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* Played straight in ''{{Literature/Armada}}''. During The Battle of Crystal Palace, the enemy drones are taken out easily in the beginning but get tougher and tougher as their numbers dwindle. The last surviving drone actually manages to evade every one and damage the base.
* From Literature/TheBible: Leviticus 26:7-8 says: "You shall give chase to your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall give chase to a hundred, and a hundred of you shall give chase to ten thousand; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword." Making this OlderThanDirt.
* Defied by the ''Literature/TheCattleRaidOfCooley'', as avoiding this situation is the very reason Queen Medb agrees to [[OneManArmy Cu Chulainn]]'s terms of CombatByChampion. Not only would she drastically reduce the number of men killed by Cu Chulainn every day, but she could also potentially wear him down through accumulated fatigue and ScratchDamage.
* Indirectly used in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' by Creator/RogerZelazny during the war with the Courts of Chaos. There are, at max, only 15 Princes and Princesses of Amber, versus countless hordes of nobles from the Courts that are not only the same age or older than the Amberites, but theoretically almost as powerful. Not only do the Courts get thrashed defending their home turf, but they really only managed to kill one Amberite during the entire war - and the evidence actually points to the fact that he actually died of causes other than his wounds. All other Amberite deaths were actually caused by infighting. Oh, and this ''also'' doesn't include the fact that the two most powerful members of Amber, Oberon and Dworkin, didn't participate in the battle at all. This defeat causes an underground semi-religion venerating individual Amberites to spring up at the Courts after the war. Likely due, at least in part, to a literal conservation of power effect: on some level the forces of Amber and the Courts are acting as proxies for, and drawing their magical powers from, the Pattern and the Logrus, which are generally balanced in strength.
* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' novels by Creator/LloydAlexander, the Huntsmen of Annuvin (Annuvin is the area they come from) explicitly have this as their special power, each individual member of a group growing stronger as their numbers are decreased. The power is so feared that the usual answer is to run, and curse oneself if forced to kill one, as this made your chances of survival less. To the point where one character says that he's more afraid of them than he is of [[BigBad Arawn]]'s other set of EliteMooks, the [[ImplacableMan unkillable Cauldron-born]].
* Inverted in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' where ur-viles and related creatures have magic to combine their individual power into one, making their danger level scale with the number of them in a group.
* Creator/SandyMitchell's ''Literature/CiaphasCain'', '''Hero of the Imperium''', has an inverse example in ''Caves of Ice'': The stormtrooper squad has grown up together in one of the [[TheSpartanWay Imperium's orphanages]]. They've been trained to fight together up to the point where the intuitive rapport of the squad borders on telepathy. The downside is that they don't play too well with others and rotating in new soldiers for casualties makes no sense as they'd remain outsiders to the team. Thus, with more and more members dying, the squad becomes irrevocably weaker. The team accompanying Cain is almost at the point where they'll fall below the efficiency of a normal squad. [[spoiler: It's kind of a moot point - the Necrons kill them all.]]
* Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian regularly slaughters scores of opponents. That is, when he's not up against giant snakes, ape-man, and {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, who can actually give him problems. In "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword" we are told that his foes actually hampered each other.
* Used a lot in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books, thanks to the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality. LampshadeHanging in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', when Carrot Ironfoundersson confronts the Silver Horde by himself. The Silver Horde, all experienced, GenreSavvy barbarian heroes, start to worry a bit when they realize that, this time, they're facing a righteous hero while he's outnumbered:
--> "The Code was quite clear. One brave man against seven ... won. They knew it was true. In the past, they'd all relied on it. The higher the odds, the greater the victory. That was the Code."
** Also played with a lot in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' (with the Silver Horde on the opposite side of the equation), where Rincewind thinks "If it was seven against seventy everyone would ''know'' who would lose. Just because it's seven against seven hundred thousand, everyone's not so sure." Cohen, meanwhile, comes up with a [[JustifiedTrope logical reason]] why being outnumbered actually favours them (it boils down to "Always choose a bigger enemy, 'cause it makes him easier to hit"). (Although in the end, they're saved by an army of {{Magitek}} MechaMooks.)
** Cohen also offers a rather original justification. It is pointed out to him that even if he and his horde manage to kill a couple thousand soldiers, they will be tired and the enemy will have fresh troops. Cohen explains that the soldiers will be tired as well because by that point ''[[AtopAMountainOfCorpses they will be running uphill.]]''
** And then there's ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'''s Rule One: "Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men". Lu-Tze is even momentarily surprised at one point that a group of bandits would try to mug him. Paraphrasing: "You're a group of armed thugs attacking a lone, wizened old man who's ''smiling'', and don't run for your lives?!"
