History Main / VillainExitStageLeft

* In ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'', Jade Fox is almost killed by Li Mu Bai, but escapes the legendary warrior - who is capable of {{Roofhopping}} to the point of flight - by jumping over a wall. And he just lets her get away.

* Skeletor in ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' frequently teleports away to safety whenever his schemes fail, or sometimes onto a conveniently placed vehicle.

* Subverted in the ''{{V}}'' regular TV series, which begins right at the moment ''V: The Final Battle'' ended where Diana made her escape. Donovan immediately realizes that she's getting away, chases her and catches her right away.
* Every episode of ''LazyTown''. They don't even put Robbie Rotten in a CardboardPrison. Or even have any police force (no wonder they need a superhero!) Granted, in a town with four adults and five kids as the total population, it doesn't seem like they could spare the manpower to guard him...

* By the time the final stage of ''VideoGame/{{RefleX}}'' rolls around, with most of the Raiwat's ZODIAC units destroyed, the Raiwat army is retreating, leaving the final ZODIAC, Libra, to duke it out with the Phoenix / ZODIAC Ophiuchus [[MeleeATrois and]] two VideoGame/{{Kamui}} units.

* Giacomo, the one-man QuirkyMinibossSquad from ''Videogame/BatenKaitosOrigins'' fights you three times, and twice he flees. The third time Sagi leaves his unconscious body where it fell, admitting that he envies him for his determination. Naturally, this becomes a serious case of NiceJobBreakingItHero when you [[BioAugmentation consider]] [[CompleteMonster what]] [[TookALevelInBadAss he]] [[FromNobodyToNightmare became]] [[BigBad in]] [[VideoGame/BatenKaitosEternalWingsAndTheLostOcean the sequel]].

* In one of the [[MultipleEndings four endings]] (the canon one) of the last episode (#100) of the Web video ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', [[spoiler:the red team let the blue team go without trying to kill them, because they've had enough for one day.]]

*** Well, they don't want to put themselves out of a job, after all!

* Perhaps the most frequent use of this trope was in the cartoon segments of the ''SuperMarioBrosSuperShow''. After Bowser's latest plot is foiled, he would often have an exit (usually a "warp zone potion") that would allow him to duck out just before the heroes can fully defeat him. Except for one episode, this was done every time without fail (though to tell the truth, the reason for this was simply because the good guys never thought of simply running after him).

* [[EvilPoacher The Poacher]] from ''VideoGames/JadeCocoon'', who's only role in the story is to provide a mini-boss battle when it would be a good time for a mini-boss battle. Levant lets the guy run away each time he beats him and makes no attempt whatsoever to stop him. Admittedly, it leads to a damned hilarious line after defeating the poacher for the third time:
--> '''Poacher (on the brink of tears):''' A-again...? I can't believe this... You know what, I quit. I'm getting too old for this. See you around, kid."

* Parodied in ''Series/{{Danger 5}}'' when [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] escapes from Danger 5's ATeamFiring via a SuperWindowJump through [[StockFootage the same window every time]] OnceAnEpisode. Our heroes then all look exasperated and never bother to chase him.

* Parodied in ''Series/{{Danger5}}'' when [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] escapes from Danger 5's ATeamFiring via a SuperWindowJump through [[StockFootage the same window every time]] OnceAnEpisode. Our heroes then all look exasperated and never bother to chase him.

* In ''Series/{{Danger5}}'', [[AdolfHitler Hitler]] escapes from Danger 5's ATeamFiring via SuperWindowJump ([[StockFootage the same window every time]]) OnceAnEpisode.

* ''FanFic/JusticeLeagueOfEquestria'': After Rainbow Dash/Supermare destroys his enchanted-to-cut-through-anything sword, {{Deathstroke}} hides from view with a smoke bomb and flees. He comments that [[PsychoForHire he's already been paid]], so there's really no reason for him to have still been there, anyway.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnoftheJoker'', SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker is apparently so used to this trope through the years tangling with Batman that when Terry destroys his KillSat control and sends the ensuing DeathFromAbove heading right towards the Joker's hideout, his only response is:
-->'''Joker:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh, good]], the beam's headed ''here'': Now I'll have to start all over again. Thanks for wrecking everything, kid. See you around...

* ''[[TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim's]]'' has the BigBad Alduin do this [[spoiler: before you can actually kill him if you defeat him on the Throat of the World. He then spends the rest of the game in Sovngarde feasting on souls to make himself strong again. However, this also [[NiceJobFixingItVillain causes a lot of his fellow dragons to desert him]], including his then [[TheDragon second-in-command,Odahviing]] (after you defeat him) who then turns around and helps the player reach the portal to Sovngarde ensuring Aludin's defeat! The reason for the switch in sides?]] [[NoTrueScotsman No true dragon flees from a fight.]]
* In ''AlphaProtocol'', [[spoiler:Conrad Marburg]] attempts this at the end of the [[spoiler:Rome]] mission and [[spoiler:Sergei Surkov]] attempts this at the end of [[spoiler:Moscow]]. Depending on your choices and how you've interacted with them up to that point, they may or may not get away. [[spoiler:Marburg, if he escapes, can later be convinced to say ScrewThisImOuttaHere and wash his hands off the whole affair.]]