Hope Spots in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Late into Carnage Necropolis
, Misty discovers that the L-Ject she got has a chance of curing Ash of his infection. When she reaches him, though, he's too far gone to be healed, and the only thing she can do is kill him. - Chaldea Evil Incorporated!: In chapter 5, Phineas and Ferb get through to Chaldea through Doofenshmirtz's phone call to his daughter Vanessa, sharing their space-time data to about the Incineration of Humanity Olga-Marie and their plans to replicate Chaldea's defense. Given the boys' track record in the show, many readers anticipated that they would be able to survive just like Chaldea. However, chapter 8 reveals that without the full context of the Incineration plus Chaldea's geographic location, Phineas and Ferb were only to buy Danville just a bit of time before being erased like the rest of humanity, much to Heinz and Perry's despair.
- In the Children of Time finale, Beth finally makes it into the heart of Moriarty's base to rescue Holmes. For a moment, he even seems pleased to see her. But just for a moment... because then he tells her That Man Is Dead. The scene rolls Broken Pedestal, Break the Cutie, Heroic Sacrifice, Driven to Suicide, and Family-Unfriendly Death all in one go.
- A Different Medius has a particularly cruel one. AU!Sam is swapped with her canon self, and among other things, she prevents a load of angst by defending Buwaro from an angel attack instead of Kieri, preventing the latter from angsting about betraying her own kind, and stops Buwaro and Kieri from playing the Archery Game, preventing Kieri from losing her grip when she would've seemingly missed a target. And, she even gets canon!Iratu to do a Heel–Face Turn and join canon!Rhea's party. Then Moonshade kills Iratu for betraying him, which wouldn't have happened had Sam not been present.
- Equestria Girls: A Fairly Odd Friendship: Timmy manages to beat the Dazzlings and is about to free the brainwashed Cosmo and Wanda, when he falls into a trap set Adagio set up just in case.
- In the Heroes series, when Thanos moves to sacrifice Gamora to the Soul Stone, John Constantine (who has been trapped in the Soul Stone since a dimension-jumping accident) manages to open a portal to Hell so that a soul from Hell is sacrificed to the Stone in Gamora's place. As a result, Gamora is trapped in the Stone with Constantine rather than being dead forever, but since a soul was still sacrificed to the Stone because of Thanos's actions he still 'wins' the Soul Stone even though Gamora herself isn't dead.
- In Incarnation of Legends, Oryou demands Haruhime use her magic, Uchide no Kozuchi, on Araki to give him one of these. She lets him punch her in the middle of his Power High until he realizes that Oryou is taking it without so much as flinching before finishing him off.
- A Man of Iron: Iron Man arrives just in time to save Ned from having his head cut off and it looks like all the Starks will escape... and then Joffrey uses Sansa as a human shield, causing her to slip and crack her head against the steps of Baelor, killing her.
- The Mountain and the Wolf: From the perspective of the good guys, the siege of King's Landing ends on a high note: Cersei is gone, Daenerys returns to the city and has made a complete apology for the destruction she caused under magical influence, and the Iron Fleet has retreated eastwards. Then it all goes to hell when the Wolf tries to steal the Iron Throne, gets Drogon sicced on him, and Daenerys ends up dead.
- In the original version of The Night Unfurls, this is Invoked by Kyril and his forces a couple of times. It seems that they are familiar with The Art of War.
- Featured in Chapter 15, the retaking of Tarsus, an old mining town in Rad ends with twenty or more Black Dogs fleeing into the mines. Kyril, Alaric, and company promptly seal every other exit of the mines except one, so as to kill anyone who finds this one exit.
- How do they triumph against Grishom and the remaining rebel forces, putting an end to the rebellion at last in Chapter 26? The Plan is that Bergen and his company would create a cordon to surround the cathedral where Grishom and his men are residing in, so as to prevent them from escaping. To lure them out, Soren and the mages would be responsible for setting the cathedral on fire. After that, the rebels would be flushed into an escape route, only to be dispatched by Kyril and the heavy-hitters. In the end, the tactic is such a success that Sun Tzu would be proud.
