Resistance Is Futile - Television Tropes & Idioms

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."

— The Borg, Star Trek

...but welcome.

A villain will say some variation of "resistance is futile." Often, it will turn out resistance was anything but, but villains do like to have their moments. Other common variations are "it is useless to resist us" and "resistance is useless."

See also Nothing Can Stop Us Now, and other forms of Tempting Fate.

Examples

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Trope Namer

Star Trek uses "resistance is futile", as the Catch Phrase of the Borg. This phrase is subject to a great deal of Memetic Mutation, such as "Billgatus of Borg."
- Subverted in Star Trek: Voyager episode "Scorpion" which begins with two Borg cubes giving their spiel as they approach an unseen target. Right in the middle of "Resistance is__" a beam of energy lances out and destroys both cubes. Enter Species 8472.
- Also, the Borg are quick to point out that anything else you may have to say is "irrelevant".
Picard: Our culture is built on freedom and self-determination!
The Borg: Freedom is irrelevant. Self-Determination is irrelevant. You must comply.

Anime and Manga

A fansub of Uchuu Senkan Yamato has Desler say this exactly. It's probably a Shout Out by the translators.
Nami says this in Sora Wo Kakeru Shoujo.
A variation of this was used in Words Worth: "Your resistance only makes my penis harder!"
This exact phrase was used in an One Piece fansub, but I don't know whether it was intentional or the real translation.
During the Retribution Arc in Berserk, one of the pagans who was trying to rape Casca said something akin to this. Boy was he in for it.

Film

Darth Vader, while fighting Luke in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.
Vader: You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.
Long before the Borg, the 'Captain' in Cool Hand Luke was giving this exact warning to his inmates.

Literature

In The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy 1 (which predates Star Trek's Borg by about 10 years) the Vogons used a variation on this: "Resistance is Useless!"
In Animorphs #6, a Yeerk taunts Jake:
"Forget resistance. It is futile. No host has ever overpowered a Yeerk. It is impossible."
In the Warhammer 40K novel "Fall of Damnos" we get this nice message from your usual friendly neighborhood apocalyptic robots next door, "We are the Necrontyr. We are Legion. We Claim Dominion of this World... Surrender and Die. (Note this message was translated by the local Tech Priests, and they insist the last three words were properly translated)
In the British Star Wars parody "Star Bores", the Big Bad is a Dark Lord of the Hith, a group of evil beings with a distinctive lisp. At some point, said Big Bad delivers this gem: "Rethithtanth ith uthelethth!"

Live-Action TV

As noted in the page quote, this is a favourite Catch Phrase of the Borg from Star Trek.
Doctor Who:
- The Master, in "The Deadly Assassin": "Resistance is futile".
- A Dalek, in "Revelation of the Daleks": "IT IS FUTILE TO RE-SIST". These happen to be its last words.
- A Cyberman, in "The Tomb of the Cybermen": "TO STRUGGLE IS FUTILE."
  - "Resistance is Useless" was a favorite phrase of the Cybermen in their first two stories, "The Tenth Planet" and "The Moonbase." Which actually makes them technically the trope namer (1965), however the phrase is more commonly associated with the Borg.
  - The Borg themselves actually derive some of their characteristics from the Cybermen. The original episode featuring the Borg was "Q Who".
- Noah, the human-turned-Wirrn in "The Ark in Space": "Your resistance is useless."
- An Eternal in "Enlightenment": "Resistance is futile". He was very friendly about it, though.
- A Dalek, in "The Stolen Earth": "RESISTANCE IS USELESS."
- Played with in "The God Complex": One of the mottos of Tivoli, the Most Conquered Planet in the Galaxy, is "Resistance is exhausting."
In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, this is the Catch Phrase of the young Vogon guard. He really loves to shout it and considers it a major job perk.
The Space: 1999 finale "The Dorcons":
Varda: Commander, the Psychon will tell you how futile it is to resist us."
Maya: "Resistance... (sigh) ...is futile."
From Dad's Army:
Mainwaring: "Further resistance is useless. In the name of the King I demand that you surrender."
Zeltrax in Power Rangers Dino Thunder, to an actress Mesogog was planning to experiment on. Her response: "Hey, I was up for that part."

