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4->'''[[AC:The Reader:]]''' But are The Plague Dogs then to drown\
5And nevermore come safe to land?\
6Without a fight to be sucked down\
7Five-fathom deep in tide-washed sand?\
8Brave Rowf, but give him where to stand--\
9He'd grapple with Leviathan!\
10What sort of end is this you've planned\
11For lost dogs and their vanished man?
12-->-- '''Richard Adams''', ''Literature/ThePlagueDogs''
13
14Making your villains a credible threat to your heroes is what makes any conflict interesting. In some series, most notably ScienceFiction and HighFantasy, it may even be necessary for your villain to be [[SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat a threat to the entire world]]. A powerful villain and flawed heroes will make for a good story, so it stands to reason that in a lot of stories, the villain is more powerful than the heroes in some capacity.
15
16But there ''is'' a balance to it.
17
18Eventually, the villain is [[InvincibleVillain so many orders of magnitude above the heroes]] that there's absolutely no chance for them to win with any of the capabilities we know them to have. We all know what's coming: a DeusExMachina. The heroes aren't going to save themselves; the ''author'' is going to save them.
19
20This {{Audience Reaction|s}} describes a situation in which, when you should be thinking, "How are the heroes going to get themselves out of this one?" you're instead thinking, "What contrived plot device is going to arise at the last minute and rescue them?"
21
22'''The major criteria for this idiom are as follows:'''
23#The villain, threat or situation must be [[InvincibleVillain much more powerful than the heroes]], perhaps even a VillainSue;
24#The heroes must not have [[ChekhovsGun previously shown]] that they have powers or skills that would help them escape this situation; and
25#The situation must ultimately be resolved with a DeusExMachina.
26
27See also ThePlotReaper, LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt and StrongAsTheyNeedToBe. Not to be confused with the literal {{Post Modernis|m}}t case where the AuthorAvatar [[AuthorPowers is forced to save the characters]].
28
29'''May contain unhidden spoilers. Caution advised.'''
30
31----
32!!Examples:
33
34[[foldercontrol]]
35
36[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
37* Phibrizo from ''[[Literature/{{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..]].
38* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has a habit of this:
39** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': Myotismon (Vamdemon) gets more and more powerful, shrugging off the heroes' best attacks... so the {{Upgrade Artifact}}s spontaneously generate energy chains to hold him in place. Apocalymon, the final enemy, is so powerful that he can ''destroy both universes in one shot'' if he feels like it. Again, UpgradeArtifact AssPull to the rescue, as they form a force field to contain the explosion.
40** Completely avoided in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', but ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' gives us the way the kids suddenly became indestructible near the end. Power levels get [[ReadingsAreOffTheScale DBZ-ish]], and you have Lucemon slamming the heroes into the ground so hard the moon they're on ''is destroyed with enough force to take out the two other moons.'' The kids... just aren't hurt. The villain's final defeat made enough sense, but to last long enough to make it happen, unprotected humans were simply ''not being hurt'' by world-destroying forces for about three episodes.
41* ''Anime/MegaManNTWarrior'' falls into this in ''Stream'': when the main villain's [[TheDragon Dragon]] is already pretty much invincible, and her boss can [[spoiler:erase Earth and violate every natural law with a ''thought'']], how are the heroes supposed to win? By having Bass.Exe [[TookALevelInBadass absorb the powers of Nebula Grey during]] TheMovie and [[CurbStompBattle utterly destroy her]] [[BestServedCold as paypack for earlier]].
42* That's how ''Manga/ShamanKing'' ended. By the look of it, the heroes are completely screwed, due to the BigBad being NighInvulnerable, able to effortlessly obliterate entire armies, and simply reincarnates stronger than before when he dies, making it impossible for the heroes to defeat him. 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]].
43* This is one of the primary problems with the "Chapter Black" arc of ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Sensui walks in and shatters the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil with a power level far beyond anything Yusuke could possibly obtain in the short amount of time he has before the portal to demon world opens. Cue the last minute DeusExMachina bloodline power up. This is then horribly subverted by revealing [[spoiler:the sides were uneven in the other direction - King Enma's men show up and seal the portal with a minimum of fuss. All of the damage was for ''[[ShaggyDogStory nothing]]'']].
44* The whole fiasco in ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' regarding Urumiya. Haagasu is Urumiya, at least one half. His brother Tegu is the other half of Urumiya and they need to have both on their side to summon Genbu. Haagasu has the ability to absorb and copy the other senshis' power, making himself stronger in the process and Tegu's ability involves nullifying their powers, which also causes them pain. Tegu is also trapped somewhere and both parties are trying to find him. [[spoiler: It's resolved when some of the senshi and Haagasu find Tegu at pretty much the same time, Haagasu performs a HeroicSacrifice to stop Tegu from being killed and he also reveals that he was slowly dying, anyway, and one of them needs to die to properly become the Genbu senshi Urumiya.]]
45* The final BigBad of ''Manga/ZatchBell'', Clear Note, happened to be so far above the rest of the cast, that previously-established rules of the story had to be broken into pieces to allow his defeat. [[spoiler:Basically, just about every previously-banished mamono temporarily comes back to lend the titular character their strength.]]
46* The last episode of ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' begins with the [[spoiler:Scub Coral command center destroyed, with Eureka now forced to become the new command center... except that [[BigBad Dewey Novak]] gave her a virus that will spread to destroy the rest of the Scub Coral on the planet. Meanwhile, Scub Coral antibodies are threatening the good guys. Just when everything seems set for a DownerEnding, ThePowerOfLove transforms the Nirvash and [[TheHero Renton]] goes off to save Eureka and the day]].
