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Tenchi, same name as the sword. Tenchi can't be copied. Very clever, Tsunami...You've won, boy.
The heroes have struggled long and hard, but they have finally beaten everything that the Big Bad can throw at them. They have clearly defeated him. The villain, rather than trying to escape or try and take the heroes with him, graciously acknowledges their victory and yields, surrendering himself to their justice, resulting in a Twist Ending (or really, an Untwist Ending).
This is not a trick to catch the heroes off guard: the villain really chooses to lay down his sword. He might one day return to fight the heroes, but that is definitely another day. Might occur in the case of an Affably Evil or Harmless Villain, or a Magnificent Bastard. Only seen if there is limited (or even no) actual hatred between the villain and the heroes, and especially if there is even a sort of camaraderie between them, or perhaps both were trying to do the right thing. Only, the villain was simply misguided. Needless to say, the Worthy Opponent (especially in more idealistic and heroic works) is almost guaranteed to do this.
Can happen more often in series where there is a Cardboard Prison involved. A villain who happens to Know When to Fold 'Em just may do this. Can also happen when he chooses to Face Death with Dignity.
Contrast Unsportsmanlike Gloating, I Surrender, Suckers.
Super Trope to Villain\'s Dying Grace and Touché, which the villain is likely to say.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Comic Books
- Would often happen to Batman, especially with The Penguin.
- At the end of Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke", Batman starts to empathize and reach out to The Joker to get him to give up crime. The Joker, defeated and oddly calm, finishes a joke started earlier in the story... and Batman laughs with him.
- And then there's Humpty Dumpty, who doesn't even resist arrest. In fact, he even helps Batgirl with her dislocated arm.
- Dream of the Endless.
- Some minor characters in the comics also go down this way:
- Dr. Destiny after he botches it up all by himself.
- Lucifer (though he wasn't entirely happy about it, he let Dream walk out)
- Brute and Glob (ultimately they knew their efforts were futile anyways)
- A surprising number of the people Death picks up.
- Caesar is a graceful loser in most Astérix stories, often admitting his defeat the acknowledging the Gauls' worth. In "Asterix the Gladiator", and "Asterix the Legionary" he provides Asterix and his friends passage back to Gaul and in "Asterix and Son" he even rebuilds the burned down Gaulish village as thanks for the Gauls rescuing Caesar's son.
- In one of the movies, he admits defeat, surrenders his empire and retires in the countryside with Cleopatra.
- "You are gods, and one cannot fight gods."
Fanfiction
- After being defeated by Luso, Vaticus gives him an important item and supported the accusations against him when Aquila held a city-wide conference.
Film
Literature
- In The King Of Attolia, the king has just outmaneuvered a scheming noble:
Sejanus looked up at last. Then, with a little effort, he shrugged, like a man who has lost a bet on a footrace or dice roll. Accepting a shattering defeat with some dignity intact he was more likable than he ever had been in the past. [...] He saluted the king. "Basileus" he said, using the archaic term for the fabled princes of the ancient world.
- In the Warrior trilogy set in the BattleTech universe, Duke Frederick Steiner certainly qualifies. Confronted with the evidence of his involvement in a plot to topple his cousin Katrina and establish himself as Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth (involving an assassination attempt that he did not know about and would not have condoned), he acknowledges his defeat, accepts a suicide mission on the condition that the troops he takes along not be thrown away merely for their association with him, and indeed does not return. He does survive, but effectively vanishes for over twenty years before appearing again in a somewhat more heroic role...in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, and under a different name.
- Also, the Clans will, at the point of a defeat, withdraw, even if they have the strength to stay.
- The vampire Faethor Ferenczy of the Necroscope series had two such moments: first, when suffering amidst the ruins of his burning house, he decided to accept a quick death at the hands of a rescuer- even paying him with a gold medallion- rather than fighting desperately to escape. The second moment was after his death, when he was excluded from the other souls of the dead for being a vampire, and this time, he got to explain himself:
Believe me if you like, or disbelieve, but I am at peace- with myself, anyway. I have had my day, and I am satisfied... if you had lived for thirteen-hundred years, perhaps you would understand...
