History Main / WeOnlyHaveOneChance

[[folder:Anime]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'' has a fairly well justified version of this: the ship only had one bomb, so if something went wrong, there was no other option. In fact this is what sets off the plot; when they receive a DistressCall from the first spaceship sent on their mission and debate whether to risk their mission to respond, it's pointed out that spaceship has a second bomb, so at least they'll have two chances of success.

* Used in the finale of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', but in an unusual way. When a character is about to die because saving another character's life didn't avert the disaster, Sissel, the main character, says they only have one chance to save them. The other cast members remind him that they don't, and that they instead have infinite tries because of how their ability as ghosts work. Sissel then says he knows that and reveals the real reason: [[spoiler:anyone who dies keeps their memory of dying, and the person about to die is a young child that's already in a traumatic situation, meaning she'll need years of therapy in the best case scenario and her mind will shatter in the worst case]].

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}}'' was the embodiment of this trope. Every episode, one or all of the heroes would get into a deathtrap situation where their only means of escape involved extremely unlikely scenarios, shady impossible physics, developing a new super power spontaneously, or often all three. Of course, they'd never fail to say "I only have one chance" before executing their bold strategy.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Elastigirl mentions that they'll only have one shot at defeating the Omnidroid by blasting its claw through its core. To improve the chances, she makes Mr Incredible wait until the last possible moment to take the shot, so the Omnidroid is closer.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' is MADE of this trope. Expect Egon to say it at least once an episode.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'', Tod and Vixie are trapped in their burrow, with Copper blocking the front exit and Amos having set a fire to block the rear exit. Realizing they were dead if they tried to go out the front, Tod urges Vixie that their only chance is to risk rushing through the fire. They make it out unharmed, much to Amos' shock.
* WesternAnimation/TheBeatles are on a chartered jet for a concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, but their stewardesses are three persistent fangirls.

* ''Film/TheFifthElement'': With the Great Evil imminently bearing down on Earth in the climax, the main characters are in a remote temple, activating the only weapon that can stop it. The activation is revealed to need a fire source. They have a matchbox with ''one'' match...

* Used in the finale of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', but in an unusual way. When a character is about to die because saving one character's life didn't avert the disaster, Sissel, the main character, says they only have one chance to do it. The other cast members remind him that they don't, and that they instead have infinite tries because of how their ability as ghosts work. Sissel then says he knows that and reveals the real reason: [[spoiler:anyone who dies keeps their memory of dying, and the person about to die is a young child that's already in a traumatic situation, meaning she'll need years of therapy in the best case scenario and her mind will shatter in the worst case]].

* ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'' had a fairly well justified version of this: the ship only had one bomb, so if something went wrong, there was no other option.
** In fact it's what sets off the plot; when they receive a DistressCall from the first spaceship sent on their mission and debate whether to risk their mission to respond, it's pointed out that spaceship has a second bomb, so at least they'll have two chances of success.

[[folder:VideoGames]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/ZeroRanger'', [[spoiler:GREEN ORANGE has been defeated, but her alien forces managed to destroy all life on Daikon nonetheless, and the AI Erasure gives the player a chance to go back in time and destroy her original form in the past.]] Before offering you this option, Erasure warns you that "you only have one chance"; more specifically, if you fail in your objective and die, [[spoiler:''[[DeletionAsPunishment your save data will be erased]]''.]]

Used in the finale of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', but in an unusual way. When a character is about to die because saving one character's life didn't avert the disaster, Sissel, the main character, says they only have one chance to do it. The other cast members remind him that they don't, and that they instead have infinite tries because of how their ability as ghosts work. Sissel then says he knows that and reveals the real reason: [[spoiler:anyone who dies keeps their memory of dying, and the person about to die is a young child that's already in a traumatic situation, meaning she'll need years of therapy in the best case scenario and her mind will shatter in the worst case]].

Used in the finale of ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', but in an unusual way. When a character is about to die because saving one character's life didn't avert the disaster, Sissel, the main character, says they only have one chance to do it. The other cast members reveal that they don't, and that they instead have infinite tries because of how their ability as ghosts work. Sissel then says he knows that and reveals the real reason: [[spoiler:anyone who dies keeps their memory of dying, and the person about to die is a young child that's already in a traumatic situation, meaning she'll need years of therapy in the best case scenario and her mind will shatter in the worst case]].

* Yugi says this in ''[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Movie]]''. [[spoiler: Ironically, it ''doesn't'' work.]]

[[AC:Anime]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* In ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'', Tod and Vixie are trapped in their burrow, with Copper blocking the front exit and Amos having set a fire to block the rear exit. Realizing they were dead if they tried to go out the front, Tod urges Vixie that their only chance is to risk rushing through the fire. They make it out unharmed, much to Amos' shock.

* ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound''
-->'''Todd''': Quick, Vixie, this is our only chance!

* In ''CodeGeass'', Suzaku used his "Live on!" Geass to perfectly time his attack, which allowed him to exploit the One Chance he had to [[spoiler:deactivate FLEIJA]].

* ''SuperFriends'' was the embodiment of this trope. Every episode, one or all of the heroes would get into a deathtrap situation where their only means of escape involved extremely unlikely scenarios, shady impossible physics, developing a new super power spontaneously, or often all three. Of course, they'd never fail to say "I only have one chance" before executing their bold strategy.

* ''TheRealGhostbusters'' is MADE of this trope. Expect Egon to say it at least once an episode.

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Elastigirl mentions that they'll only have one shot at defeating the Omnidroid by blasting its claw through its core. To improve the chances, she makes Mr Incredible wait until the last possible moment to take the shot, so the Omnidroid is closer.

The odds are down, the enemy's tied the heroic group to a chair and have a nuclear missile pointed straight at them. All's lost, right? Wait! There's a MillionToOneChance that they can get out of this situation victorious, but it will take split second timing. Of course, instead of attempting to do this split second timing, the heroes point it out to each other that the chances are minimal through the phrase:

* Yugi says this in ''[[YugiohTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Movie]]''. [[spoiler: Ironically, it ''doesn't'' work.]]

[[AC:Film]]
* ''{{Sunshine}}'' had a fairly well justified version of this: the ship only had one bomb, so if something went wrong, there was no other option.

* ''TheFoxAndTheHound''

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