| 1 | [[quoteright:349:[[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captain-america-thanos-infinity-gauntlet_6235.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:349:"I've lived my life by those sentiments.\ |
| 3 | They're well worth dying for."]] |
| 4 | |
| 5 | ->''When you fall, my friend,\ |
| 6 | Another friend will emerge\ |
| 7 | From the shadows\ |
| 8 | To take your place.'' |
| 9 | -->-- [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII French]] [[LaResistance Resistance]] Song |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Our Hero and the BigBad have finally come to blows. A titanic battle erupts, and when the smoke clears... well, the BigBad has won. Instead of killing Our Hero, though, the BigBad takes them hostage, and drags their broken body out for all the regular people to see. The villain assumes, of course, that seeing their champion broken will lead all the non-heroic civilians to automatically surrender. And for a second, [[DarkestHour it seems like it will.]] |
| 12 | |
| 13 | ... but there is one person who refuses to lie down and accept defeat, even with the hero down for the count. They'll step forward, even if they're no match for the villain, and say something to the effect of "As long as one person is left to oppose you, you'll never win." The other civilians, inspired by this person's bravery, also rise up in defiance of the villain. Usually in the process of the revolt, the hero recovers, and once again rises to challenge the villain. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Usually a hero's chances of this happening increase when they've [[TrainingThePeacefulVillagers trained the peaceful villagers]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This is often the result of EvilCannotComprehendGood. The villain underestimated the effect the hero had on the people around him and it ultimately comes back to bite him when they don't. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | See also: IAmSpartacus, HopeSpringsEternal, YouCannotKillAnIdea, RightMakesMight, and DoomedMoralVictor. Compare SedgwickSpeech, InspirationalMartyr and MugglePower. Contrast and compare AsLongAsThereIsEvil, EvilWillFail and EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Not to be confused with the literal scenario in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' -- see {{Gendercide}} for that. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | ---- |
| 24 | !!Examples: |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 29 | * In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', that is the basis for the ideal held by Kagaya Ubuyashiki, lord of the Demon Slayer Corps, and accepted by all of those who respect his wishes within the Corps. Humans are frail against the mighty demons, but we are determined beings as Kagaya puts it, no matter how many slayers fall in battle the combined will of their hope for demonkind's downfall has endured for centuries, strengthening the following generation of slayers to pick up from where the previous one left off. [[spoiler:Said verbatim by Kagaya in his only and final meeting with Muzan Kibutsuji, the demon king, as the sickly leader of the demon slayer corps lured him to be entrapped by a massive explosion, a suicide attack by Kagaya and most of his family]]. |
| 30 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 31 | ** In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Master Roshi fails to seal Demon King Piccolo with the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Evil Containment Wave]], costing his life. However, with his last breath, Roshi swears someday someone will defeat Piccolo. |
| 32 | --->'''Master Roshi:''' But don't... think... you're safe yet, Piccolo. Someday... someone will take my place... and be strong enough... to rid the world of you. This, I truly believe- (''collapses, and dies'') |
| 33 | ** In the English dub of the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' special, ''[[Anime/DragonBallZTheHistoryOfTrunks History of Trunks]]'', Future Gohan says this about Trunks to the Androids: |
| 34 | --->'''Future Gohan:''' "You know you can't win! You can't destroy what I really am! Even if you manage to kill this body, someone even stronger would surface and take my place! Not one death will go unaccounted for, not one!" |
| 35 | * Notably [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] but also PlayedForLaughs in ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa''. In the episode Escar-Gone, a demon beast that Dedede ordered named Erasum goes inside anyone and forces everyone to forget their existence. The monster goes inside Escargoon and everyone in Cappy Town immediately starts to forget him. The snail grows more and more desperate to try and find at least one guy who remembers him until he bumps into Kirby. And him constantly saying 'poyo' makes Escargoon think that he does remember him. But it's possible that even Kirby has forgotten who he is and it's because he is [[IncorruptiblePurePureness just in his nature by being nice to anyone]] who gets in his way. |
| 36 | * In ''Manga/OnePiece'', after Boa Hancock [[TakenForGranite petrifies]] Vice Admiral Momonga's crew (except for Momonga who avoids that fate by stabbing himself to distract himself from her beauty), she mockingly remarks that his crew is now down to one. He replies that "one" is not the same as none. Of course, as a Vice Admiral, he's easily stronger than his entire crew. |