- In Rabbit of the Moon, Bell doesn't see Viola's corpse among the fallen at first, and he hopes that he can reunite her daughter with her until he discovers Viola's body and recognizes her because of her brooch. He has another one when the Chapel Dweller tells him about Henryk, as that would mean the Little Girl isn't truly an orphan yet. Then he encounters a crazed Henryk while trying to escort the Little Girl to the Chapel and Eileen kills Henryk before the Little Girl's eyes, dashing Bell's remaining hopes of reuniting Gascoigne's daughter with her family.
- Discussed in Stardust chapter 20: Shen reprimands Lana for making Twilight think that Matt's romantically interested in her, saying that this kind of false hope will only make things worse once the truth comes out. Lana insists in retort that false hope is better than no hope.
- In Three Strikes, there is hope for Rosa, her mother and Henri when they are found by conservative soldiers after their plane crash, but this soon washes away when she finds out that they are targeting civilians. Then the radicals attack.
- Winter War. After many of the cast have already been killed or suffered even worse fates, Grimmjow, Hanatarou, and Hisagi or rather, Kazeshini controlling his body discover the original Kurotsuchi Nemu alive in Mayuri's lab. She's in bad shape, but they hope Orihime can heal her. She explains otherwise: her zanpakutou has been severed and her soul is being drained into her clones... which would remain even if Orihime tried to reject the damage. She asks them to kill her, and after some hesitation, they do.
- Childhood's End (Bloodborne) begins with Eileen the Crow finding the Gascoigne daughters early in the night, leading her to take them to Old Yharnam so they can come under the protection of Djura. Surprisingly, she actually get them there fairly quickly and the girls settle down on the relative safety of Djura's tower while Eileen leaves to do her job. Then the younger one realizes that their mother forgot the music box when going off to find their father, leading the trio back into the nightmare that is Central Yharnam in a futile attempt to help save the girls' parents.
- The first time Calvin reels in the canoe in Calvin & Hobbes: The Series, it appears to be going good until it gets stuck on a rock. It gets subverted when Calvin uses a Chekhov's Gun to get it back to shore.
- Chapter 5 of Despair's Last Resort has a series of them. After going through four trials and witnessing the execution of Arata, the seven remaining students declare that they'll no longer play by Monokuma's rules and refuse to kill. The next day, he shows up with a new motive and reveals not only is there a thief who's identity is unknown but someone among them didn't lose their memories and is working for him. It seems like they're still going to work together and decide to look over all the strange items that have been appearing in their rooms. But then Takara and a few others realize even though they met in a location without cameras, the mole was still with them and could tell Monokuma everything.. The students start fighting with each other for a number of reasons, though after Miyako tells them they're being foolish it seems like everyone's going to settle their differences. Miyako even has a plan to make sure it all stops. Turns out that plan of hers involves committing suicide so the others can work together and letting the killing end.
- Series wide example in Danganronpa: The Immersive Learning Program. The end of The Immersive Learning Program has said program shutting down with the surviving students inside, though shows Shuichi (who wasn't in that killing game) reaching out to rescue Kaede. The Fourth Chapter of spin-off/sequel Academy of Discontent has Shuichi, Leon, and Gundam enter the Immersive Learning Program to free the students as the program shuts down. While most of the imprisoned students are rescued, Shuichi and Kaede along with Yasuhiro die in the process.
- From The Blessed Disaster: "I had had my fill of life. Then one day a child came to our lives and made me see the wonder that was still in the world... She's dead now."
- From the Nightmare Fuel-eriffic Wreck-It Ralph fanwork Creeper-Pasta, we have the end of Creeper's GALA NIGHT, in which he wreaks havoc in Pokémon X and Y. After Creeper has warped the entire landscape and either killed or corrupted everyone, human and Pokemon alike, we get one of his corrupted puppets getting blasted by an offscreen attacker—it's Diantha, alive and well, leading a small army of survivors against Creeper's forces and bellowing "FOR KALOS!" The rebellion is mighty impressive...for about five seconds. Then Creeper decides to throw Arceus (aka, GOD) into the mix. The look on Diantha's face says all...
- Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty has several during the Android/Cell saga.
- In the Bad Future, Krillin talks to Future 18 and tries to convince her to pull off a Heel–Face Turn. 18 is genuinely moved, but Future 17 kills Krillin before he can finish his speech, and the Future Androids remain Ax-Crazy maniacs from there.