Music

From Scars of Yesterday by DragonForce:
Trapped within my fierce desire
Resistance is futile
Comfort Eagle by Cake:
"To resist it is useless
it is useless to resist it."
Protect The Law by Iron Savior:
My directives are simple peace and justice for all
Your resistance is futile if you fight me you'll fall
"Time Bomb" by All Time Low
resistance is useless, just two kids stupid and fearless.

Videogames

The ork legions in RuneScape sometimes say "Resistance Is Futile!"
The Aparoids in Star Fox Assault, apparently inspired by the Borg, spout lines like that. Well, the Queen and Pigma do, the rest isn't much for talking.
Actually accurate in the Ashbringer tie-in comic for World of Warcraft.
Kel'Thuzad: Further resistance is pointless. Your will is no longer your own.
Kunzite says the exact line in Tales Of Hearts (orig. teikou wa muimi da).
Mass Effect 2 Big Bad Harbinger tends to s— ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL. YOU CANNOT RESIST.
- Seems to be common among reapers, since first episode Big Bad Sovereign drops it too on Virmire.
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!
The far too numerous doppelgangers in Baldur's Gate shout this incessantly as you hack them to bits "It is useless to resist!" Since they only have some two battle lines and the latter 3rd of the game consists almost entirely of fighting great wads of them at once you'll be hearing it. A lot.
If you meet a particularly hostile alien race in the original Master Of Orion game, they will say "Resistance is futile. The fate of the <your race> is inevitable. Prepare to submit to the <our race> Empire."
- This is one of the messages from the Antarans, in the second game, when they're specifically attacking one of your colonies.

Webcomics

In a Star Trek reference on Bob and George, George asks Present!X if he wants to be like the Borg Queen, all nasty, and slimy, and...
X: Resistance Is Futile, George.
George: Damnit, I knew he was gonna say that.
In Sabrina Online, where Amy, in the advanced stages of her pregnancy with Thomas' son Timmy, is commanded to get pickles and Chex mix by the unborn wolf/squirrel child.

Western Animation

In The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy, the three eat a pizza gone bad; Billy and Grim have bad dreams, and Grim's consist of replicating Mandies that go "Resistance is useless. Obey...".
Brainiac in The DCAU was fond of "You are only delaying the inevitable." It was practically his catchphrase.
In the ReBoot episode 'Between A Raccoon and a Hard Place', Megabyte says "Resistance is futile" - the intention of the writers was to reference the Borg from Star Trek.
- That episode even included a binome in a Starfleet uniform quoting part of Picard's speech from Star Trek: First Contact. Right before getting deleted. Then Megabyte says "Resistance is futile."
Of course, The Simpsons has parodied this at least once. In "Lisa The Vegetarian", Lisa's class is forced to watch a film called Meat and You: Partners in Freedom (number 3F03 in the Resistance is Useless Series).
The Phalanx in the X-Men cartoon, being expies of the Borg, even used both parts of the Borg catchphrase ("Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." Though contrary to popular belief, the Borg say "resistance is futile" last.)
Said by the boss bad guy in Challenge Of The Go Bots after his invasion force had landed on an alien world: "Resistance isn't only futile, it's stupid!"
"I am Soundwave. Resistance is futile."
Was a title for a KaBlam!! episode.
Regular Show: "Prepare to be assimilated. Resistance is DUMB!"
Allura the witch says "resistance is useless" to the Smurfs she has held captive with her Fantastic Drug in her fortress in The Smurfs episode "The Lure Of The Orb".
Ben 10 Omniverse has Emperor Milleus delivering the line when he invades Earth:
"Resistance is futile; but encouraged for it amuses me."

Real Life

According to The Other Wiki, this was part of a telegram that Nazi Germany sent to the Netherlands at the start of World War II. Source
When the United States was preparing to invade Afghanistan in 2001, they broadcast warning messages to the Taliban including You will be attacked by land, sea and air. Resistance is futile.
- Seeing as Afghanistan is landlocked, you have to wonder about the "sea" part. Then again, the first people in included Navy SEALs, so it could be metaphorical.
  - Southern Afghanistan is well within striking distance for a carrier group off the coast of Pakistan. For the first year or so of the war, the vast majority of the bombs dropped were by carrier-based aircraft. Whether that can really be considered "by sea" rather than "by air" is, of course, dubious.
  - There's also the Tomahawk cruise missiles. Airborne, but fired from ships, it's kinda "by sea".

The Real Heroes

Stock Phrases

A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma

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