47* This happens in ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'', in a pretty stupid way. The heroes are currently getting pummeled by the Hückebein, a group of people who specialize in AntiMagic, forcing them to use ridiculous weapons that don't work right, in a sort of in-universe example of FakeDifficulty. To make matters worse, the leader of the Hückebein suddenly shows up and proves how strong she is by [[CurbStompBattle one-shotting three heroes in one chapter]]. How are they going to get out of this? Why, she just lets them go, of course! The only reason the protagonists have ''any'' kind of victory (grabbing the LivingMacGuffin after they disappear) is because she can apparently predict the future, so what they do doesn't matter.
48* A commonly made prediction within the ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' fandom. Guts' mission of killing the {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le BigBadDuumvirate of the [[CrapsackWorld Berserkerverse]] already seems impossible enough. And with the [[spoiler: [[GodIsEvil Idea of Evil]]]] thrown into the mix...
49** Guts has possibly gotten one major thing in his favor, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain ironically caused by the Godhand themselves]]: [[spoiler:Griffith's plan to obtain his own kingdom involved fusing the LayeredWorld into a single plain of existence--before this they only existed in a spirit realm separate from the mortal world, meaning any encounter Guts could have before then was nothing but FightingAShadow]].
50* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
51** It's common for Natsu to win the final battle of any given arc by means of random temporary power-up, some of which are better handled than others. The first time was against Jellal, when it turned out he could eat Etherion, then with Zero when [[spoiler:Jellal]] gave him a magical flame, though that time it was justified because [[spoiler:Jellal was intentionally replicating the same effect that first allowed Natsu to beat him and he had previously shown the ability to use fire magic thanks to the [[ChekhovsGun Abyss Break spell, which requires fire as one of its components]]]]. DoubleSubversion in the Tenrou Island arc where Natsu and company are losing and suddenly gets the ability to also use lightning [[spoiler:from Laxus]] only to continue to lose, but then it turns out that the Exceed who wandered off earlier stumble upon the BigBad's weakness and destroy it, unknowingly giving Natsu and company the edge they need to win.
52** [[BigBad Zeref]] already has CompleteImmortality as well as OneHitKill magic, and later in his final fight with Natsu he [[spoiler:absorbs Fairy Heart, infinite magic power, from Mavis]]. He doesn't even attempt to dodge Natsu's SuperMode-enhanced attack to show how potent his regeneration has become. How is Natsu, reduced to his base form, going to win now? [[spoiler:Zeref refrains from using his instant-kill magic because even now he's still wavering somewhat due to his DeathSeeker desires, and Natsu puts out even more magic power than ever to burn through the regeneration and take him down, chanting about ThePowerOfFriendship all the way.]]
53** [[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]].
54* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': The final arc focuses on a long tug-of-war between the hero party and [[PredecessorVillain Madara Uchiha]] as they accumulate absurd level of powers to one-up each other. By the end of all, the big bad became invincible. Madara's powers can only be described as 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. The series solved the conflict by, almost immediately after Madara accomplished his master plan and trap everyone but Team 7 in a permanent dream, abruptly killing him off and supplanting him as BigBad by [[GreaterScopeVillain Kaguya Otsutsuki]], who was conveniently a much easier opponent to deal with. 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. In the same mini-arc, it was also established that 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.
55* ''Manga/FoodWars'': Multiple chapters of the final arc are dedicated to show just how unstoppable Asahi Saiba is. He already curbstomps Joichiro, who was considered to be the world's best chef, and later trounces Eishi Tsukasa, who was the top ranked student of Totsuki. Asahi's ability enables him to instantly assimilate the styles of various chefs. Even the BLUE judges think that Asahi's skills are flawless. At the last moment, however, Asahi loses to Soma because the latter possessed a unique flavor exclusive to him while Asahi lacked it. But this deficiency was never brought up by any of the judges in prior duels.
56* In the first ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movie, Dead Zone, Goku and Piccolo end up fighting the immortal Garlic Jr. And while he has the two on the ropes, [[spoiler:Garlic Jr summons a portal to eponymous Dead Zone, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard and he is promptly knocked into it by Gohan]]]].
57** Later on in the series, Garlic Jr returns, only to do the exact same thing. Keep in mind again: Garlic Jr has CompleteImmortality. He could defeat literally anything in the universe by just poking it repeatedly. He went for this solution ''[[TooDumbToLive twice]].''
58** In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'''s take on it, the plot of Dead Zone is a script Krillin is pitching to Nappa. When pressed on the issue, Krillin [[LampshadeHanging admits that he wrote himself into a corner]]. Funny enough, this trope isn't so much in place, as Shenron responds to the wish by saying that he can't wait to see how Garlic Jr. manages to blow this.
59** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' continues the tradition of not knowing what to do with villains that obtain CompleteImmortality. Sure you can beat them around all you want, but they will always come back for more. It takes a literal DeusExMachina to defeat [[spoiler: Future Zamasu]] after he transforms into the very fabric of the universe. [[spoiler: Goku decides to summon Zeno, ruler of the multiverse, who erases the entire timeline from existence.]]
60*** The show had two different ways the villain could have been beaten in a more satisfying manner, but both of them were shot down in-story: [[spoiler:the plan to seal Zamasu away with the Mafuba (Evil Containment Wave) failed because Goku suddenly became ForgetfulJones for the sake of comedy]], then during the final battle [[spoiler:Zamasu [[FusionDance fuses]] with Goku Black, only for their fused body to become corrupted and malformed specifically because it's the result of an immortal and mortal fusing. Future Trunks then [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cut them in half]], which would have been the ideal ending for the arc, only for Zamasu's spirit to come back and ShootTheShaggyDog]].
61* 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.]] There was a very very early ChekhovsGun, however. [[spoiler: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.]]
62* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', by virtue of making the human remains of the people the Homunculi were originally intended to resurrect their KryptoniteFactor, invokes this for most of the major antagonists 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.
63* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' just loves doing these in its canon stories.