- In the Bad Future, after a long string of painful defeats at the hand of the androids, the one-armed Future Gohan unveils his trump card: Super Saiyan Great Ape. It gave him the power boost he needed to finally beat the androids. Unfortunately, they were able to cut off his tail before he could finish them off. That fight would be Future Gohan's last.
- Even in his imperfect form, Cell has proven to be an unstoppable monster. However, Android 16 proves to be more than a match to him, finishing with a devastating Hell's Flash. Cell survives, but he's so badly wounded, he's at death's doorstep... until his skin crystalizes into a chrysalis-like state, coming out with a new, undamaged body, with a huge power increase thanks to the Zenkai boost.
- Unlike in canon, Vegeta not only refuses to let Cell reach his Perfect form out of disgust for how Cell gets stronger, but even forced him to throw Android 18 up, causing Cell to revert back to his Imperfect form. It seems that Cell won't reach his perfect form this time around, huh? Too bad that, after Future Trunks and Vegeta brought the Androids from the former's timeline to the present in order to repair present Android 18's Infinite Energy Engine, Cell kidnaps Baby Trunks, forcing Vegeta to hand him the Androids, allowing him to reach his perfect form..
- So, the Cell Juniors are beating the crap of the Z-Fighters, Gohan is too scared and horrified to fight, so Bardock steps in to fight Cell himself... and successfully traps him using the Evil Containment Wave. Too bad that a couple of the Cell Jrs. were still there and released their father.
- A Brighter Dark: Despite being surrounded and outmatched, Subaki and Hana continue to hold their own against Nohrian soldiers, fighting with all there power to protect Sakura and Mozu from a Fate Worse than Death. They are more than successful, and it almost looks like they might just pull it off, when a mage zaps Hana with lighting, killing her instantly with one hit. Subaki shouts, and is axed in the back by Hans. Then Sakura and Mozu are knocked out and taken captive by the soldiers who were known practitioners of Rape, Pillage, and Burn and everything fades to black.
- Later, when Corrin catches one of her soldiers forcing himself upon a woman during the battle at Cheve, she kills him and offers the woman a hand... only to run her through the heart with her sword, reminding the remaining soldiers that they're there to wipe out the town, and not to waste time raping and pillaging.
- Enemy of My Enemy: Every time things start looking up for the defenders of Horizon City, something happens that gives the Brutes the upper hand again. Suffice to say, there are more Hope Spots in this story than can be counted on one hand.
- The Meaning of One: Harry and Ginny's bond brings a lot of family tension and conflict; they share all their thoughts and memories, and can only sleep when in physical contact, making them effectively married at ages ten and eleven, to the distress of her parents. Everyone finally makes it to Christmas, and Harry is overcome with emotion upon receiving a Weasley jumper, like canon, making him feel like part of a real family for the first time in his life. Until he discovers the book bundled inside, all about propriety and gentlemanly behavior, letting him know that Mrs. Weasley hasn't really decided to accept and trust him after all.Ginny: Do you have any idea what you just did to him?
- Close Every Door has two.
- The first is when Russia realizes that America is insane and most likely is the one who kidnapped England. It's ruined when no one listens to him, thinking that he is just slandering America out of jealousy.
- The second is when a witness tells Canada that a man matching England's description was seen carried into a house in Virginia, leading the nations searching for him to scour the state. Unfortunately, America realizes that they caught on, and moves England to another state.
- In the HetaOni, it looks for a moment as if everyone really will make it out alive. Everyone, Italy included, has survived, and they've found the hidden staircase to where the key to the front door has been found in every other timeline. And even better, the monster guarding it is very slow, so Italy should be able to steal the key easily! And... the key is not there. Naturally.
- In the 22nd chapter of The Vow, Lord Shen finally learns that his prisoner and former fiancée Lady Lianne didn't turn her back on him three decades ago but saved him from execution by asking him to be banished instead. This leads him to forgive her of any perceived wrongdoings and ask for her forgiveness. They have a sweet moment of reconciliation and rekindling their love to the point of copulation. After all the hostility between them, that moment makes it tempting to think that Shen's coming around and Lianne can have the man she loves. Unfortunately for her (and everyone else), Shen has merely stopped antagonizing her and hasn't given up his goal of conquering China.