** Their guides, who DO know Rule One, were already hauling ass.
** Lu-Tze plays this all over the map. Early on, his opponents know Rule One and voluntarily stand down. Later, when faced with enemies who don't know Rule One, he cheats. Eventually, when he's in a situation when he can't cheat, he proves that he personally really can provide a practical demonstration of why Rule One is a good rule to live by.
** ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' is dedicated to the men who make this trope possible. And completely averts it when [[spoiler:Vimes is arrested]]. The guards look at him suspiciously, ask if he's going to pull a one-man can of whoopass out on them, and when he admits, "Wouldn't know where to start," they take him into custody without a fight while complimenting him for being sporting about it. [[CharacterizationMarchesOn Quite in contrast to his]] [[TookALevelInBadass later persona]], but there you go. Later on, though, he was: [[spoiler:a) not an alcoholic any more; b) Commander of the Watch, instead of Captain of the Night Watch; c) a Duke; and d) sure of himself because of a, b, and c. When he was arrested he was still a hardarse, but much less self-assured.]]
** The Nac Mac Feegle love being outnumbered. It means they don't have to watch where they swing.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Justified in one of the novels. Harry notes the White Council, when they find powerful rituals, deliberately get the ritual published far and wide. The reason, as given by Harry, is "A ritual is like a supernatural vending machine. If many people are drawing from it, the ritual gives each person a tiny bit. But if only a few people draw from it, it's very powerful."
** It's also noted that in the case of many groups there are huge power disparities, particularly at the top of the power structure. The RankScalesWithAsskicking nature works out such that top individuals in any organization are probably as strong as a large portion of more junior members combined, although many top-tiers have an ObstructiveCodeOfConduct of some sort. When one or two members are sent to handle a situation, it's ''because'' they are the most powerful, most capable members of the group, and it's assumed they can deal with it, while deploying a whole army will include many less powerful members.
** Invoked by the Huntsmen of Annuvin. The Huntsmen are created in packs of twelve, but for every member of a pack that dies, the rest grow just that little bit stronger.
* In ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'''s TournamentArc, Satyrane’s massive team of dozens of knights fares the worst and the two man team of Triamond and Campbell does better than that, but the victor is the one-woman team of Britomart. She handily smacks Artegall and dozens of others knights around, while later she has to give considerable efforts to fight evenly with the man when he’s alone.
* ''Literature/GoodOmens'' sees [[NobleDemon Crow]][[OneManArmy ley]] take on [[RedShirtArmy a jeep full of soldiers]] at the Lower Tadfield airbase. [[NoodleIncident By the next paragraph...]] It's Crowley's jeep. Justified in that Crowley is a demon, thousands of years old (and has spent who knows how much of that time practicing martial arts), and has supernatural powers.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'':
** The battle mage technique, "Mana Barrage" was made with this trope in mind. It creates several [[HandBlast mana bolts]] from the energy used to create one so that a single mage could defeat large numbers. Given sufficient power [[OneManArmy one mage could bring down an army]].
** There's an aversion in the climax of ''Literature/AMagesPower''. [[spoiler: Kasile and Siron are surrounded by a large group of faceless and nameless soldiers, and it is made clear that the only reason they're still alive is because these soldiers don't want to kill them. The former is their nation's popular princess and the latter is their boss' son. Not only do their orders include "don't kill them", they're personally reluctant to do so anyway.]]
* Any time Kalam Mekhar goes up against other assassins in the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', they seem to fall victim to this trope. Despite the Claw being played up as elite assassins and mages, Kalam manages to tear through several dozens of the best of them in both ''Literature/DeadhouseGates'' and again in ''Literature/TheBonehunters''. However, he ends both occasions badly wounded. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by him being a former Clawmaster and a match for the Patron God of Assassins, pre-ascension, in skill.
* The titular villain of ''[[Literature/TheReckonersTrilogy Mitosis]]'' can clone himself at-will, with no "prime" copy (so any of his bodies can produce new bodies), but his bodies grow individually weaker and more fragile the more of him there are. Conversely, as his bodies are killed off, the remaining ones get stronger.
* OlderThanFeudalism: At the end of ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', Telemachus and his father face down (and kill, very gorily) over a hundred (unarmed) people.
* [[FeatheredFiend Gore Crows]] in the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy has this fact lampshaded and justified. Gore Crows come in swarms of hundreds, and generally kill by [[ZergRush sheer numbers]]. The kicker is that they're a KeystoneArmy, and every single crow is the keystone. This is because [[HiveMind the whole swarm is powered by one Dead spirit]], and destroying one Gore Crow will banish the entire spirit, and all connected crows drop like stones.
* This has the status of an in universe law in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'', named for one particularly annoying Dread Emperor. This is a universe that runs on NarrativeCausality
--> Irritant’s Law: Inevitable doom is a finite resource, and becomes mere doom when split between multiple heroic bands. Nemeses should never simultaneously engage a single villain.