| 37 | ** [[spoiler:During the Egghead arc, it's revealed that Luffy's fruit, the Gum-Gum Fruit - or rather, the Human-Human Fruit Model: Nika, is effectively this. Devil Fruits are "made" from people's dreams, according to Vegapunk's theory - and as Nika is the god of SlaveLiberation and freedom, among other things, Vegapunk claims that the Fruit, and thus Nika, will never stop returning as long as life dreams of freedom and liberation.]] |
| 38 | * This trope appears by implication in the [[GeckoEnding anime ending]] of ''Manga/SoulEater''. [[spoiler:Maka defeats the Kishin (the embodiment of fear-induced madness)]] with courage. When the villain screams about how [[ThisCannotBe something as common as courage is worthless]], the hero claims that's the point--it's ''not'' special. Which means everybody has it. |
| 39 | -->'''[[spoiler:The Kishin]]:''' Everybody, huh? So it's just like madness, then. |
| 40 | * Something like this happens in ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''. Mega tries to crush Ginrai between an asteroid and a tower, but then a little girl who Ginrai saved throws a rock at her. This inspires all the other kids to throw rocks, which pretty much defeats her. |
| 41 | * In Yuma's epic battle with III in the first season of ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'', Yuma invokes a variation of this trope at one point of the duel, after recovering from the DespairEventHorizon that III's curse had inflicted on him. He's taking a serious beating, Astral is apparently dead, and he's down to 400 Life Points... And he responds to III's EvilGloating by telling him that even if he had just ''one'' Life Point left, he'd keep fighting him. [[spoiler: And despite the fact that the situation got even ''worse'' from that point, his attitude paid off]]. |
| 42 | [[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 45 | * ComicBook/CaptainAmerica does this to GalacticConqueror ComicBook/{{Thanos}} during ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' [[CrisisCrossover crossover]]. Subverted in that the hero's defiant stand, along with his defeated team's futile assault, were unknowingly all part of an [[BatmanGambit elaborate plan]] by Adam Warlock to elicit the villain's true defeat by exploiting his AchillesHeel. |
| 46 | ** Captain America had a habit of doing these speeches only to get stomped into the ground. He also did it in ''Avengers: Under Siege'' and the original Korvac Saga, possibly a few other times. |
| 47 | ** A straighter example happened with him sometime later after [[KnightTemplar Korvac]] got hold of the Cosmic Cube. Korvac could have put the Captain under his power too, but left him free to demonstrate the impossibility of opposition. Cap repeatedly proves him wrong before the ResetButton each time, occasionally with things as small as protest t-shirts. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 51 | * In the ''Fanfic/{{Dangerverse}}'', Remus uses this trope to tell Voldemort why it is pointless to kill Remus and his wife: |
| 52 | --> '''Remus: '''And we can never truly die, she and I. You see, we have four children. The ones they love make eight. The ones they've trained make dozens. And the ones they'll teach make hundreds, thousands, even millions. As long as any one of them lives, so will we. And you can kill, and kill, and kill, but you will never kill us all. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 56 | * ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'': The entire world has lost belief in guardians except for Jamie, and that's all they needed to make a comeback. |
| 57 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' parodies this sentiment with the song "LaResistance", as the song gradually turns into GoYeHeroesGoAndDie, and Stan, Kyle and Cartman find it increasingly uninspiring. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 61 | * In the climax of ''Film/OOODenOAllRidersLetsGoKamenRiders'', the film celebrating 40 years of the ''Franchise/KamenRider'' metaseries, [[Series/KamenRiderOOO OOO, Ankh]] and [[Series/KamenRiderDenO New Den-O]] are captured by Shocker and are planning to execute them in front of a large live audience. The [[TagalongKid Rider Scouts]], with the help of the [[Series/KamenRider Double Riders]], arrive to rally the people into rebelling against Shocker and help in freeing the captive Riders. But even having four Riders aren't enough to match against Shocker's forces. Cue BigDamnHeroes when ''all'' the Riders appear, heralded by the Owner of the [=DenLiner=], who states that, even if Shocker has changed history, the Riders will never be gone as long the sense of justice remains in the people's hearts. |
| 62 | * Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: |
| 63 | ** In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', when Loki attacks Stuttgart, Germany, and orders the people to bow to him, one elderly German (old enough to have either lived through World War II or been born soon after) refuses and proclaims that there will always be people who will stand up to petty tyrants like him. Loki gets ready to fry the old man when [[BigDamnHeroes Captain America arrives.]] |