64** [[BrokenAce Sosuke Aizen]] was a shinigami who was already very well skilled even before revealing himself to be a BitchInSheepsClothing. But by the time it came to finally confront him, he had gotten so ridiculously overpowered that virtually nothing the heroes did could even scratch him since it was always a part of his plan in some form or another. So how's he defeated? [[spoiler: Ichigo undergoing some last minute training, getting a major power up that'll likewise rob him of his power (temporarily as he gets them back in the next arc) and using that to beat Aizen. Heck he doesn't really beat him, just weakens him enough for a Kido spell Kisuke shot into him earlier to finally activate. And even then, they can't kill Aizen, just lock him away.]]
65** And now we have [[GodEmperor Yhwach]], the final BigBad of the series who is pretty much Aizen 2.0. He steamrolls ''everyone'' that goes against him (including Yamamoto, the head of the Gotei 13 who has the ''power of a sun''), manages to get into the Soul King palace, beats his Elite Guards by reviving his own elite guards after they're initially defeated, and manages to take the Soul King's power and merge with it. His power at this point boils down to being a RealityWarper who can see and manipulate every possible future to his whim, even outright breaking the rules of other powers if he wants. By this point, readers are wondering if there's even a way for him and his cronies to be beaten since every new power the heroes use doesn't seem to put them down for very long. [[spoiler:Ironically, Aizen proves to be crucial to his defeat, distracting Yhwach long enough for Ichigo to kill him with a powerful Getsuga Tensho. When Yhwach uses his power to bring himself back from the dead, Ishida negates his powers by shooting him with the Still Silver arrow, which gives Ichigo just enough time to kill Yhwach for good.]]
66** This is also true of [[BoisterousBruiser Gerard Valkyrie]], [[AdaptiveAbility "The Miracle"]]. His power amounts to getting bigger, stronger, and faster whenever he's attacked, no matter how thoroughly his body is destroyed. [[spoiler:In the end, Yhwach had to kill him off by taking back the power he'd been granted, simply because there was no believable way for the heroes to win against such a cheap opponent. The same goes for all the remaining Sternritter, whose powers pretty much amounted to "I'm invincible."]]
67** Special mention goes to [[CreepyChild Gremmy Thoumeaux]], [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve "The Visionary"]], who had the power to make [[RealityWarper anything he imagined real]]. Whether it was creating truckloads of complicated machinery, large scale natural disasters, or just turning his opponent's body into something brittle, he had few limits. Luckily, when he fights Kenpachi, he [[spoiler:sticks almost entirely to physical attacks, mainly throwing larger and larger rocks at him. Someone called "The Visionary" suddenly lost all creativity and forgot powers they used minutes ago to become beatable. And then out of sheer pride he decided to imagine himself becoming ''physically'' strong enough to beat Kenpachi... except the fact that Kenpachi had survived such a ridiculous beating that Gremmy was starting to think of him as invincible. So by simultaneously imagining two contradictory things, Gremmy tried to imagine himself as having beyond infinite physical strength, with the result that [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy he tore his own body to shreds]]. Kenpachi proceeds to note what a complete moron Gremmy was]].
68* In ''Anime/CControl'', not only is Mikuni the richest man in Japan (and thus the most powerful individual in the Financial District), he is the sole holder of a Black Card, which gives him control over the Rotary Press and the economy and futures of Japan. Kimimaro has no means of challenging this, and there's no known process for getting a Black Card. [[spoiler: When Kimimaro does stand up to Mikuni, the higher-ups at the Financial District issue him a Black Card, and the dispute is settled through a Deal.]]
69* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has been a [[PrintLongRunners decades-spanning]] series of weekly perils. Naturally, it has run-ins with this trope, especially during story climaxes where [[SoLastSeason abilities escalate]].
70** [[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 [[IMeantToDoThat pretends it was]] AllAccordingToPlan.
71** [[BigBad Dio]] in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] has, [[ComboPlatterPowers among others]], the ability to [[TimeStandsStill stop time]], rendering the heroes completely helpless. Fortunately, Jotaro happens to awaken to the [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands same exact power]] while fighting him. [[SuperPowerLottery Even more luckily]], it comes packaged with the ability to think, observe, and move while Dio freezes time.
72** A villainous example, this happens to [[BigBad Kira Yoshikage]] in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Part 4]]. When he paints himself into a corner, the [[MacGuffin Stand Arrow]] suddenly reveals a few new functions, moving on its own to give him the new power to [[GroundhogDayLoop do that day over]]. This trope essentially becomes a feature of the Arrow, granting [[PlotArmor certain characters]] a [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands new power]] to survive their current danger.
73** In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Part 5]], the protagonists are once again faced with a [[BigBad villain]] with a power they cannot counter. Or even [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm describe sensibly]]. So the Stand Arrow does its thing, jumping out of the villain's hand to grant Giorno the new power to [[NoSell just prevent every attack against him]].
74* The end of the ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' Mundus Magicus arc. The Mage of the Beginning has protagonist Negi Springfield's team, Ala Alba, completely beaten down through the last minute arrival of his own QuirkyMiniBossSquad, the expanded Cosmo Entelecheia, which barely were hinted at before their arrival. They utterly defeat Ala Alba, undoing ''absolutely'' everything they had achieved up to that point, something that had costed them around a dozen of chapters to do, in pretty much only a couple of chapters, and then are defeated just as soundly themselves by the just as unforeshadowed arrival of Ala Alba's predecessors, the Ala Rubra. '''Then''' the Mage of the Beginning soundly defeats them as well by himself, and nothing stands in his way... except because, [[VillainBall while nobody in his team was watching over the comatose Asuna, a key piece of his plans]], Ala Alba and the rest of Negi's Class 3-A students are able to wake Asuna up, who anticlimactically oneshots the Mage with Negi's help in a single chapter.
75* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', Meruem is the ultimate Chimera Ant and easily the most powerful character in the setting thus far. He's super-smart and can quickly analyse his opponents and come up with effective strategies, and he can feed on others' nen. Netero blew him up with a nuclear bomb. He survived ''that'' and became even more powerful. It quickly got to the point that nobody could beat him. Series main character Gon never even fights him. Then it turned out he got radiation poisoning from the nuclear bomb, and that's what finally killed him.
76* 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 temporarily abandoned following the ''Healin' Good'' movie, though more out of practicality due to COVID-19 guidelines rather than as a creative decision, as ''All-Stars F'' promoted their return.
77[[/folder]]
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79[[folder:Comic Books]]
80* 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.
81* This was a mainstay in the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' series, especially in the earlier albums. Tintin's reputation for smarts and ingenuity is only half-earned, because it was convenient luck that tended to save him most often.
82* When the ComicBook/FantasticFour faced ComicBook/{{Galactus}} for the first time, it was clear that they had no way of defeating an omnipotent cosmic being. Instead, Johnny was sent to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier -- that most infamous of comic book asspulls -- to cow Galactus into leaving Earth.
83* {{Invoked|Trope}} in the fight between ComicBook/ScottPilgrim and Todd Ingram, when Scott acknowledges that only a contrived DeusExMachina could save him. Cue the Vegan Police.
84* In the final issue of ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' the universe splintering war between Snow White and Rose Red is resolved [[spoiler:when Rose speaks to one of her soldiers (implied to be Boy Blue BackFromTheDead),and he simply asks her [[ArmorPiercingQuestion what happens]] to Snow's ''kids'' after it's all over]]. Rose Red [[HeelRealization decides she doesn't want to continue the war]]. She also realizes [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne the entire point of their conflict]] is meaningless as Snow has sons, which should be impossible.
85* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'': ''Century'' ends with Allan, Mina, and Orlando engaged in a hopeless battle against the Moonchild/[[spoiler:Harry Potter]]. Just when all seems to be lost [[spoiler: {{God}}, in the form of Literature/MaryPoppins, descends from on high to destroy him, although She's too late to save Allan]].
86* ''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 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]].
87* ''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 with similar cosmic powers attempt to break through it - [[Characters/MarvelComicsMarvels 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 (he's currently on the good side of the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, but is busy with other events), and the ComicBook/SilverSurfer has decided to be a no-show for some strange reason. So how do the heroes break through for the big finale? Quasar just abruptly gets better and does a HeroicSacrifice to destroy the barrier, rendering all the pagetime spent on the space heroes rather pointless.
88* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ComicBook/AnimalMan. He kills off Buddy's family and turns him DarkerAndGrittier. Then in a moment of MetaFiction, Buddy meets his creator who is writing his last issue of the character and explains that Buddy's future is in the hands of the next writer. He then brings the family back to life and restores Buddy's old costume.
89* Creator/ScottSnyder's run ''reeks'' of this trope, mostly in his Franchise/{{Batman}} and ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2018'' stories. In those stories, the villains are always 5 steps ahead of the heroes, who are always struggling to catch up or straight-up lagging behind and the end of the story, the heroes only save the day by some one last-minute miracle.
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92[[folder:Comic Strips]]
93* ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'': Chester Gould's seat of his pants writing style meant that he would often put Tracy in death traps without necessarily knowing how he would get out of them. Part of Gould's genius was being able to work his way out of his traps without resorting to this trope, but one DeathTrap is worth mentioning: Tracy is put in the bottom of a deep pit the villains have dug in the ground, and a boulder only slightly smaller than the diameter of the pit is dropped in, slowly but steadily grinding its way down to crush Tracy. Any attempt to dig around the boulder will make it fall faster, and none of Tracy's allies know he's in the trap. Gould's admitted this one stumped him, and suggested to his editor that Tracy ask ''Gould himself'' for help, as a giant hand would come in and free him. His editor shot this down because... well, because it was a terrible, terrible idea. In the end, Tracy escaped by digging down and coming across a mine shaft, which he escapes into just as the boulder is about to crush him. An obvious lucky escape, but at least not a logic breaking one.
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96[[folder:Fan Works]]
97* A humorous InUniverse example in WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged's ''Dead Zone'': [[spoiler:Krillin writes himself into a corner by giving the main villain immortality, so he's forced to resolve it by having said villain open the Dead Zone - [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the only thing which could defeat him]]]].
98* An example of "Only the ''Original'' Author can Save Them Now": mirroring the final attack to the final boss in ''[[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 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]].
99* In chapter 35 of ''Fanfic/LightAndDarkTheAdventuresOfDarkYagami'', the author admits that he made the villain too strong, so he decided to reset the story by having the protagonist randomly find a [[ResetButton Reset Note]].
100* ''Gem Fusion Rarity'' parodies this in its prologue: [[VideoGame/AsurasWrath Equestria Vlitra]], an ancient being even more horrific than Tirek, effortless erases all Equestrian magic and steamrolls the ''Rainbow Powered'' Mane Six. The only reason why there's even a plot afterwards is because Rarity is a [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse half-Gem]] and regenerates back onto the Gem planet afterwards.
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104* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. Our heroes only survive the Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh because the animator [[DiedDuringProduction suffers a fatal heart attack]]. Director Creator/TerryGilliam admitted in the DVD commentary that he wrote himself into a corner in that scene and had no idea how the characters could get out of their dilemma. Thankfully the film is over-the-top comedy so he could come up with the solution of just killing himself (since he was the animator) off.
105* "He didn't get out of the cockadoody car!" Present in both the film and the novel, ''Literature/{{Misery}}'' gives us a meta-example of the story's villain lecturing its protagonist about the evils of pulling contrived crap like this. She tells a story about how her experience of serialized action films was ruined when [[CliffhangerCopout a hero clearly shown in a car plummeting to his death at the end of one serial is shown narrowly escaping the car at the beginning of the next]]. The story's author protagonist admits that although this forces him to travel through very complex circumlocutions to fully justify what happens in the novel he's writing for the villain, it ultimately makes for a better story.
