those who ridicule him would end up miserable, or unable to achieve their goal.