'''Basic Trope''': Only TheHero can defeat the BigBad; anyone else who tries will get owned.
* '''Straight''': [[TheLancer Bob]], thinking that [[TheHero Alice]] is dead, takes up her quest to defeat [[BigBad Lord Truculent]]. He manages to get past [[{{mooks}} the malign troopers]] and [[TheDragon Prince Scurrilous]], and reach the throne room of the dark castle. Then Lord Truculent kills him with ease. At that moment Alice enters, and slays Lord Truculent.
* '''Exaggerated''': [[TheBigGuy Bob]], [[TheLancer Aerith]] and the ridiculously formidable anti-dark-lord army gets instantly wiped out of existence by [[BigBad Lord Truculent]]. He is then killed by [[TheHero Alice the leukemian orphan child]].
* '''Downplayed''': Lord Truculent kills Bob as per #1, but the sheer amount of blows he suffered caused a single chink in his armor. Alice uses that chink to slay him.
* '''Justified''':
** [[TheHero Alice]] has fought against [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] several times before, and adapted her tactics to exploit his weaknesses.
** Alice is the only person holding Lord Truculent's WeakSauceWeakness.
* '''Inverted''':
** Everyone ''but'' Alice can defeat [[BigBad Lord Truculent]].
** [[TheDragon Prince Scurrilous]], thinking that [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] is dead, takes up his quest to defeat [[TheHero Alice]]. He manages to get past the anti-dark-lord army and [[TheLancer Bob]], and reach the {{Arcadia}}. Then Alice kills him with ease. At that moment Lord Truculent arrives, and slays Alice.
** [[TheHero Alice]] and [[TheLancer Bob]] reach the throne room of the dark castle together. Bob, aware of the prophecies, lets Alice rush into battle with [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] and just tries to avoid collateral damage. Suddenly, Alice falls dead to the floor. Desperately, Bob takes up her sword and continues the fight. After a few minutes, Lord Truculent is killed.
* '''Subverted''': [[TheLancer Bob]], thinking that [[TheHero Alice]] is dead, takes up her quest to defeat [[BigBad Lord Truculent]]. He manages to get past [[{{mooks}} the malign troopers]] and [[TheDragon Prince Scurrilous]], and reach the throne room of the dark castle. There, he kills Lord Truculent. At that moment Alice enters, and gives Bob a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.
* '''Double Subverted''': [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] suddenly [[NotQuiteDead stands up]] and kills [[TheLancer Bob]] before he has time to react. Alice then fights and defeats Lord Truculent.
* '''Parodied''': [[TheHero Alice]] and [[TheLancer Bob]] reach the throne room of the dark castle together. [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] politely asks them to state their names and prophesied roles. "Bob, [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice]]" says Bob, and explodes. "Alice, [[TheChosenOne chosen one]]" says Alice. Lord Truculent nods and gives her a key-shaped sword. She stabs him through a keyhole-shaped hole in his armor, and he falls over dead.
* '''Zig Zagged''': The prophecy states that only [[TheHero Alice]] can kill [[BigBad Lord Truculent]]. However, Alice hasn't been seen near TheGoodKingdom for decades, and the situation gets desperate as Lord Truculent quickly approaches.. [[TheBigGuy Bob]], who hasn't heard of the prophecy, attacks Lord Truculent, and kills him. Before he has time to celebrate this, the real Lord Truculent reveals that the dead one was a decoy, and kills Bob. [[BlackMagicianGirl Aerith]] studies the prophecy and decides that the specific statement of killing can be exploited as a loophole; As Lord Truculent reaches the city gate, she casts a paralyzing spell on him. He falls to the ground and lies still for a few seconds. Then he starts [[EvilLaugh laughing]], stands up and explains that the untranslated version of the prophecy uses a word that means "defeat" rather than "kill". He picks up Aerith by the neck and prepares to kill her, when [[DeusExMachina Alice suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts fighting him]]. The battle is intense, and Alice inflicts several very serious wounds on Lord Truculent. However, to everyone's fear and surprise, she is [[KilledOffForReal very definitely killed dead]] by a mace blow to the head. Panicking, Aerith starts firing every offensive spell she can think of at Lord Truculent, hoping to buy the civilians some time to flee. Lord Truculent first seems unaffected by the spells, but then stops, wobbles a little and falls over dead... From one of the wounds Alice inflicted before dying.