- FFS, I Believe in You: In chapter eight, Link using Cryonis on Dark Link instantly freezes it within the block of ice, seemingly ending the fight for good... until it casually forms a new body outside of it a few seconds later and goes right back to trying to kill him.
- By the end of the first chapter in Of Love and War, Link and Zelda have hit it off despite their despite their mutual opposition to their Arranged Marriage and have managed to negotiate a compromise between their parents' desires and their own. As they sign the marriage contract, however, they realize their parents changed the terms behind their backs. Zelda pulls out a knife to remove her signature from the contract, but gets scolded by her mother for bringing Sheikah gear along. This reveals to Link that Zelda disguised herself as Sheik to probe at his personality and feelings about the arrangement, angering him and completely ruining the tentative bond he'd formed with Zelda. Both storm off in a huff, and their parents take advantage of their absence to finalize the contract, leaving Link and Zelda legally bound by the revised terms.
- The Boy Who Cried Idiot: In Lincoln's nightmare, his parents and sisters show up in a flying house and tell him to grab the rope and escape the Martins, but he can't.
- The War Is Far from Over Now: After seeing the videotape of the Starks' murders, Tony is silent for several seconds before eventually stepping out of his armor, causing Steve to hope things will end nonviolently. Then Tony reawakens Extremis and starts breathing fire.
- Mega Man: Defender of the Human Race has this. In episode 11, chapter 7, everyone is geared up for a fight against Project G-2. There were heartwarming scenes before the battle, everyone is confident Mega will do his best, and he has the full support of the Robo-Commandos and the US army. And then everyone but Mega Man is killed.
- Marinette Dupain-Cheng's Spite Playlist: Remix: Alya starts investigating Lila's claims, and starts finding evidence that she hasn't been telling the truth. Then Ladybug gives an interview where she officially denies having any civilian friends... and Alya concludes that Ladybug must be lying, as she doesn't want to believe that she trusted the wrong person. It's easier for her to double down on trusting Lila than facing reality, as that would mean admitting she was wrong.
Monster Girl Quest
- The Tyrant and the Hero has a moment when Heinrich and Ellen hide from bandits among the roots of a tree. They hear the bandits say that they've lost their targets, and breathe a sigh of relief, only for the bandits to laugh and tell them to get out. It turns out that the two of them had left clear footprints leading to their hiding place, which the bandits noticed and then acted as if they hadn't.
- In Juxtapose, the day seems saved when All Might quickly defeats the Nomu designed to take him down with plenty of time to spare. That's when Shigaraki decides to reveal that he has three more just like it before siccing them all on All Might at once.
- Mastermind: Strategist for Hire: During the attack at the USJ, All Might defeats the Nomu sent to attack him by punching it through the roof, and starts monologuing to Shiragaki, believing himself victorious. Cue a sneak attack from Izuku and One For All's time limit running out, with fatal results.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Ace Combat: The Equestrian War has a few:
- In chapter 14, the pegasi manage to retake Cloudsdale. Then Canterlot is attacked and besieged by the griffins.
- In chapter 17, Canterlot is liberated and the griffins are driven out of Equestria. But by the end of the chapter Derpy reveals that Axe told her about Red Cyclone's new superweapon, Fortress Intimidation.
- In chapter 19, Fortress Intimidation is destroyed, Red Cyclone dies and it seems the war is over. But as ponies and griffins alike celebrate, Firefly is struck down.
- Asylum (Daemon of Decay): Twilight sometimes gets a sense of comfort from elements of the world she woke up in are more familiar to her world before it hits her with a cold reminder that she isn't in her world anymore. One example is when she sees Pinkie Pie the first time (since she first woke up in the hospital) and is relieved that she is the same pony (sans her now always straight hair) she knew from Ponyville. The one difference that killed it was a massive scar covering Pinkie's cutie mark.
- A Diplomatic Visit: In chapter 7 of the second sequel, Diplomacy Through Schooling, Neighsay has a brief one, when his distraction works so he can teleport out... then it turns out the mines' interference kept him from doing so.
- Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls: This happens with the Dazzlings. After Aria and Sonata are saved from the Grand Fisher, it seems like Adagio may finally regain her body back and they'll actually get to go back to Equestria. Then Grogar shows up and forces Adagio to pull a Heroic Sacrifice, (right after her Heel Realization, no less) turning herself into a hollow to save Sunset and the others. And you know what the worst part is? It turns out Celestia was willing to give the Dazzlings a second chance, meaning that if that didn't happen, they would've gotten to go back to Equestria.