| 64 | ** This is one of the meanings behind HYDRA's BadassCreed, "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place!" ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' proves this true when [[spoiler:Zola]], the last member of HYDRA, rebuilds the organization [[spoiler:within S.H.I.E.L.D. itself]]. |
| 65 | ** Discussed in the same movie as a sentiment expressed in the past by Nick Fury, which was [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint misinterpreted]] by a treacherous former ally as a call to bring the world under the totalitarian control of one man. |
| 66 | ** In a massive case of ShowDontTell, ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' visually homages this by [[spoiler:the TropeNamer himself, Captain America, buckling up his (then-freshly broken) vibranium shield, alone out of all the Avengers currently out of commission, to face the oncoming hordes of Thanos. At least until [[BackFromTheDead a familiar portal]] [[TheCavalry pops up]]]]... |
| 67 | * ''Film/MichaelCollins'' This trope is repeatedly mentioned. When you're doing a movie about a revolution, you want to do this. |
| 68 | * ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd''. Will Turner says (with a nod to Jack Sparrow) that, "No cause is lost as long as there is one fool left to fight for it." |
| 69 | * In ''Film/ThePostman'', General Bethlehem is about to execute two of the Postal Carriers when he realizes their example will just make things go on: |
| 70 | -->'''Ford:''' Who are you?\ |
| 71 | '''Californian Carrier:''' Name's Clark. Postal Carrier of the restored Republic of California. Who are you?\ |
| 72 | '''Ford:''' Postmaster Ford Lincoln Mercury.\ |
| 73 | '''Californian Carrier:''' ''[takes off his cap, shake hands]'' It's an honor, Sir.\ |
| 74 | '''Bethlehem:''' Wait a minute... wait a minute! You don't know each other? '''[[YouCannotKillAnIdea This will never be over.]] It'll go on except I'll be fighting a goddamn ghost.''' |
| 75 | * The ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' movies: |
| 76 | ** The first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' plays it straight. Green Goblin is attacking Spidey while he's trying to save Mary Jane and a tram full of schoolkids from falling into the East River. Just when it looks like Goblin is about to go in for a killing blow, [[BrooklynRage he starts getting pelted with random objects by angry New Yorkers standing on the Queensboro Bridge. The New Yorkers scream profanities at the villain]], one says "C'mon, you're gonna attack a guy who's trying to save a bunch of kids?!", and then one New Yorker declares to Goblin: [[IAmSpartacus "You mess wit' one of us, you mess wit' ALL of us!"]] This was reportedly placed in specifically in the aftermath of September 11th as a ShoutOut to the similar sentiment that real-world New Yorkers had taken after the attacks. |
| 77 | ** It was then subverted in ''Film/SpiderMan2'': Peter is greatly exhausted after stopping a speeding train form careening off its tracks to certain doom, and he is too weakened to defend himself when Doc Ock appears to capture him. The passengers of the train all step forward, stating that he'll have to go through every one of them to get to Spider-Man. Ock gives a snide "Very well" and knocks all of the passengers aside with one fell swoop and captures Spider-Man anyway. |
| 78 | * ''Film/TrainingDay'': The final showdown scene between Jake and Alonzo is somewhat similar to this. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 82 | * Subverted in ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]''. "If you are a man, Winston, you are the last man." |
| 83 | ** These may or may not have been lies designed to demoralize Winston and facilitate his brainwashing but still relevant even if they were, since the bad guys think it's important members of the resistance feel alone, isolated and the last of their kind. |
| 84 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' Visser One notes that unlike Yeerks, humans will continue fighting even when it's completely illogical. This is her main argument for continuing her secret invasion of the planet as opposed to Visser Three's plan for all-out war. (Although she has other reasons.) She turns out to be totally right, the eventual full assault is a disaster. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'': In ''Lord Foul's Bane'' this is the Lords' comfort in the final battle. As long as there is one soul who ''remembers'' the beauty of the Land evil has not triumphed. Considering the nature of the books this is pervasive throughout the series. |
| 86 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 87 | ** ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'': Parodied when Cohen the Barbarian is surrounded by some of the rioting city men. One explains that although Cohen might defeat him, someone else will continue the fight until Cohen is dead. Cohen replies, "Yes, but that isn't the point, is it? The point is, ''you'll'' be dead." Suddenly they all decide not to mess with Cohen after all. |
| 88 | ** Parodied in ''Literature/GuardsGuards''. One brave man stands up to the dragon and is immediately turned into a small pile of charcoal. This, unsurprisingly, does not inspire anyone. Later, TheHero (Lance-Constable Carrot) has to ''prevent'' the mob from kicking the dragon while it's down. |