- ... up until Sequelitis made him an enemy again in Necroscope: Deadspawn when he manages to vampirise hero Harry Keogh and tries a Grand Theft Me on him before being cast into oblivion.
- Supreme Commander Pellaeon, the head of the tiny Imperial Remnant, came to the conclusion that the Empire would only survive to rise again if he made peace with the New Republic, so he sends a trusted underling as an envoy to meet with the general he respects most. A Moff's consternation at this and someone finding a corrupt version of the Caamaas Document kick off the events of the Hand of Thrawn duology.
- The Three Musketeers: After D'Artagnan and friends have defeated his scheme, Cardinal Richelieu acts in the only manner he can, being who he is... he offers D'Artagnan a job. Talent like that shouldn't be wasted. (It is earlier mentioned in the book that the Cardinal is incapable of being vengeful, because the pursuit of vengeance really gets in the way of the pursuit of power.)
- While his scheme is defeated, at best it is a minor inconvenience to the Cardinal who is far too powerful for anything that the Musketeers do to actually harm or seriously affect him and his position. That he offers D'Artagnan a job still counts as this trope, however, as if he wished he could crush the young Musketeer without effort.
- In Animorphs Visser One (the former Visser Three) responds in this fashion after their defeat in book 53. Which is kind of odd considering his psychopathic behavior during his lesser defeats.
- Martel, in The Elenium, takes being beaten (and killed) by Sparhawk with dignity. Sparhawk acknowledges this by bringing Sephrenia over so Martel can die in the presence of those he loved most.
Live Action TV
- When revealed for the scheming, murdering snakes they are, a very significant number of Lieutenant Columbo's enemies smile graciously, congratulate the lovable old buffoon, and cheerfully walk to the police station with him.
- Columbo's often really nice to them as well. When the fairly sympathetic man who'd murdered his stepbrother because he was going to sell his beloved vineyard was caught, Columbo listened as the guy explained that the vineyard was the only place he ever felt truly happy and shared a glass of wine with him before taking him away.
- One of them even gave Columbo a portrait of himself after being caught (although he was working on it before he was arrested).
- Averted in Alias. In the middle of season 2, after the Alliance was destroyed, Arvin Sloane was revealed to have helped in the whole thing, and apparently retired to a life of luxury and anonymity with his wife. Then it turned out it was just the next step of his plan.
- A world-class example of this is seen in the Grand Finale of Power Rangers Time Force. Ransik (probably the single toughest Big Bad EVER seen in the franchise) tells the Rangers 'I don't NEED anyone to fight for me! I'll destroy you MYSELF!' - and then, goes ahead and darn well nearly does it. He only relents when he nearly kills his daughter accidentally, who then uses The Power of Love to get him to lay down his arms and surrender.
- He even comes back during the next season's Crossover episode to help the Rangers take out some Orgs that he had business dealings with, in the "past".
- And he was pretty damn awesome as a good guy too.
- In the Doctor Who episode "Amy's Choice", after our heroes have worked their way through his dream trap, the Dream Lord gracefully admits defeat and accepts his end of the bargain, saving their lives and fading away. It's a subversion; when he leaves them, they're still trapped in his dream trap, and this is just his way of trying to fool them.
- In the 1980s Twilight Zone, a group of neighborhood men play poker against the devil, who keeps winning with triple 6's. So for a final hand, double or nothing to get back the souls lost, they play lowball, where the devil's typical hands, of course, lose. The Devil smiles and gives them back everything they've lost. Further, charmed by their pluck, he fills the fridge with beer and snacks they were too poor to afford for their game.
- An episode of Smallville has Clark being forced to fight against an escaped prisoner (from the Phantom Zone) alien being named Titan. The fight is brutal, forcing Clark to actually use his full strength. After being tossed rather forcefully to the ground, Titan rises and turns to reveal that he has been fatally impaled by his own arm-spike. Evidently aware of his mortal wound, he simply smiles, says "Good fight!" and drops dead.
- In the Fantasy Island remake, one episode involved a man who wants to become the best business man by any means. Roarke slowly turns him into a remorseless demon. At the final moments, his dog returns to him and he shed a single tear, which Roarke takes and hands to his assistant, happy to lose the bet once more.