- Friendship Is Magic The Adventures Of Spike: The Equestrian military manages to start winning against the changelings, and the Mane Six reach the Elements of Harmony. Then changeling reinforcements show up, and the Elements of Harmony refuse to activate. (It's implied to be due to the others not trusting Twilight earlier.)
- Inner Demons has several:
- Rarity, Apple Bloom, and Spike are escaping from the castle and planning to go to Shining Armor and Cadence for help in the hope that the latter can use her powers to return Twilight to normal after being possessed by her Queen persona. Trixie intercepts them, and while Apple Bloom and Spike escape, Rarity is recaptured. Meanwhile, Queen!Twilight has learned of their plans; by the time the heroes are reunited, she's gotten to Cadence and stripped her of her powers.
- After Scootaloo goads Rainbow Dash into a race for the title of fastest pegasus, Dash pulls off a Sonic Rainboom and it appears she's going to win. Then Scootaloo pulls off a firey equivalent of the Rainboom and not only wins but drives Dash into the ground.
- Applejack and Rarity are fighting their way through Queen!Twilight's forces, and it looks like they're going to win and escape, only to be confronted by the brainwashed Princess Luna.
- Spike confronts Queen!Twilight in Fillydelphia, and for a moment his heartfelt pleas seem to be getting through to the real Twilight — then she punches him across the room.
- Applejack finally confronts Queen!Twilight and overpowers her; it appears as though she's going to kill her and, at worst, give the story a Bittersweet Ending. Unfortunately, she can't bring herself to kill her best friend, giving Queen!Twilight the opportunity to beat her, and place her under a spell that leaves her in a state of perpetual fear.
- During the Final Battle, the Elements of Harmony are used on Queen!Twilight and, combined with her inner light and own Element of Magic, force the darkness out of her, both freeing Twilight and evolving her element to armor... but then the darkness takes on a life of its own, which proceeds to kidnap Twilight and flee.
- Last Light: There's a moment where it seems like Sunset Shimmer's taking a turn for the better and will recover from her suicide attempt, but she ends up bleeding internally and dies anyway.
- My Little Mages: The Nightmare's Return:
- When Nightmare Moon first emerges, Celestia very nearly manages to purify her. However, since that would render the entire plot null and void, the Grand Master interferes and mortally wounds her.
- After Nightmare Moon announces herself and that Celestia is dead, Twilight receives a letter via Spike, which implies she's still alive. However, it turns out the letter was only supposed to be sent if Celestia died, which kills the mood.
- Nine Days Down: Fairly early in the story, Twilight, Bait and Ben emerge from the cave system in the Fields of Asphodel, the closest part of Tartarus to the exit, and come across Cretes the bull, who offers to guide them to the way out in exchange for his herd being allowed to leave as well. Just as it seems like the characters have a clear shot at escape, however, Tartarus extends its will and possesses Cretes, refusing to let its new toys get away.
- Pony POV Series:
- In Discorded Ponies, the first part of the series, the Alternate Universe Bad Future epilogue has Twilight Tragedy turn back into Twilight Sparkle after Traitor Dash couldn't bring herself to kill her best friend. Twilight was then about to embark on fixing everything, but then Discord appears and turns her into Twilight Tragedy again. Turns out she only becomes herself again when and if he feels like it...
- There's another one near the end of the Generational Transitions arc: Star Catcher uses the Rainbow of Light to defeat Strife, and Pinkie saves Minty from being deleted from existence... only for Minty to die of blood loss anyway, and Strife to reveal that she's even more powerful than she let on.
- The Dark World!Mane Six are Storming the Castle. They've beaten and redeemed Traitor Dash, killed the Valeyard (causing him to regenerate back into the Doctor), torn apart Discord's defensive line, and manage to convince the Castle to remain neutral in the coming conflict. Just when it seems everything is going their way and it looks like they'll save everyone, it's revealed Fluttershy's essentially dead (though in Pony Heaven) and Fluttercruel is merely using her body. Then during the showdown with Discord's remaining minions, it looks like the heroes have the upper hand, Rarity killing Fluttercruel and Spike gaining the upper hand on Rancor... then Angry Pie rips Twilight's Element out and leaves her to die of Rapid Aging.