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109* The original [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Thrawn trilogy]] of ''Franchise/StarWars'' books by Creator/TimothyZahn would be a good example. Although the Imperial and New Republic forces are mostly equal on paper, Grand Admiral Thrawn holds the initiative and never lets go for an instant. Two and three quarters of the three books are dedicated to the heroes struggling not so much to win as to survive. At the climax of the final book, Luke and Mara are trapped on Thrawn's clone world at the mercy of Joruus C'baoth and the majority of the Republic navy are warping right into a massive trap at the site of their planned counterattack against Thrawn's forces. Only a series of increasingly catastrophic and unlikely setbacks in the final quarter of the third book allow the heroes to win the day. The author himself even commented that writing a plausible ending was difficult because he had "written himself into a corner" by establishing Thrawn as such a MagnificentBastard. To his credit Zahn ''did'' lay groundwork for many of the setbacks that Thrawn suddenly faces, but having them all work out so perfectly in the heroes' favor and ''all coming together at the same time'' (thus denying Thrawn an opportunity to adjust his tactics as he had done in previous battles) was a stretch.
110* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, the last eight or so books have a constantly advancing horde of Imperial Order soldiers advancing little by little across the New World. The heroes have minor victories here and there, and during the fighting retreat led by Kahlan under Operation Fuck Your Shit Up, the D'Haran army slaughtered the Order by the dozens for every casualty they took, but the Order [[MillionMookMarch had the sheer numbers]] to [[ZergRush overwhelm all opposition]]. In the end, the Imperial Order had cut right through the middle of the Midlands and had advanced to D'Hara, where the only army of consequence left in the New World was holed up in a city on a plateau surrounded on all sides. Even sending cavalry into the Old World to pursue a policy of total war as part of Operation Fuck Your Shit Up ''Twice'' barely made a dent (partly because said cavalry was fought off by [[spoiler:a witch riding a Dragon]]). The only way the heroes managed to pull out a victory was to find the MacGuffin from the first book and eventually use it to [[spoiler:create a new world (which is, incidentally, implied to be [[EarthAllAlong Earth]]) and magically banish everybody that shared the Imperial Order's philosophies there to live out their lives without magic, wonder or the hope of an afterlife. [[IronicHell Essentially, the sort of world they were trying to create in the first place]]]].
111* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' by Peter Hamilton paints the heroes into a corner with its galactic ZombieApocalypse, and then has to end with a literal DeusExMachina. [[spoiler: The Naked God is a machine with godlike powers, used to save the human race.]] This is built up throughout the trilogy, with what at first appears to be a minor part of the plot involved in investigating various possible sources of external power, and the revelation that the problem has been solved before by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s. It is also made clear that the problem is likely solvable by human technology, but only at immense social and economic cost.
112** He does it again in the Literature/VoidTrilogy, perhaps even more literally - [[spoiler: The Anomine machine makes a protagonist, Gore, into a god]]. Subverted in that the god powers [[spoiler: are not actually used; the fact that they can exist is enough to convince the Firstlife to un-create the Void]].
113* Early in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'', Arthur and Ford are ThrownOutTheAirlock without spacesuits. The narration explains the maximum length of time one can expect to survive in that situation, and the sheer improbability of being rescued during that time, at which point they ''are'' rescued by [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum a ship that runs on improbability]]. Douglas Adams admitted that he wrote the situation with absolutely no idea how to get them out of it, and came up with an improbability-based solution as a result of watching a TV show about judo.
114* In the [[Literature/TheDarkTower2004 final book]] of ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' saga Creator/StephenKing does this literally by sending his characters a letter to warn them of a trap. He even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it in the note with a sentence to the effect of "Here comes the Deus Ex Machina!" Notably, the whole incident leads to them meeting the mysterious Patrick Danville, who eventually [[spoiler: kills the Crimson King by harnessing his unexplained ability to [[ArtInitiatesLife create living artwork]] to erase him from existence]]. It's heavily implied that King himself sends Danville to the Ka-Tet as a "secret weapon".
115* This is a staple of ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen.'' The author seems to have created the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil House of Azath]] for exactly this purpose.
116* As indicated in ''Literature/ThePlagueDogs'', the book seems about to end with the dogs miserably drowning, to the point where the Reader intervenes and begs the Author to save them. The Author obligingly pulls a DeusExMachina out of his... backside. The movie opted to follow through with what it had started and conclude with a DownerEnding.
117* ''Literature/OutOfTheDark'' is a hard-SF tale of an alien invasion of Earth. Near the end of the book, the aliens, having run out of other options, decide to simply destroy Earth completely with a massive asteroid, and it's been established many times that humanity has no defense whatsoever against orbital bombardment. The day is saved thanks to a DeusExMachina in the form of [[spoiler: Count Dracula and an army of vampires]]. In what, up until that point, had been a "realistic" hard science fiction novel!
118** It took a decade, but the author finally released a sequel that proceeded to [[DoingInTheWizard Do In the Wizard]] by explaining that [[spoiler:the "vampires" are actually composed of highly advanced nanobots that appear to be a result of a secret alien experiment in a hidden Carpathian mountains lab. Vlad stumbled on the lab while retreating from a battle and was turned]].
119* 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.
120* As the ''Literature/TalesOfTheCity'' series entered the 1980's, the AIDS crisis happened, and Armistead Maupin, in an effort to raise awareness of the disease, had Michael and John become infected with HIV, with John succumbing to the disease. Presumably, Maupin though that a cure for the disease was forthcoming, but that did not happen, and thus, to avoid having to either kill off Michael or give him what would have been an unrealistic lifespan for a nurseryman with HIV in the late 1980's, Maupin simply ended the series with ''Sure of You''. Nearly two decades later, he ended up reviving the series with ''Michael Tolliver Lives''.