| 89 | * ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles:'' While such a moment hasn't happened directly in the story, this is discussed in the tenth book ''Literature/SmallFavor'' with Nicodemus Archleon. Nicodemus is nearly two thousand years old and has been partners with a FallenAngel in his head thanks to finding one of thirty silver denarii which house a Fallen. He has been trying to destroy the world but is stopped regularly by the Knights of the Cross[[note]]Each one carries on their person a Sword with a Nail that Crucified Jesus in its hilt. Each one is an incredibly powerful item[[/note]] and other good people who stand up to him. In ''Literature/SmallFavor'' Nicodemus is at the closest he's been to bringing forth an Apocalypse by [[spoiler:having captured the Archive, a 10-year old girl and receptacle of all human knowledge ever transcribed, and plans to turn her into a Denarian]]. Harry acknowledges things are bad, but as he notes to one person, Heaven won't stop if they lose this battle. Heaven will keep fighting within the rules. If the Knights fall, others will take up their Swords and continue the fight. Even if there is just one of them, they will keep fighting Nicodemus, as countless others have done for over a thousand years. After all, Nicodemus has never truly won before. There is always at least one more man to rise up. [[spoiler:The person Harry is speaking to is Nicodemus himself and is able to use his fear this plot will fail too in order to agree to a trade for Ivy and the crime boss Marcone in exchange for the Sword of Faith and all the Coins of the Denarians the heroes collected in the book]]. |
| 90 | * ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': [[spoiler:Voldemort has apparently killed Harry (who's faking it, but that's not what's important here), and drags his body out for all the people in Hogwarts still fighting the Death Eaters to see. The fighters seem pretty cowed, until one person steps forward... [[TheSoCalledCoward Neville Longbottom]], who's spent the entire series [[TheWoobie getting mocked, cursed, beaten, battered, and having his parents' misfortune thrown in his face]]. Voldemort [[WeCanRuleTogether offers to let Neville join his army]], and Neville responds, "I'll join you when hell freezes over," followed by a battle cry. Voldemort isn't too impressed, though, and he puts Neville in a Body-Bind Curse and places the Sorting Hat on his head, then sets it on fire. Neville isn't burned by the fire, breaks free of the curse, pulls out Gryffindor's Sword from the hat, and uses it to kill Voldemort's pet snake and final Horcrux, thus rendering him mortal. Then reinforcements come, and it's ''kick Death Eater ass'' time.]] His NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech in the movie is equally awesome: |
| 91 | -->'''[[spoiler:Neville Longbottom]]:''' It doesn't matter that [[spoiler:Harry]]'s gone.\ |
| 92 | '''Seamus Finnigan:''' Stand down, [[spoiler:Neville]]!\ |
| 93 | '''[[spoiler:Neville Longbottom]]:''' People die every day! Friends... Family... Yeah. We lost [[spoiler:Harry]] tonight. But he's still with us! ''[points to his heart]'' In here! So is [[spoiler:Fred]]... [[spoiler:Remus]]... [[spoiler:Tonks]]. All of them. They didn't die in vain! ''[turns towards Voldemort]'' But you will! Because you're wrong! [[spoiler:Harry]]'s heart did beat for us -- For all of us! ''[pulls Gryffindor's Sword out of the Sorting Hat]'' It's not over! |
| 94 | * ''Literature/TheStand'' by Stephen King, looks like it's going this way, but then subverts it. [[spoiler: Near the end, when Flagg is preparing to crucify our heroes, one of his minions stands up and says "This isn't right! We used to be Americans!" We expect a revolt of sorts, but Flagg promptly kills the man, and no one else stands up. Then they're all killed by an unrelated nuclear bomb.]] |
| 95 | ** Well, sort of. [[spoiler: the little ball of lightning Flagg conjures up to kill his minion doesn't go away once the man is dead. Instead, it grows and appears to form what another character sees as the Hand of God, which triggers the bomb. The man Flagg kills doesn't start a revolution, but he does contribute to Flagg's downfall, albeit in a very roundabout way.]] |
| 96 | ** Depending on your interpretation, this was BatmanGambit on the part of God. The whole point of [[spoiler: His sending our heroes to confront Flagg was to ''inspire people like this man to stand up to him'' as well. Sure, he died right after, but from a cosmic standpoint that's irrelevant: he reclaimed his soul before he died.]] |
| 97 | * If the impression that MessianicArchetype Rand gleans in the finale of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' is correct, this is prevalent in the cosmological conflict that underpins the series. The [[SatanicArchetype Dark One]]'s effort to conquer and remake the world is only feasible if he can not only defeat the aforementioned messiah, but also convince ''all'' humans to give up in the face of evil's onslaught (or, failing that, exterminate them), lest one of them take his place. Since resistance to destruction and oppression is endemic to human nature, this makes the Dark One's bid to take over reality essentially futile. |