- This leads to another one when Twilight arrives, having survived by obtaining Trixie's Element of Magic, just in time to save Applejack and Apple Pie from Angry Pie. Her friends all cheer at the fact she's survived... but Twilight doesn't pay them heed and instead begins giving Angry Pie a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and a viscous "The Reason You Suck" Speech. And then, familiar black tendrils begin wrapping around her as she begins to turn into a vengeance crazed Nightmare.
- Happens in "Crushed Pearl Necklace", when after Odyne!Cruelty is defeated, it seems Pinkie Pie has survived the battle...only for Rainbow Dash to pass right through her when she goes to hug her.
- Pony POV Series Chaos Verse has a couple during the Final Battle. First, Discord and Fluttercruel seemingly defeat Nightmare Phobia, only for her to absorb the Shadows of Oblivion and go One-Winged Angel. Shortly after that, they and the Princesses destroy her second OWA form, only for it to turn out to be a puppet of her true form.
- In Discorded Ponies, the first part of the series, the Alternate Universe Bad Future epilogue
- Twilight Revised has one near the end when Twilight breaks free of Nightmare Moon's control and shoots her right through the chest with a magic laser. And then Nightmare Moon wins anyway.
- The Vinyl and Octavia Series: Occurs twice in Vinyl and Octavia Duel Destiny:
- The first time, Octavia is given evidence which proves who the real murderer is. She's ready to use it... only to be disbarred from practicing law since it's inadmissible evidence.
- The second time, the courtroom doors burst open and it seems that somepony is about to come through and save the case... only for it to be revealed that Vinyl opened the door with her telekinesis in the hopes of invoking this.
- Son of the Sannin: When Hinata finally encounters Toneri Otsutsuki in Chapter 113, he reveals to her that he only joined Akatsuki because Obito brainwashed him using Kotoamatsukami, but now that his Tenseigan has fully matured, he's finally broken out of it. Hinata then says this means they don't have to be enemies anymore and Toneri agrees, but when she proposes that they join forces in taking Akatsuki down, he steadily refuses. He goes on to state that his intentions in regards to her haven't changed one bit, and now he wants to let the ongoing Fourth Ninja War rage on so he can eventually step in and hijack the Nine-Tails's power for himself when the time comes, so he can become the ruler of the new era and make Hinata his queen.
- Space to Breathe: Kakashi's reputation starts tanking after Sakura leaves Team Seven in order to apprentice under Ibiki instead, as rumors swiftly spread through Konoha about him being an Apathetic Teacher. Matters only worsen when she enters the Chunin Exams with another team and excels while his remaining students struggle; Sasuke winds up eliminated during the preliminary matches, Naruto's match with Kiba is regarded as a joke, and Sakura's replacement, Kabuto, betrays Konoha. Then Naruto ditches him to start training under Jiraiya... but hey, at least he's still got Sasuke, right? And is able to teach him his signature move, the Chidori. ...Only for Sasuke to then misuse his technique by attacking his fellow leaf-nin Nanako with it in public, further destroying both of their reputations. And in case that's not bad enough, he later punches straight through Naruto's chest with it.
- Advice and Trust:
- After getting together Shinji and Asuka's lives had gotten better: they were happier and more stable, they had kicked an Eldritch Abomination's posterior together, they were helping Rei to get in touch with her humanity and developing a strong bond with their teammate, their best friends were getting together... and then the Bardiel incident happened. Hikari got trapped inside Unit-03 and they got fired.
- The whole fight against Zeruel was a sucession of Hope Spots. Several times Rei was apparently getting the upper hand or gaining an advantage or rising after getting stomped flat... right before getting pummelled by Zeruel again. And then Shinji and Asuka came along piloting Unit-03, saved Rei and started to beat Zeruel up... and then they ran out of power.
- A Crown of Stars: Shinji and Asuka had finally got the help they needed, they were talking to each other and with the assistance of powerful friends they were ready to take down the Big Bad... when the dimensional gate through which they were transporting an army got blocked and they were cut off. Asuka got afraid all this was going to Hell again because their lives had been a long string of hope spots.