121* ''Literature/BoredOfTheRings'' {{lampshade|Hanging}}s one instance of this:
122-->Observing this near impossible escape from certain death, Frito wondered how much longer [[WhoWritesThisCrap the authors were going to get away with such tripe.]] [[WhoWouldWantToWatchUs He wasn't the only one.]]
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125[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
126* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
127** Somewhat the attitude some fans had about how the heroes could possibly overcome the practically god-like Ori. In fairness, though, the writers had 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.
128** "Reckoning" suffers from this. Clusters of Replicators? MoreDakka, or the disruptor introduced at the season start. A galaxy-spanning swarm of Replicators that almost instantly adapts to weapons used against them? Meh, let's use the previously unmentioned Ancient superweapon that wipes them all at once. It seems that (''repeatedly'') the writers decided that the Replicators had outlived their usefulness to the plot and handed the heroes a never-before hinted at way to eliminate them, then changed their minds and nullified the heroes' advantage so that the Replicators could be a threat again... requiring them to hand the heroes a ''new'' way of winning.
129* 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/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays A huge fleet of Daleks?]] Rose looks into the Time Vortex and briefly becomes a PhysicalGod, destroying all of them. [[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?]] The Doctor becomes [[FanNickname Tinkerbell Jesus]] [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve to save everyone.]] [[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.
130** 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 inescapable 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]].
131** Quasi-lampshaded in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", where Clara moans that there should be a 'big friendly button' that pressing it magically solves the problem. At the end of the episode, when reality itself has broken down, she finds a button with the words ''Big Friendly Button'' carved into it, [[strike:presses it]] gets her hand burned by its scalding heat when she picks it up, drops it in the direction of the Doctor, and ''he'' presses it, and it solves the problem. Arguably ''not'' this trope, however, given 1) the perfect memory of Gallifreyans (when they're paying attention, anyway) allowing the Doctor to remember the exact phrase that Clara used, 2) the Doctor having the whole episode to think through what happened and how to fix it if only he could get back to the point in time where it occurred, and 3) the Doctor writing Clara's exact phrase on the button so as to specifically get their past selves' attention (which he obviously does).
132** Played Straight in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]". The Doctor has been given a new set of regenerations from the Time Lords. That's great! But he's still surrounded by a Dalek armada that wants to kill him. That's not so great. But wait! [[spoiler:Regeneration energy can be weaponized and is powerful enough to destroy the Dalek fleet while they just fly around and ''don't shoot the guy who is attacking them!'']] Hooray!
133** Also played straight in the Series 10 finale. "World Enough and Time"/"The Doctor Falls" is bridged by a {{Cliffhanger}} in which the Doctor is faced with [[spoiler: his companion Bill Potts having been fully Cyber-converted]], which he has never been able to undo on his own, and the next episode puts him in a position [[PowerfulAndHelpless where he cannot seek out a solution elsewhere]]. Moreover, in the denouement he is completely helpless to do anything due to [[spoiler: dying on a battlefield]]. BUT THEN [[spoiler: Heather, last seen as a shapeshifting time-and-spaceship in the season premiere, returns to true love Bill having reasserted her personality, brought her powers under control, ''and'' gained new ones to boot in the interim. She promptly turns Bill into a similar being and they take the Doctor back to the TARDIS, with Bill hoping against hope he'll come back as they leave for greener pastures. Turns out her tears in her new form are enough to jump start his body (though he is still resisting regeneration as of the Ray Of Hope Ending, leading into his Grand Finale)]]. Hooray!
134* The GrandFinale of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is spectacularly anticlimactic, seeing as the army of EliteMooks is easily defeated by ''two'' separate {{Ass Pull}}s. The fact that the season's BigBad is incorporeal, and cannot be directly fought[[note]]though ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayerChaosBleeds'' gives you Hope's Dagger, which ''can'' harm said Big Bad[[/note]] (thus shooting down any chance of a satisfying FinalBattle against it to begin with) does not help matters.
135* Inverted in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'': the last MonsterOfTheWeek is able to survive a DeusExMachina style FinishingMove. Except for the fact it doesn't, it dies and the footage is then played backwards to revive it. They then pull another DeusExMachina to kill it by [[StupidSacrifice sacrificing their zords]] even though they still had [[HumongousMecha Megazords]] they hadn't even used yet. Later in the episode the BigBad is shown to be NotQuiteDead and in the ground battle survives a hit from the Red Rangers [[SuperMode Battlizer]], gets up and proceeds to split into 4 copies. Which they can only stop with a type 3 DeusExMachina (the episode seemed to love those). Worse, the one time they had used that type 3 it wasn't in the real world, it was in a comic book world making it a type 2.
136* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' gets like this sometimes. The Winchesters have no magical abilities of their own and routinely go up against demons and monsters with telekinesis or other powers that render the boys' weapons (even the magical ones) totally useless. Yet somehow something always allows the boys to pull out a win. Actually an in-universe exploited trope in the early seasons when the Winchesters realized that they were essentially fated to be the [[spoiler: protagonist and antagonist]] in a story being mutually written by the cooperative forces of heaven and hell [[spoiler:who are in turn really being manipulated by the almighty God]]. They dove right in to several obviously inescapable situations simply because they knew by season 4 that either fate or divine providence would save them, or [[spoiler: if they died the angels would haul them right back]]. [[spoiler: Death]] was not particularly amused by these stunts.
137* ''Series/TwentyFour'' pulled this in the seventh season when Jack is infected with a bioweapon and is going to die in hours. The doctor in charge of his condition explicitly states that there is absolutely no cure. Then suddenly in the next hour she reveals that there is an experimental treatment that could potentially exist.
138* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': The White Walkers army can't be stopped, their leader can raise all his fallen enemies by waving his hands and the good guys just lost their WeaksauceWeakness in a fire. Thankfully for TheHero the TV producers confirmed the fan theory that Valyrian sword works on them too or it would have been even more hopeless.
139* For its final two seasons, ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' pit its heroes in a losing battle against the forces behind Samaritan, an artificial intelligence covertly exerting ever-greater control over humanity. In the series' final season, Harold Finch pit the Machine, his own A.I., against Samaritan in a series of simulations, which the Machine never won. In the end, it takes a computer virus that had apparently always existed but had never been mentioned to weaken Samaritan enough for it to be destroyed, which it does in the space of two episodes. This goes a step further by completely ignoring the AchillesHeel Samaritan already ''had'' (cutting off its connection to the NSA) in favor of a solution that causes more problems than it solves.
140* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''' fifth season finale ends with [[spoiler:Damon and Bonnie trapped on The Other Side, the afterlife for magical creatures, just as the dimension is about to collapse. The episode ends with the two accepting their fate as the scene [[FadeToWhite Fades To White]]. The next episode reveals that they are trapped in a prison dimension. The existence of this dimension is explained in the StoryArc of the season, but just how and why Damon and Bonnie ended up there remains vague and is not dwelt on]].
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143[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
144* Dragons can become this if handled improperly in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', and BOY do {{Game Master}}s seem to handle them improperly. It should be noted that Shadowrun is pretty explicitly a CrapsackWorld, and if your party has screwed up to the point of getting dragon'd the GM probably isn't going to [[AnyoneCanDie save them now]].
145* Always a risk with Classic/Old ''TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness'' games, where the various antagonists were usually in positions of power simply by dint of being unassailable: if they weren't, they would have been dethroned already. If handled badly, this can result in either this trope or FailureIsTheOnlyOption. That said, they don't call it the World of ''Darkness'' [[JustifiedTrope for no reason]], and more than one of their game lines use {{Villain Protagonist}}s.
146** One specific example is the infamous VillainSue Samuel Haight. In the final scenario, he's become a powerful werewolf who became ghouled by drinking massive amounts of vampire blood, plus he has a staff that allows him to do high-level magick as well - without fear of [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy paradox]] affecting him. He's nigh-unstoppable unless he's confronted by characters who have really been bought up. However, the scenario specifically has Haight losing no matter what - his paradox-proofing eventually runs out even if the players are defeated, which results in his death. This can be averted, however, in previous scenarios, up to and including killing Haight before he's acquired any powers.
147* A constant problem in ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings,'' thanks to the MerchandiseDriven {{Metaplot}} that requires major story "rewards" for the winners of the annual CCG tournament. SerialEscalation has also long since kicked in, such that one of the [[BigBad Big Bads]] of the setting has already been killed ''twice.''
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Theatre]]
151* In [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]]'s ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt'', as Frederick is advancing with his army on the Duke and his followers, he meets a hermit and pulls a HeelFaithTurn, suddenly repenting everything and restoring the Duke to his throne.
152[[/folder]]
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154[[folder:Video Games]]
155* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Episode 2'', the Combine Advisors; something that can throw people with telekinesis and suck out brains is scary, but something that flies, throws people with TK, paralyzes everyone around it, eats brains, that Gordon can't harm or avoid, and it hates you, and knows where you are- no longer frightening, it's in DeusExMachina's hands now. Since ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' doesn't do cutscenes, they have to make do with [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Scripted Event Power To The Max]].
156* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has its share of apocalyptic super beings that show up near the end before getting stopped. (At least the characters are certainly established as capable of taking out a wide array of horrors.) ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' 's heroes both suffer an initial defeat in their final battle, only for their friends to revive them through ''prayer'' for a HeroicRematch.
157* 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:[[SwordBeam 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 SwordBeam 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.
158* This is kind of how the characters survived a particular situation in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture''. [[spoiler:Layton, Luke, Flora, Celeste, and Prime Minister Bill Hawks are in Layton's car, which has just driven off the edge of the BigBad's HumongousMecha and is plummeting to the earth. Only then does Layton flash back to something that Don Paolo said, which was not previously shown (and, given the events of their conversation that ''were'' shown, seems improbable at best). Pressing a button gives the car the EleventhHourSuperpower of turning into a plane, and they're able to fly to safety.]] Though [[spoiler: Don Paolo is established as a MadScientist, he did fix the Laytonmobile beforehand, so it's not ''too'' unlikely that he made some Deus ex Modifications]].
159* You cannot defeat Giygas. Seriously, the final battle of ''[[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 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]].
160* ''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.
161* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' has this happen InUniverse. The [[EldritchAbomination Dark Presence]] is using the manuscript that Alan wrote to achieve its goals, which allows Alan to use the reality warping power of Cauldron Lake to change the rules of the story. He gives it a weakness to light, writes in the ammo and weapon pickups that are found in-game, and the numerous near escapes he has from both it and local law enforcement. It results in an in-story GenreShift from it being a straight CosmicHorrorStory into LovecraftLite. [[spoiler:It doesn't come without cost as he must take his wife's place in the Dark Place for it to balance the scales.]]
162* ''VideoGame/{{Arknights}}'' has an InUniverse example during the ''Ancient Forge'' event, which centers around a movie script written by [[GothGirlsKnowMagic Lava]] and [[PersonOfMassDestruction Nian]] starring them as the hero and villain respectively. Nian proves to be a ridiculous InvincibleVillain, besieging the city of Lungmen with an army of immortal soldiers and shrugging off every attack the heroes attempt on her. In the end, Lava is able to lure her inside a reactor and [[HeroicSacrifice blow it up like a firecracker with both of them inside]], but when the smoke clears we learn the "Nian" caught in the blast was [[ActuallyADoombot actually a body double she created]], and the real Nian reappears to transform the city into a {{Kaiju}}. Upon reading this Lava demands she change the ending, partly because filming it as-is would put them severely over budget, but also because she can't think of a satisfying way to wrap up the story after what just happened.