| 98 | * ''Literature/WindOnFire'': Villainious version in ''The Wind Singer''. The Zars are infinite, mindless, and can only be permanently be killed by activating the titular Wind Singer. Seriously, the have enough to fill a practically bottomless gorge ''with their own dead'' and form a single line from ''Amaranth on the far side of the map all the way through the gigantic plains and everything all the way from the cave !!!'' |
| 99 | [[/folder]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 102 | * ''{{Series/Andromeda}}'' is all about this trope. A person emerges from 300 years of stasis, only to learn that the civilization he served has fallen. So, he decides that AsLongAsThereIsOneMan, and goes out to restore it. |
| 103 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 104 | ** The episode "Into the Fire" , where [[spoiler:the Shadows and Vorlons attempt to break the coalition against them by simply destroying the protagonists' ship: "They will not follow you if you are dead." Two other ships take incoming missiles for them, with the rest ready to follow suit.]] |
| 105 | ** More openly in "Comes the Inquisitor". The questioning of Delenn by the Inquisitor results in [[spoiler:him giving both Delenn and Sheridan a SadisticChoice: to die or to let the other one die. Both are ready to sacrifice themselves and Delenn is so kind to elaborate: "If I fall, another will take my place!"]] |
| 106 | ** Also invoked by one of the Shadows' human agents, towards Sheridan. They would rather convert him to their side than kill him: |
| 107 | --->'''Sheridan:''' Why don't you just kill me?\ |
| 108 | '''Justin:''' Doesn't work. Someone will just come around and replace you. |
| 109 | ** Sheridan later cites this trope when he's captured by [[PresidentEvil President Clark's]] tyrannical government and thrown into a dungeon where they attempt to break him. The interrogator insists that there is no way to fight the system, that it is impossible for individuals or small pockets of people to win against the government. Sheridan responds that as long as one person somewhere is wiling to resist, then maybe it is possible. |
| 110 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': At the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]], the Doctor's companion Bill has this trope in mind when she [[spoiler:[[DealWithTheDevil accepts]] the Monks' offer, which will let them take over Earth, in order to save the Doctor's life. She asks him to save Earth from the Monks.]] |
| 111 | * ''Series/{{House}}'': The Season 1 ArcVillain Edward Vogler uses this as his justification for antagonizing the titular doctor, as he thinks House's flagrant disregard of medical protocol and ethics may lead others to resist Vogler's takeover of the hospital. In a slight bit of {{Irony}}, Vogler's actions to fire House end up inspiring the resistance he feared House himself would inspire. |
| 112 | * An episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' had Shawn screw up an investigation against a deadly Russian mobster when he was recorded illegally searching the office of the mobster for evidence. He spends the whole episode trying to correct his error (and having weird ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' dreams), but eventually is stymied when he can't come up with a new source of evidence or a witness against the mobster. He and Gus then give a RousingSpeech to the citizens who've been terrorized, stating that though they can't prove it, they'll testify that the mobster is a bad guy. This convinces one guy[[note]] who had previously been trying to kill the mobster, but saw the light thanks to Shawn[[/note]] to tell the citizens that he'll testify as well, and he ''is'' a witness. When the mobster states that he can take care of ''one'' witness, ''everyone else'' says they'll testify against the mobster, and he can't kill them all. |
| 113 | * Mentioned during the breather moment of "The Best of Both Worlds" on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Picard questions Guinan about the fate of humanity in the face of the Borg threat. Guinan, whose race was nearly wiped out by the Borg, assures Picard that as long as there are survivors, "humanity will prevail." |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 117 | * The ''[[Music/JeffWaynesMusicalVersionOfTheWarOfTheWorlds War of the Worlds]]'' RockOpera. "The Spirit of Man": 'If one man can stand tall, there must be some hope for us all, somewhere in the spirit of man...' |
| 118 | * Similarly, this trope is invoked tragically by Music/TheProtomen. |
| 119 | ** In their first album, [[spoiler: Protoman]], who became TheDragon because he saw that the humans won't stand up for themselves against Wily's tyranny, nevertheless still holds out hope that just one person will stand and fight. [[spoiler: They don't, and Wily has the assembled crowd slaughtered anyway.]] |
| 120 | ** In the second half of the prequel album, the viewpoint character is Joe, a brave and rebellious young man who sees what the city is becoming under Wily's superficially benevolent rule. [[spoiler: He ends up dying in the process of destroying the tower from which Wily spews constant propaganda, but his sacrifice becomes meaningless because Wily has backups and uses the attack as an excuse to unleash an army of robots to crush any further resistance before it can begin.]] |