- Evangelion 303:
- After several fights and disagreements Asuka and Shinji got together. They were still confused about their feelings and their relationship, and they still had arguments, but they were happy. Then in chapter 7 the plane Asuka was piloting crashed, killing her best friend. Asuka survived but she spent several months in a coma and when she woke up, she was a different, angrier person.
- Later Shinji managed to stop her from committing suicide, and it looked like if he had finally reached her out and they could start to repair their relationship. The next day she ran away.
- HERZ: When SEELE got most of GEIST members assassinated and deployed their Evas against HERZ they thought they were going to win. Then Rei seized the MP-Evas.
- The One I Love Is...: In chapter 7, Shinji has come back to the physical world after spending a month stuck inside his giant robot, Asuka and Rei have become friends, and the three of them and Misato are fine and are relatively happy. In the next chapters Kaji gets assassinated, Asuka gets mind-raped, Rei blows herself up, Shinji's remaining friends move out, Misato barely comes home, and he gets forced to kill another person who had showed him affection.
- Thousand Shinji: When he arrived on Tokyo-3 Shinji was gradually getting what he always wished: a family (Misato, Rei), a girlfriend (Asuka), and friends. He seemed powerful and cunning enough to take down any enemy, and he and his fellow pilots worked together marvelously. Then Rei started to behave like a jealous Yandere and broke their teamwork, his best friend got crippled and his girlfriend's best friend got killed. He got stuck inside Unit 01 and after getting retrieved he was in a coma for a month. During that time Asuka, Rei and Misato fell utterly apart. Asuka got mind-raped by Arael and was in a coma since then, Rei hang herself and blew herself up to destroy Armisael and Misato got jailed. Needless to say, when Shinji woke up, he was... more than a little angry.
- In This Bites!, Foxy invokes this when he gets a new crew member from a Davy Back Fight. The new crew member can cheat once during that Davy Back Fight, and that one only, to help their former crew.
- Cross invokes one on Spandam after his To the Pain speech, where he tells Spandam he's not going to do any of that to him. Instead, he's going to do something far worse: let Robin and Franky do whatever they want to him.
- Cross warned Ace ahead of time about his capture by Blackbeard in canon, which leads to the war of Marineford and Ace and Whitebeard's death. This time around, Ace brings backup when fighting against the traitor, and when Cross checks Ace's Vivre Card in Luffy's hat, he is ecstatic that it is still whole. However, neither he nor Ace anticipated Aokiji arriving in the Blackbeard-Whitebeard Pirate brawl and causing Ace's capture, while the marines have been keeping any Vivre Cards from burning up by putting Ace and his allies in coma.
- Pokémon Reset Bloodlines has a rather cruel (though in a comical way) one in the expanded universe's Whitney oneshot. A challenger manages to defeat her Miltank, and thinks he is finally in the clear. She then sends out a second one.
- Pokémon Lost Silver: In the Ashes sequel, when the author initially finds the access point to the new route, they find the game takes them to a normal looking Illex Forest with the music and Gold’s sprite also being normal. Initially, they think they escaped the hacked game and returned to the original game, but after a bit of walking, the forest’s layout turns out to be scrambled, revealing that they are in yet another hacked segment of the game.
- A Force of Four: The world's heroes face the threat of three Kryptonian criminals. Power Girl manages to take U-Ban down after a tough battle... and then his brothers come along and surround her.
- Glitter Force: Into the Glitterverse: Honoka and Reika are prevented from reaching the HeartCatch Pretty Cure! team before they get infected with the Glitter Force. They don't notice any initial change in the team's attitude, and believe they may be immune. However, "Erika" then starts to call Tsubomi "Suzie", revealing that they were indeed infected.
- It was sort of a Blink And You'll Miss It but at the end of Crippled - Body and Souls, by Kevin D. Hammel when Shampoo knocked Ranma out of the wheelchair he landed on his legs and felt pain. It was forgotten in an instant due to the situation but it could be a sign that Ranma is regaining feeling in his legs.
- Rosario Vampire: Brightest Darkness Act VI has a brief moment of this during chapter 42. In an attempt to bond with Arial and win her approval, Mizore asks her how Dark was when she first met him. Arial softens toward her for a few brief moments to tell her the story... and then goes right back to her "Mizore isn't worthy of Dark" mentality as soon as she's done, much to Mizore's irritation.