- On The Amazing Race it's actually rare for a losing team not to be graceful in defeat, and many teams in the Final 3 are just happy having gotten to run the whole race. Though notably averted with the teams that originally appeared on another CBS Reality Show.
Tabletop Games
- In Exalted, Ligier, the fetich soul of the Yozi Malfeas sort of invokes this concept. He refuses to fight anyone not worthy of fighting him (either tens of thousands of Dragonblooded or a full circle of experienced Solars) and if a party can best him enough to deal 25 health levels of damage or so to him - the book mentions this is merely a scratch to him, by the way - he will flourish, then withdraw from the fight and refuse to fight the group for 25 hours. He can be pressed into combat if his opponents keep attacking him. A word of advice: DON'T.
- In the sample adventure for Spirit Of The Century The book suggests that should the characters convince the council running the scientific awards that Dr. Methusala is a threat, or is otherwise a liability, he will leave at their behest. Of course, he'll also be rather miffed, and when Dr. Methusala gets miffed, people cease to ever have been.
- Zulkir Szass Tam is said to be genuinely respectful and even admiring of any heroic adventurers who thwart his plans, in no small part because they'd probably have to be Worthy Opponents to beat someone with his level of power and cunning.
- In the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the demon lord Pazuzu is said to genuinely not hold any grudge against any mortal heroes who ruin his plans, particularly if they showed great cunning in doing so, and is in fact quite Affably Evil overall.
Video Games
- Jade Empire. Sir Roderick Ponce Von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard accepts defeat quite gracefully, and honors your demands, even giving up his prized blunderbuss Mirabelle if the player wants it.
- The hero and villain of the first Shadow Hearts game both admit at the end that they understand each other's motives, and that they will decide the fate of the world with a Might Makes Right smackdown with no ill feelings towards the victor. The villain lives up to his promise, returning in the second game as a Spirit Advisor.
- A similar case happens in the second game, furthered by the case that the hero and the villain there have pretty much zero animosity towards each other the whole game. The villain even provides the hero with both the means to say goodbye to his dead girlfriend and the key to figuring out exactly what he's planning. They also part amicably at the end.
- Admiral Gregorio, the Worthy Opponent of Skies Of Arcadia. He takes his loss to the heroes (which only cripples his ship and makes him unable to chase you) by giving Enrique, the party's Defector from Decadence and basically his nephew, his well-wishes for the future. Enrique responds in kind, expressing regret at having had to fight him. Handsome Lech Vigoro also bows out gracefully after getting his backside kicked by Vyse for the third time, admitting that Vyse is the bigger man and giving up his obsessive chase after Aika in the process since, in his own words, "the strongest man has the right to be with the prettiest woman".
- A particularly odd example occurs in BioShock: Once you finally confront Andrew Ryan, he exploits your sleeper agent code words to take control of you, then makes you kill him anyway, just because he'd rather die on his own terms. It is also possible that he did so because he realized that you are actually his own mind-controlled son.
- King Bulblin from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess offers his only line to the hero after being defeated for the last time: "I follow the strongest side." He then gracefully bows out, implying that he believes Link to be stronger than his former master.
- Most of the ranked assasins in No More Heroes accept their deaths quite calmly. Especially Speed Buster, but totally inverted with Bad Girl.
- In case 1-3 (Turnabout Samurai) of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the murderer Dee Vasquez, upon being discovered in full in court by Phoenix, chooses not to go into a grand Freak Out (like so many other murderers do, though she does snap her pipe in half in anger first), but to simply thank Phoenix and quitely admit their guilt. Lampshaded by Phoenix. Partially-Justified: The victim, Jack Hammer, was planning to kill Dee Vasquez and blame the murder on the guy you're defending, due to blackmailing Hammer over the death of a close friend on set five years ago. She killed him in accidental self-defense - the same way her friend was accidentally killed five years ago.
- Damon Gant counts as well. When he's finally taken down for the shit he's pulled, he bursts into almost childish laughter and extremely fast clapping out of madness. Afterward though he calms down, apologizes to the Judge for being unable to make their later appointment and even admits that the justice system is in good hands with Wright, Udgey and Edgeworth at the helm.