| 121 | * ''The U.S. Air Force'', [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which happens to be the official song of the U.S. Air Force]], invokes this trope in the fourth verse: |
| 122 | -->Flying men, guarding the nation's border,\ |
| 123 | We'll be there, followed by more! |
| 124 | * Invoked in the [[IconofRebellion Chant des partisans]] |
| 125 | --> Ami, si tu tombes, un ami sort de l'ombre à ta place.\ |
| 126 | Translation: Mate, if you go down, a mate out of the shadows takes your place. |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 130 | * ''Podcast/BehindTheBastards'' generally have a rather cynical view, being about the worst people in history, but the episode about the Business Plot surprisingly ends with Robert acknowledging this trope. The plot was orchestrated by America's wealthiest men to turn the country into a corporocracy with a man named Smedley Butler as their PuppetKing. Smedley, it should be noted, was himself fairly conservative, and a veteran of the military, not to mention highly respected which was why the conspirators approached him. As soon as he had heard them out, Smedley went straight to the government and reported them for treason. In this case, it truly was just one man who saved America from tyranny through nothing but dedication to democracy. One historian is quoted as saying that Smedley Butler was the only man in the country with the charisma and popularity to become dictator... and, luckly, also the only man with the moral fiber to refuse. |
| 131 | [[/folder]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 134 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 135 | ** In the backstory, when the Emperor and Horus are having their final battle of a great galactic civil war, the Emperor is beaten and horrifically wounded, due to his refusal to kill Horus (who was his beloved son before being corrupted by Chaos). A lone warrior ([[RetCon sources are very unclear and keep changing]] but either an Ultramarine, a member of the Emperor's elite guard, or a lowly Imperial Guardsman ) then sees the Emperor's broken body and stands up to the Warmaster of Chaos, whose power is at this moment at least that of the Emperor himself. Horus simply flays him with a glance. Which then causes the Emperor (who sees that Horus is irredeemable) to completely annihilate Horus' soul. The below quote is attributed to Ollanius Pius, the lone Guardsman in that depiction of the moment. |
| 136 | --->''"Where I fall, ten more shall take my place! And one hundred more each of them! So strike me down! I am the harbinger!"'' |
| 137 | ** Ragnar Blackmane sums the concept up quite nicely. |
| 138 | --->''"We may be few, and our enemies many, yet so long as there remains one of us still fighting, one who still rages in the name of justice and truth, then by the Allfather, the galaxy shall yet know hope."'' |
| 139 | [[/folder]] |
| 140 | |
| 141 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 142 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games. The backstory and other universe materials included indicates that the [[LaResistance Global Resistance]] is quite aware it might fail in toppling the [[MegaCorp WEC]]. However, the propaganda they distribute to their own people cites this trope, and also states the (technical truth) that nothing can last forever, so that eventually, the WEC ''will'' be overthrown, even if the Resistance is long dead by that point. |
| 143 | * ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'': At the end of the next-to-last mission, the [[CulturePolice music-hating Rhombulans]] zap the Agents with a petrification ray, [[TakenForGranite turning them into statues]]. As all the people whom the Agents helped during the course of the game mourn, one of them, Lucy (the little girl who was the focus of the "sad" mission), starts [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve clapping her hands and chanting]]. The other people join in, reviving the Agents to the tune of "[[Music/TheRollingStonesBand Jumpin' Jack Flash]]". |
| 144 | * In ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', this is [[spoiler:deconstructed horribly. Branded a traitor, his king and his mentor dead, his life ruined by his former best friend, Oersted continuously tells himself that as long as one person believes in him, he can continue to fight. Then it turns out that even she (Alethea) lost faith in him. He doesn't take it [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds well]].]] |
| 145 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': |
| 146 | ** Throughout the trilogy, [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] has always been of this mindset; even if they, personally, are brought down, ''someone, somewhere'' will know and will take up arms against the threat of the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]]. |
| 147 | --->'''Shepard:''' We will ''fight'', we will ''sacrifice'', we will ''find a way'' to stop you! |