- Soul Eater: Troubled Souls include quite a few. No surprise, considering the story revolves around the concept of hope.
- The Cobra Island arc in particular has these by the bucket-load.
- The first game the protagonists face requires beating hordes of endless, regenerating cobras in order to save their captains from cages gradually becoming alit with magic fire. As time runs short, Marcellus decides to exploit a loophole and tells Tsuji to shoot down the cages at the spot where the fire originates. Tsuji, who is more than capable of doing such a task, becomes the second person to lose his powers (his aim, specifically) right before he shoots, making him miss and the gang lose the game.
- The second game involves a maze. Despite one notable setback, Maka and company literally have the end in sight with plenty of time to spare. Then, the Ouroboros curse forces the Pot Twins to separate from Kilik, and two giant snakes threaten to kidnap them. Everyone stops to save them, but it eats up their remaining time, making them lose yet again when they could’ve won.
- In the third game, the heroes must complete a large puzzle filled with confusing pathways by pushing them two heavy boulders into specific spots to take down a series of walls within the puzzle so that they can continue to the end. Once Rowena and Black☆Star, the only two people who can move the boulders easily and at a rapid pace, are Brought Down to Normal, that’s pretty much game over for the group. This one is so bad that Kid doesn’t even decide to improvise with their remaining resources. He just waves the white flag (er, handkerchief) in surrender.
- Despite the fourth game being the most dangerous, there is actually an epic aversion. Everyone must fight against shadows of the Meisters, which are not held back by loss of characteristics, abilities, or by morality – they even know moves that even the real deal do not. Some people make it out relatively fine, but Maka, Caius, Tsuji, and Rowena are left critically injured. Right when Kim is ready to heal them, Medusa uses Ouroboros to take her Regeneration Magic. She, however, thought ahead and made healing potions so that everyone can fight at max health. Take that, Medusa.
- Turns out the arc’s climactic battle has the cruelest one of them all. While Kim keeps Medusa occupied and Kid deals with Free, Caius and Tsuji are assigned to retrieve the crystal ball containing everyone’s personality traits and powers. Tsuji manages to get the slip on Eruka and Mizune and surfs down a river carrying the crystal ball. At the mouth of it, which bears the waterfall Eruka was told to deposit it, Tsuji actually retrieves the crystal ball... only for Tadpole Jackson to knock him into the water and cause the crystal ball to wash down the waterfall. This reduces Tsuji to tears of sheer despair, right after his usual confidence was briefly restored.
- The Cobra Island arc in particular has these by the bucket-load.
- Game.bps has Mario escape the haunted house, only to die to a pit of munchers outside.
- Enlightenments: After several centuries of the Queen stealing her daughters' bodies to power her immortality, it looks like that might be coming to an end because she's unable to conceive. However... it's actually Wander who's sterile because he's unknowingly taking a contraceptive, and once the Queen figures that out, she quickly puts a stop to it and has another daughter with him.
- In Black Wings, Black Sails, Temeraire rescues Laurence and his pirate boarding crew from arrest, and carries them back to their ships, moving Laurence to tears at finally being with Temeraire again. The two spend a few moments on one of Laurence's captured dragon-transports just saying hello to each other again, and Laurence marvels at how the dragonet he had to untangle from a hammock has grown into this beautiful glossy beast. But... he believes that if Temeraire joins him, Temeraire will almost certainly be executed alongside him, or at the very least have his potential as an intellectual, heavy-combat dragon wasted. So he urges Temeraire to return to Dayes, unable to watch the dragon leave his ship.
- In Total Undead Drama, Eva comes upon a now vampirized Sadie, Katie and Lindsay. She makes to run for it and, despite them being able to fly, looks like she'll outrun them. Then she turns a corner and runs right into their master, Storm. She soon finds herself surrounded, and though she remains Defiant to the End, Storm easily overpowers and feeds on her, adding Eva to his undead harem.
- Horrortale: After several months of being out, the power in the Underground suddenly comes back on thanks to Undyne taking Sans' eye and connecting it to the CORE. Since this event is shown via flashback, the power goes out again within a matter of minutes because of Sans trashing the CORE to the point of being unable to function and it stays out.