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166* In ''VisualNovel/TyrionCuthbertAttorneyOfTheArcane'', there was absolutely no way Tyrion could've proven the guilt of Case 4's culprit on his own. He only wins because of an almost literal DeusExMachina. [[spoiler:The only thing that could prove Beatrice is responsible for Marrunath's murder of William was a very specific clause in her 50-page Blood Contract that not even Tyrion knew about. The contract itself is an item that wasn't in evidence and no one other than Beatrice had access to. Frey, Tyrion's dead mother and a heavensborn, has to teach him on the spot how to issue a Divine Edict, a technique that manifests a copy of someone's Blood Contract, and the in-game description for the contract even points out the exact page where Tyrion needs to look. No wonder [[DidntSeeThatComing Beatrice is completely dumbfounded when he pulls it off.]]]]
167[[/folder]]
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169[[folder:Webcomics]]
170* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
171** {{Invoked|Trope}} when [[spoiler:the Handmaid]] tries to [[BreakingTheFourthWall break a]] [[PlayingWithATrope fifth wall]] to allow Andrew Hussie's AuthorAvatar to save her from [[PhysicalGod the current narrator]]. The author literally charges in to rescue her like a {{Big Damn Hero|es}} [[spoiler:but ultimately fails. She escapes from the current narrator, but is immediately caught by his master, who's even worse]].
172** Invoked a second time when Hussie rescues [[spoiler: Spades Slick from the destruction of the troll universe]] offscreen.
173** Incidentally, Hussie can't save anyone now [[spoiler: [[RageAgainstTheAuthor because Lord English killed him]]]].
174** Technically, none of the events that Hussie is in are real, as the Handmaid doesn't actually end up going anywhere and Doc Scratch dies with the destruction of the universe regardless of Hussie's intervention.
175** Eventually played straight with the [[AssPull Ring]] [[DeusExMachina of]] [[BackFromTheDead Life]] and the transparent hole [[CosmicRetcon retcon device]]. The former was first used by a villain to guarantee that the timeline would doom and, when the plan failed, it was used in the new timeline to [[spoiler:revive Calliope and ensure she gets her happy ending]]. The latter was used to [[spoiler:create a new alpha timeline by retconning three years' worth of change, anti-climactically bringing Vriska back, and resulting in a timeline with no other heroic casualties (except John and Roxy, but their pre-retcon selves survive to fill their shoes)]]. Both elements had questionable foreshadowing, to the point where most of the latter's was through retroactively editing the comic, and both are introduced fairly late in to something that otherwise had established rules barely implying they existed before their introduction.
176* Also {{invoked|Trope}} in ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' to defeat Dark Star. After all; [[spoiler: what could stop an [[AuthorAvatar author]], aside from another author]]? Invoked again in the final arc when [[spoiler: Temporary Dark Samus (now an editor) takes one of the authors hostage and [[TimeStandsStill causes the comic to grind to a near permanent halt]]]].
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Web Original]]
180* {{Parodied|Trope}} by ''Blog/HowToWriteBadlyWell'': "[[http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/2010/05/write-yourself-into-corner.html Write yourself into a corner]]". Followed by "[[https://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/2010/05/write-yourself-out-of-corner.html Write yourself out of a corner]]".
181[[/folder]]
182
183[[folder:Western Animation]]
184* In the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' 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]].
185* An InUniverse example in the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon ''WesternAnimation/DuckPimples'', where the characters in a mystery novel Don is reading come to life and accuse him of being a thief. Just when things look blackest for Donald, the novel's author appears to reveal the true culprit (although he has to go back and read his own book to remind him). [[spoiler:It turns out to be the detective, who then threatens to shoot both Donald and the author. Fortunately, his gun turns out to be a BangFlagGun.]]
186* ''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.
187* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
188** Discord is so powerful that [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 his]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 debut]] would have literally ended the series if he didn't just let the Mane Six win.
189** In ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2'', the ponies have lost in a ''big'' way. Tirek has the magic of countless ponies, the Mane Six, all the princesses, and even Discord. The princesses are locked in Tartarus. The Mane Six are near comatose and helpless from having their magic drained. Tirek has won, and he knows it. How do the ponies stop him? When, via a sheer stroke of luck, they gain "Rainbow Power" which [[OneHitKO one-punches]] Tirek, drains him of all his stolen magic, and restores it to all of Equestria. While it's not the first time a power like this has saved the day, other times the power was suitably foreshadowed[[note]]The Elements of Harmony with their powers and "rules" were firmly established in the prologue, we saw Queen Chrysalis wield ThePowerOfLove against Princess Celestia and win, and the Crystal Heart was well-established as what would defeat King Sombra with the entire plot being about finding it[[/note]], where Rainbow Power or its capabilities had never been even hinted at: the most foreshadowing it got was in the form of a mysterious chest with six locks earned in the premiere and no real hint whatsoever of what was inside or even that the ponies had found a single key. Justified as the Rainbow Power is quietly implied to be a one-time power-up granted from unlocking the chest and thus is never seen, mentioned or used again for the rest of the series (aside from a dream sequence at the beginning of one episode in Season 5).
190* ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'': The Beast Planet is so many leagues above the heroes that the only thing that saves them from being a snack is [[spoiler:the Prison Planet's teleporter, which allows them to teleport it away and make it Planet Reptizar's problem instead]].
191* ''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 [[BrokenBase deeply divided on]] whether this was an appropriate thematic ending to the series or the biggest AssPull and WriterCopOut possible.
192[[/folder]]

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