| 148 | ** The ending bears out this faith, too. Even if Task Force Hammer is shredded, Shepard will continue to struggle. Even if [[spoiler: Shepard dies, this sacrifice will destroy or pacify the Reapers. Even if ''the entirety of galactic civilization'' is crushed -- another species, 50,000 years from now, [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture will discover who Shepard was and what they knew and did]], learn from it, and continue the fight]]. Inevitably, the cycle ''will'' be broken. [[spoiler: Ironically, the Catalyst [[JustAsPlanned knows and anticipates this]], but being a rather single-minded AI, can't and doesn't want to change that]]. |
| 149 | * A similar scenario shows up at the end of ''Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Tamashii: VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan 2''. Just as it looks like the original "Evening City" Ouendan have been crushed by an icy meteor and the Earth is doomed to slowly freeze to death as the Sun goes out, a young boy stands up and starts cheering on the Ouendan. The rest of the crowd of people the Ouendan have helped, as well as the new "Morning City" Ouendan, joins in, and the original Ouendan break free of their icy prison. The Evening City and Morning City squads then proceed to team up in leading the world in cheering to the tune of "Sekai wa Sore wo Ai to Yobundaze" ("That's What the World Calls Love", the closing theme to ''[[Literature/TrainMan2004 Densha Otoko]]''). |
| 150 | * In ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'', [[spoiler: The Tree of Life is destroyed, and Dark Matter seems indestructible. However, everyone keeps standing up to him, and the protagonist gives a speech to this effect, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu then defeats Dark Matter in their weak, unevolved form]]]] |
| 151 | * In ''Franchise/{{Star Wars|Legends}}: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', [[BigBad Palpatine]] seems to believe in this trope [[spoiler: when he notes that Marek's HeroicSacrifice in the Light side ending has given the Rebel Alliance a martyr]]. |
| 152 | -->'''Palpatine:''' You must be relentless, Vader. For if even ''one'' Rebel survives, this Alliance [[spoiler: that we have unwittingly created]] will be our undoing. |
| 153 | ** This seems to be a recurring motif in ''Franchise/StarWars''. [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords The Jedi Exile]] and Luke also went from being the LastOfTheirKind to rebuilding the Order. On the flip-side...so did [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil Darth Bane]]. |
| 154 | * The trope has an AnthropomorphicPersonification in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'''s Philemon, who empowers the protagonists and sets them in the path to fight against the darkness. Mind, he's no saint himself... |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 158 | * ''Webcomic/DomainTnemrot''. Dae is one of the last living soldiers in a resistance war and has essentially become the leader by default. |
| 159 | [[/folder]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 162 | * Happens in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "The Last Patrol!". The villain manages to defeat a team of heroes and forces them to make a HeroicSacrifice. He thinks this will crush the world's faith in them. Cue the entire world chanting their name, having more belief in their heroes than ever. This causes the villain to shut down and have a VillainousBreakdown, making no attempt to resist as Batman arrests him. |
| 163 | * Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse: |
| 164 | ** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': |
| 165 | *** After Superman has been decisively defeated by {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} and presented as a trophy to the citizens of Metropolis, Dan Turpin (a police officer who had previously balked at Superman's crimestopping capers, feeling they made the police obsolete) walks forward and tells Darkseid that it'll take more than that to get them to surrender. He takes action to free Superman in the resulting chaos, [[spoiler:leading to Darkseid killing him when he is forced to withdraw by Superman and the forces of New Genesis.]] |
| 166 | *** Resulting in what is possibly the most touching line in the series. [[spoiler:"In the end, the world didn't really need a Super man... Just a brave one."]] |
| 167 | *** Turned around in the finale of the same series. [[spoiler:Superman goes to Apokolips and [[IronicEcho decisively defeats]] Darkseid. He presents Darkseid's battered and broken body to the people of Apokolips, declaring them free... And they start carrying their master back to his palace to tend to his wounds.]] |
| 168 | ** Batman shows himself to be one, as Superman points out in the battle against Darkseid in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. While Darkseid is invading the planet, Batman, a mere mortal, ''jumps on his back'' and becomes the first person to ever dodge his Omega Beam, prompting Superman to tell Darkseid that neither Batman, or any of the League, will quit as long as they can draw breath. He follows up with a NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech. |
| 169 | * The narrator of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoon "Buckaroo Bugs" tells us there is one man and one man alone who can defeat the Masked Marauder (Bugs Bunny) who has been raiding their victory garden. Unfortunately for the townsfolk, that man is the dimbulb Red Hot Ryder. |