- Manfred von Karma could also be considered one. When found out as the ultimate perpetrator for the current case and the DL-6 incident that led to the death of Edgeworth's father Gregory, he doesn't take it so lightly, screaming Edgeworth's name out and smashing his head on the crowd bench behind him. However, afterward he calms down, he snaps at the judge for not delivering the verdict fast enough.
- Acro would qualify. When you finally present irrefutable evidence that he was the (accidental) murderer of ringmaster Russel Berry, he simply congratulates you for seeing through him, figuring it out and calmly explains why he did what he did. He even congratulates Franziska for her part in exposing him. The last bit, though, sells it:
Acro: No. I'm not a victim (tears start flowing down his face, all while he keeps genuinely smiling). I'm a murderer.
- Completely averted, however, by the Big Bad of Ace Attorney Investigations, Quercus Alba. He constantly denies your claims unless you've completely proven them. This, however, makes finally taking him down all the more satisfying as you've ensured that he no longer has any wriggle room and must face punishment for his crimes.
- Rubicante, fitting with his status as a Worthy Opponent and a Noble Demon, praises you after defeating the Elemental Lords when they team up in Final Fantasy IV.
- The Turks from Final Fantasy VII ignore their orders to confront the party again if you refuse to fight them during the Midgar raid. Rude concludes, "We've completed our job" and they go back to awaiting the end of the world.
- ...But only if you completed the Wutai sidequest. If you didn't, you don't get the choice to fight them.
- Harry McDowell of Gungrave, once his final creation is destroyed, admits defeat and allows Beyond The Grave to avenge his own murder (by killing Harry). For bonus points, the player gets to pull the trigger.
Harry: ...Is it over? Go for it, Brandon. It's your turn now.
(A single shot of Grave's Cerberus is heard.)
- The final boss of the second game accepts his defeat calmly, even giving the heroes an antidote for Mika's seed infection before he dies.
- Izanami complements Persona 4's Investigation Team after they unmask and defeat her.
- Also, Tohru Adachi accepts his fate of imprisonment and agrees to play by society's rules.
- Dragon Age Origins has Teyrn Loghain, after being defeated in single combat with the player or a party member, submitting to the player's justice - whether that justice is cutting off his head, letting Alistair take his revenge, or turning him into a Grey Warden and having him sacrifice himself to kill the Archdemon.
- In King of Fighters 2003, if you reach Adelheid (Rugal Bernstein's son) and beat him. He actully praises you for winning. His sister, Rose, on the other hand is quite the Sore Loser. So much so that Adelheid has to force her to let the winners go as they won fair and square.
- Mass Effect 3: The Catalyst, the Bigger Bad of the series, admits its own defeat when Shepard interacts with him. Seeing that Shepard and his/her allies finally completed the Crucible, the Catalyst admits that the Reapers have failed in their purpose, which the Catalyst admits to be disgusting. Then, the Catalyst leaves the new solution on Shepard's hands.
Visual Novels
- The only thing that James Moriarty says to his killer Sherlock Holmes in Shikkoku No Sharnoth is "aren't you supposed to do this at a waterfall?" He is, in fact, completely satisfied with what he managed to accomplish.
- Assassin in Fate/stay night. After losing a fight to Saber only because his sword is slightly bent despite having no superhuman abilities, he just tells her to go, sits down and talks to himself for a few minutes before vanishing. It helps that he didn't really care if he won or even lived, he just wanted one good fight against another master swordsman. He was even rather graceful about True Assassin eating him from the inside. He's just that kind of guy.
Web Comics
- The mad scientists in A Miracle of Science surrender in this fashion, once the memetic track for Science-Related Memetic Disorder runs out. At least one sentient robot displays this behavior as well. Pinder number one has the means to defeat his enemy, but doing so will certainly destroy himself and a great number of the robots with him. Rather than taking the fight to its conclusion, he acknowledges defeat and surrenders.
- Tsutsumu from Angel Moxie, to the point of leaving his vast economic empire to the girls when they kill him.
- Played with, really. He fights right up to the end, fully intending to kill the girls if he can... but he's left a pleasant surprise for the heroes if they do manage to beat him.
- In El Goonish Shive, Principal Verrückt pushes in all the wrong directions, but doesn't mind when he's repelled. At least if it's not about murals.
Western Animation
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