* Creator/MattStover's ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'', a ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel, has this used. Five or six Force-users share from the same pool of energy, since they are bonded to their leader Kar Vastor. [[spoiler:As they are killed off in the climactic battle, their shares of the power flow back into the communal pool, and the last one standing, Vastor himself, ends up enormously superpowered. It doesn't help.]]
** Deconstructed in the first novel of the ''Literature/XWingSeries'', where Rogue Squadron is attacked by three squadrons of TIE fighters. They don't take a single casualty while only two [=TIEs=] get away, and Wedge thinks later about how combat statistics have shown that the more fighters are in a battle, the lower each pilot's kill count is. The Imperials also had to watch their fire, as while the Rogues had shields, [=TIEs=] don't, and therefore they had to be careful picking their targets, something the Rogues weren't limited by.
* In James Clavell's [[Literature/AsianSaga Shogun]], a team of ninja are unsuccessful in their objective to capture Mariko, [[spoiler: their attack instead resulting in her death]], but a single ninja is later successful in his hired task of [[spoiler: burning Blackthorne's new ship]]. This example is downplayed in that the ninja are never portrayed as incompetent or less than deadly.
* In the ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' novelizations, when the Dominion and Cardassians are attacking the station, Dukat notes that Sisko works much better when he has fewer ships. It certainly seems to be true, as the station and two ships account for dozens of attackers during the battle.
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, Richard gains the ability to face off against innumerable foes by being forced into a battle to the death with thirty highly trained warriors. The whole purpose of the fight was to force him to use the Sword of Truth in a manner that communicated its past wielders' experience to him. It's a skill that saves his life many times on in the series.
* Handled fairly well in ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'', undoubtedly due to Creator/JRRTolkien's familiarity with real war.
** While the orcs tend to be massively inferior fighters to Men, Dwarves, and Elves, their fighting ability does not diminish with increased numbers; Isildur's elite guard was able to be overcome by superior numbers of orcs at the Gladden Fields, though the orcs lost at least five of their own for every man they killed. In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Boromir ''is'' able to single-handedly fight off 100 orcs while attempting to defend Merry and Pippin, until Uglúk orders his orcs to just shower Boromir with arrows (though at least twenty orcs have fallen to Boromir's sword by then).
** Played as straight as possible, and justified due to being true, for Melkor/Morgoth himself. He was originally too powerful for even all the Valar together to defeat him, but as he divided up his power to control his ever-increasing armies of slaves and the Earth itself, he became diminished so severely that Tulkas on his own could best him.
* ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' has a notable example where the same force is alternately on both sides of the trope. The Ragnarok attack the alliance army and utterly curb-stomp them, having the advantages of surprise, emerging in the middle of the army's formation, and each one being a OneManArmy. Then Yoruka takes them on singlehandedly and manages to distract them for several minutes, saving half of the alliance army. Not only is each Ragnarok an enormous monster that could kill her with a single direct hit, all of them have powerful abilities such as [[HealingFactor regeneration]], [[AdaptiveAbility adapting to resist any attack used against it]], [[AnIcePerson freezing breath]], [[AttackReflector reflecting all attacks]], [[GoMadFromTheRevelation sanity-destroying aura]], [[SpaceMaster space manipulation]] and [[PlayingWithFire fiery projectiles that can't be extinguished]]. Then the Seven Dragon Paladins (who, as the name suggests, are seven people) enter the battle and successfully defeat the Ragnarok, in some cases singlehandedly.
* Deconstructed the occasion it most obviously happens in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: Literature/GauntsGhosts'', where the tacticians going over the reports have the battle in question written out of the archives, because they simply couldn't comprehend how so few could beat so many. Other times, the Ghosts work in coordination with other Imperial Guard units and rarely take out superior numbers on their own. Played straight with the Blood Pact, though, as they die en masse with little effect when they attack in large groups, but small kill-teams such as [[spoiler: the one sent to Balhaut in ''Blood Pact'']] appear much more effective. Although the effectiveness of the Blood Pact team sent to Balhaut can be attributed to that platoon essentially being Urlock Gaur's equivalent to the Gereon Team, at least in the sense they were the cream of the Pact as the Ghost's are in the Guard.
* DoubleSubversion in Robert Jordan's ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' {{Prequel}} novel ''New Spring'', Lan is surrounded by seven men, [[LampshadeHanging noting glumly to himself]] that only in stories do men fight seven armed skilled opponents and win. Then he wins.
* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', the Slaughterhouse Nine are an S-level threat, each capable of being a meaningful antagonist for multiple chapters. After [[spoiler:they are cloned en-masse]], several of them can be killed in a sentence. This is somewhat justified in that [[spoiler: the past members of the Nine have already been killed once, so figuring out how to kill them again is much easier, and the original's memories and experience were replaced with whatever Bonesaw could make for them.]]
** Blowout's power relies on the amount of people aware of him and their reactions, including his enemies.
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