* '''Averted''':
** The ridiculously formidable anti-dark-lord army kills [[BigBad Lord Truculent]].
** Alternatively, [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] [[TheBadGuyWins kills everyone]].
* '''Enforced''': It's an epic work of HighFantasy. If anyone but TheHero defeats the BigBad, the readers will feel cheated.
* '''Lampshaded''': "Oh, hey [[TheLancer Bob]]! How are you? You want to defeat me, huh? But you're, like, a supporting character. I think [[TheHero Alice]] would... Oh, nevermind. Go right ahead. Do you want a bigger sword or something? Should I fight with my left hand or something? Wait, give me a minute and I'll fetch my styrofoam mace."
* '''Invoked''': "Hello, [[TheHero Alice]]. I can understand why you take offense at my campaign of senseless murdering, and therefore want to stop me. However, shouldn't you let the anti-dark-lord army try first? I mean, they're professionals. Surely they have a better chance of success than you do?"
* '''Exploited''':
** Knowing that only [[TheHero Alice]] can defeat [[BigBad Lord Truculent]], Truculent decides to flat-out recruit Alice instead so no one can defeat him.
** The entire armies all line up, get ready...and then Alice calls a time out, asking to just get it over in a one on one duel. The big army fight is just a waste of resources.
* '''Defied''': [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] arranges the defenses of the dark castle so that only [[TheLancer Bob]] [[PlotTailoredToTheParty can take the heroes through it]]. Then, he seeks out, fights and kills Bob when [[TheHero Alice]] isn't around.
* '''Discussed''': "Sir, I know that you assembled and trained the anti-dark-lord army just for a situation like this, but I assure you that sending [[TheHero Alice]] instead is a much better idea!"
* '''Conversed''': "Have you noticed how the outcome of these final battles are always determined by plot importance rather than skill?"
* '''Deconstructed''':
** [[TheHero Alice]], knowing that the prophecy states that no one else can kill [[BigBad Lord Truculent]], reasons that if she dies fighting him she is responsible for [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt what would happen afterward]]. Therefore, she keeps postponing the eventual battle, and spends all her awake time training. Her childhood friend and only support [[TheLancer Bob]] flees from the war-torn land and goes missing. Every day, civilians are killed by the thousands, as Alice never feels confident enough in her skills to seek out and fight Lord Truculent.
** [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Charlie]], the greatest fighter his land has ever known, catches wind of the prophecy stating that only [[TheHero Alice]] is destined to slay [[BigBad Lord Truculent]], and trains himself to face off against Truculent [[ScrewDestiny to avert the prophecy]] [[GloryHound for the sake of glory]]. He fights Truculent and [[CurbStompBattle loses badly]]; Truculent is healed when Alice comes knocking and she slays him as foretold. While the day is saved, Charlie feels slighted that some "low-born bitch" defeated a nemesis he reserved for himself, and [[RevengeBeforeReason dedicates the rest of his life to killing Alice]].
* '''Reconstructed''': Eventually, [[BigBad Lord Truculent]] seeks her out instead. She has no choice but to fight back, and thanks to her months of intensive training, she successfully defeats him. [[{{mooks}} The malign troopers]], now free from Lord Truculent's [[MassHypnosis control spell]], help the remaining civilians rebuild the destroyed cities. [[TheHero Alice]], encouraged by her victory, embarks on an expedition together with the remnants of the anti-dark-lord army to locate [[TheLancer Bob]].
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[[TheLancer Bob]] tried to go back to OnlyICanKillHim, but was killed.
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???