| 170 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. During a standoff between Homer, head of "Springshield", and Fat Tony: |
| 171 | -->'''Homer:''' You can kill me, but someone will take my place. And if you kill him, then someone will take ''his'' place. And if you kill him... well, that's pretty much the end of it; the town will be yours. |
| 172 | * This trope kicks off the four-parter "Beyond Good And Evil" in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'', when Apocalypse defeats Cable in the year 3999, and steals his time-travelling device. As Apocalypse is about to rid himself of his mortal enemy, Cable cries that more like him will continue opposing him, and "the world can't stomach his evil forever". Apocalypse scoffs at his outburst, [[AboveGoodAndEvil considering himself to be above his moral sensibilities]]... but then briefly muses on the prospect of having to face guys like Cable, as he had previously done many times [[WhoWantsToLiveForever in his extremely long lifetime]] to be a FateWorseThanDeath. After refusing to accept this to be true, a time-travelling mishap brings him to the "Axis of Time", and he attempts to remake the universe in his own image. Interestingly, it turns out that Apocalypse himself is also [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil indestructible as an avatar of evil]] -- he can only be [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away temporarily]]. |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 176 | * While not exactly needing ''one'' man, when it comes to the Scottish... |
| 177 | --> '''...for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.''' ''Declaration of Arbroath'', April 6th, 1320 |
| 178 | ** And modern Scots will happily point out that despite appearances, they never were "brought under English rule" as such: The Act of Union was an alliance the Scots entered into ''voluntarily'', if reluctantly, after the ''Scottish'' monarchy took control of the ''English'' throne, and when the balance of power began to shift to their disadvantage in The80s the end result was a nationalist movement popular enough to lobby for and eventually receive some significant concessions. |
| 179 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DImZEpuQXvk This video]] denouncing Islamic terrorism in UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}. |
| 180 | * During the early months of the Spanish Civil War, when Madrid was under siege by Franco's fascist-backed rebels, the embattled Republican militiamen defending the city against all odds, outgunned and outmatched, made up a little song to immortalize their fierce resistance in the face of a militarily superior foe. |
| 181 | -->'''los moros que trajo Franco''' -- The moors that Franco brought over (referring to his feared Moroccan 'moorish' troops)\ |
| 182 | '''en Madrid quieren entrar''' -- want to enter in Madrid\ |
| 183 | '''mientras quede un miliciano''' -- but while one militiaman remains\ |
| 184 | '''los moros no pasarán''' -- the moors will not pass! |
| 185 | * The national anthem of Poland has overtones of this. Composed in the 18th century, when Poland was not on the map, it asserts that so long as Poles remain alive, Poland continues to exist. |
| 186 | * Mexican Drug War: It took a lot of death and a lot of suffering, but the people of Mexico are beginning to fight back against el Narco. People like the Militsiya and the Matamoros 9 were exterminated to a man, but their sacrifice proved that [[ElSpanishO el Narcoso can be el beateno]]. |
| 187 | * Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 that "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." In other words, as long as even a single Christian remains The Church shall not die. |
| 188 | ** Interesting side note: according to the rules worked out by the Roman Catholic Church, only three bishops are required to ordain another bishop (and only bishops can appoint priests). This was a minor plot point in ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'', when Earth is about to be devastated by nuclear war (again) but as a contingency plan the Church sends out an interstellar colony ship to [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture preserve the human race]]. As part of the plan, they explicitly point out that they have included three bishops among the passengers, the bare minimum needed to ensure that the Church, as an unbroken apostolic institution, will survive. |
| 189 | ** On a related note, Judaism has the ''minyan'': the bare minimum number of adult Jews required to form a synagogue/community. A ''minyan'' consists of only ten adult Jews - ten adult men for Orthodox Jews, but ten men or women in other denominations (what matters is if you've completed a bar/bat mitzvah). This practice is based on the story of Sodom, when Abraham begged God not to destroy the city and He agreed he wouldn't if only as few as ten righteous men could be found in it. Thus despite all of the mass persecutions that the Jews have faced over the centuries, if as few as ''ten adult practicing Jews'' survive, "Judaism" will endure. |
| 190 | [[/folder]] |
| 191 |
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